Charles Manson, Leader of a Murderous Cult, Dies at 83

Charles Manson, the leader of a cult whose followers committed horrific murders in California at the end of the 1960s, has died. According to a statement from the California Department of Corrections, he passed away on Sunday in a hospital due to natural causes. The statement did not provide further details. He was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the murders of nine people, including American actress Sharon Tate. Manson's followers, who referred to themselves as 'the Manson Family,' committed these gruesome murders in the summer of 1969. Despite decades passing since those painful events that shocked American society, Charles Manson remained a symbol of the terror that engulfed California. Time magazine wrote in 1969, after the crimes, that Manson's followers were a semi-religious group contaminated by drugs. With his charismatic personality and ideas blending religion and science fiction, he gathered his followers from San Francisco and Los Angeles in simple shelters in remote areas of California. These individuals lived in a primitive and semi-wild manner, either stealing to survive or searching through garbage for food. Manson had a special influence over his followers, who referred to him as 'God' or 'the Devil.' He convinced them that a racial war would soon occur in America, and the 'Family' would emerge victorious and in power. One of the most notable murders committed by Manson's followers was the killing of Sharon Tate, an actress and wife of famous director Roman Polanski. They brutally murdered the nine-month-pregnant Tate along with several of her guests in her home. Time magazine adds that before these horrific murders, Charles Manson was a seasoned criminal, having been imprisoned multiple times for theft, car theft, and armed robbery. He began forming this cult in 1967 after being released from prison. Although he did not personally participate in the murders, the court found him guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, sentencing him to death. In 1972, when the death penalty was abolished in California, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. In the following years, Charles Manson became the subject of various films, documentaries, and books, indicating that decades later, American society still struggles to understand how one individual could brainwash a number of young people and lead them to commit such horrific acts.