Charles Manson's life and crimes: A timeline (original) (raw)
By David Mercer, News Reporter
He is one of America's most notorious criminals, the charismatic mastermind behind a series of gruesome murders that shocked the world.
Former cult leader Charles Manson, who has died aged 83, gained followers known as the "Manson Family" who killed nine people in California during the summer of 1969.
Here is a timeline of the key events in Manson's life.
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Charles Manson: The life of a serial killer
12 November 1934 Early life
Manson is born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of 16-year-old Kathleen Maddox.
After his mother is jailed for robbing a petrol station, Manson's first known crime is the burglary of a grocery store in 1948 and he is later convicted of armed robbery aged 13.
January 1955 First marriage
Manson marries hospital waitress Rosalie Jean Willis, who later gives birth to his first child, Charles Manson Jr.
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She divorces Manson in 1958 after he is jailed for failing to appear in court charged with car theft.
1959 Second marriage
Manson marries prostitute Leona "Candy" Stevens, the mother of his second child Charles Luther. He is given a 10-year suspended sentence for forging a Treasury cheque.
He is later jailed after breaking his probation terms and released in 1967, despite pleading with authorities to allow to him to stay.
April 1967 Cult following
Manson moves to California and meets the first of his followers, librarian Mary Brunner, who gives birth to his third child Valentine Michael.
Manson sets himself up as a self-proclaimed guru during 1967's "Summer of Love", reportedly recruiting at least 18 women at one point, and moves his followers into Spahn Ranch in Los Angeles a year later.
He becomes obsessed with The Beatles' 1968 song Helter Skelter, which he interprets as signifying the start of a race war between black and white people.
25 July 1969 Hinman murder
Gary Hinman, a music teacher who had introduced Manson to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, is tortured and killed in his home by one of Manson's followers, Bobby Beausoleil.
The words "political piggy" are painted on the wall with Hinman's blood.
9 August 1969 Tate murders
Image: Film director Roman Polanski and American actress Sharon Tate, who was killed by Manson's followers.
Four members of Manson's cult invade the home of film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate.
Under Manson's instruction, they murder Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant, and four other people at the property. The word "pig" is painted on the house in Tate's blood.
Polanski is abroad.
10 August 1969 LaBianca murders
Manson and six of his followers visit the house of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary.
Manson ties up the couple and leaves the property before they are stabbed to death.
25 August 1969 Shea murder
Manson instructs his follower Steve Grogan to kill former film stuntman Donald Shea, who he believed had passed information to the police.
Mr Shea's remains were only discovered in 1977 when Grogan led police to where he had buried him.
October 1969 Manson arrested
Police, who initially do not link the Tate and LaBianca murders, arrest 27 people for car theft at Spahn Ranch including Manson.
While in custody, Manson follower Susan Atkins tells of her involvement in the murders to two other prisoners, who inform the authorities.
July 1970 Tate-LaBianca murder trial
Manson and three of his followers - Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten - go on trial following the murders.
A jury finds the defendants guilty of first-degree murder and they are sentenced to death. Appeals delay the executions and the sentences are changed to life imprisonment when California abolishes the death penalty in 1972.
Image: Charles Manson in 1989
April 2012 Parole denied
Manson is denied parole for a 12th time after bragging to a psychologist that he is a "very dangerous man".
19 November 2017 Manson dies
Manson dies of natural causes in a California hospital aged 83.