tonight on 2020 it was a case that rocked the nation. andus this week, one of charles manson's followers has been and just this week, one of charles manson's followers has been released. 20/20 starts now. we have a weird homicide. >> human massacre. >> five were killed.

>> the tate slaying. >> when you kill someone, you're killing yourself. >> the incredible brutality of these savage nightmarish murders. >> fear was charlie's game. >> i've been walking living murder all my life. >> charles manson converted intelligent, middle class kids into petty-live zombies. >> the jury could only come to one verdict -- guilty. >> to explain manson could not be done in words. >> the most famous murder in the history of los angeles. sharon tate was a young actress, stunning even by movie star standards. >> sharon tate. she's today's kind of girl. >> three friends were staying with her that night. the windows were open, a cool breeze was blowing. >> it's simply going to be a quiet, comfortable night. and of course, it turned out not to be. >> charles manson was a rock star wannabe. and a madman. >> he could literally get his followers to kill for him. >> everyone wondered, how did he turn these all-american women into monsters? >> i knew that people would die. knew there would be killing. >> he controlled them.

and they did what he wanted. >> they were so young. >> and what he wanted was murder. brutal murder. >> if it don't get done, well, then i'll move on it. and that's the last thing in the world you want me to do. >> we're about to see what evil looks like in the face of charles manson. >> ready? >> yeah, we're ready. >> well, i'm a sound man. i'm a sound recordist. and i was working production for abc news and we were headed off for corcoran prison to interview this man. the plan was, we -- we'd set up the room. and the very last thing to do would be to send me out into the hallway to put a microphone on charles manson. >> okay, come on, charlie. come on, charlie. you're set. all right?

they're going to call us when you're done and we're going to come get you. >> and as i'm putting the microphone on, he looks me in the eye and he says, "where are you from, boy?" and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. and i said, "i -- i'm from los angeles, sir." and he said, "los angeles. yeah, i've been waiting a long time for a bus to come pick me up and take me on back." >> hello. >> watch your step. >> there was tension in the room. >> can you see yourself in there? >> i can see myself in there. they don't have mirrors where i'm at. >> oh, really? so you never see yourself? >> well, yeah, they got funny little things you can get a close look. how are you doing? >> his hands were handcuffed together, chained together, and then they were chained to his waist. >> here's the key thing to remember. this figure who walks into the room to talk to diane sawyer,

who looks like he's been, you know, worn out and hung up wet for so long, do not confuse that guy with the manson of the late '60s. footage of him from that era tells a very different story. he is commanding, he is somewhat magnetic. and really a much more malevolent force. >> manson had cut into his forehead just above his, the bridge of his nose an x. then charlie turns the x into a swastika. >> he understood the iconography of evil and he embraced it. >> everybody likes that evil character they created, you know, that guy with the eyes? you got to realize, man, all those guys you've been creating are not really real in real life, man. >> and you're trying to take him in, and he is presenting himself to you as he wishes. >> so you all from new york? or some guys from l.a. here,

right? >> l.a. >> l.a. >> a psychopath is born, you know, to do wrong, i suppose. and a sociopath is transformed by his upbringing and surroundings into this person who does terrible things. so wch was manson? it almost depends on your point of view. >> i just can't seem to adjust to your society, because no matter what i do is wrong. >> if i were interviewing charlie manson today, one of the questions i would have for charlie, because i'm fascinated how he ended up like he did, was, "start at the beginning, charlie. tell me what happened as a kid." >> welcome 1934. >> roosevelt was nine months into his presidency, unemployment was still high, depression still deep. but a newsreel of the time reflected -- >> charles manson was born on november 11th, 1934. he just turned 82 on his last birthday. >> his mother, kathleen, gave

birth to him when she was 15. his father was a man who left soon afterward. >> i am a street child. i am a runaway little girl, at 15 years old, out of kentucky, named kathleen maddox. and she went to cincinnati and had a guy named charlie manson. >> when he's 4 1/2, his mother and his uncle are sent to prison for a botched attempt at armed robbery. >> and she went to prison, and i used to visit her in the prison visiting room. the only thing my mother taught me was that everything she said was a lie. and i learned never to believe anyone about anything. >> there's a boy in class charlie doesn't like. and at recess, a bunch of the girls jumped this boy and beat him up. the principal steps in. and the girls say, "well, charlie told us to do it." manson's defense, 6 years old,

"it wasn't me. they were doing what they wanted to do. you can't blame me for what other people do." >> here's an incident that took place, basically had nothing to do with me personally. >> by the time he's 13, he's involved in auto theft and armed robbery. and the judge sends charlie to boys town. >> boys town is real. >> it ran in "the indianapolis star," you know, the idea that we have young people who get in trouble, but we have kind judges who will send them to places where they can learn to become productive members of society. charlie lasted four days. and he and some buddies stole a car and set out. and they got all the way to utah before they were captured. charlie was a con artist even as a child. >> 1944, i went to juvenile hall. i didn't get out until 1954.

i turned 21 years old in the l.a. county jail. i wasn't out but a hot second. i've been to jail all my life. >> but while he's in prison, he hears the beatles. and the beatles, you have to remember, 1964, late '64, '65, suddenly, they are everywhere. they are permeating our culture. >> 3,000 screaming teenagers are at new york's kennedy airport to greet, you guessed it, the beatles. >> and they come to represent to charlie manson what he wants most -- fame, power, women throwing themselves, all the money you could imagine. >> maybe because he knew what was going on out there, he picked up a little guitar. and he started to play and to write some of his own songs in prison. there's certainly evidence that he picked up quite a few skills, you might say, in prison. >> he learned from the pimps.

he learned from dale carnegie classes. >> remember, if you want to be liked instantly, do as a puppy does. take on genuine interest in other people and show it. >> he learned from the scientologists. >> scientology means knowledge or truth, study of. >> manson used his time in prison to prepare himself to thrive as a criminal after his release. >> see, i never realized people outside are much different from the people inside. the people inside, if you lie, you get punched. and when i got out, all your children would come to me, because they never had anybody to tell them the truth. >> at the last minute, when manson learns that he's going to be paroled, he actually tells

don't let me go. i don't think i can make it. but it's too late. prisons are overcrowded. they send him out there. but that one moment, he's being honest. "if you let me out, i think i'm going to do the same things that i've been doing, or even more." >> the city of los angeles has had another multiple murder, shot and stabbed to death, another bizarre murder. >> eight murders without reason. brutally cut by a whip. >> charles manson, the cult leader accused of murder. >> wish they'd listened to him. after the best nap of my life... and papa is hungry. and while you're hittin' the trail, i'm hitting your cooler. oh, cheddar! i've got hot dog buns! and your cut-rate car insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, like me. roar. (sfx: family screams in background) best foods real mayonnaise. every dollop is soooo rich and creamy... ...it makes any food, delicious. mmm, irresistible!

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♪ the summer of love. you didn't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind was blowing when an estimated 10,000 hippies showed up in the panhandle section of golden gate park. >> to understand how manson did what he did, we have to understand the context of the time and place.

>> demonstrators took to the streets. >> the time in american history, you've got vietnam, you've got the race riots. >> six days of rioting in the negro section of los angeles. >> it seemed anything was possible, both wonderful and terrible. ♪ if you're going to san francisco ♪ >> "if you're going to san francisco" becomes a huge hit. and what it is is an advertisement for the summer of love in san francisco. ♪ with flowers in their hair ♪ >> by the end of the summer of love, 75,000 people, they were descending on haight-ashbury. yet everybody's got there because of this belief, we're going to change the world. and this draws a lot of broken kids from all across america. and here's charles manson, the ultimate predator. >> and so, just as manson is released from prison in

california, the movement is like a magnet for all these people whose particular characteristics make them highly vulnerable to the thing that manson has, the ability to manipulate. >> people tend to think that only oddballs ended up following manson, and that's not true. leslie van houten's a great example. >> and so she got wrapped up into that, and evidently, this whole situation was love to begin with. but it didn't end up that way. >> diane sawyer talks to manson's ex-followers, and in these extraordinary interviews they attempt to describe how their middle class personalities were overtaken by manson's charisma. >> leslie in high school, was very bright. she's gorgeous. all the boys love her. she plays baritone sax in the marching band, for gosh sakes. >> leslie van houten is an example of how people can be very normal but they -- all of

us have vulnerabilities. and manson could smell it. >> i seemed to want more living out of life than what was expected of young girls at that time. drugs, sex, you know, breaking away from the norm. >> leslie van houten's father moved out. she lost her way after that. >> i think that when my father left, i was desperately seeking someone that i could love and hold onto and call my own. >> charlie manson would always tell her little puzzles to try to work out, so, he would say, you can figure this out, you're smart. he always finds the way to make the other person feel loved, appreciated. >> he was like christ and he had the answers. for as twisted as it all got, you know, i really think that -- i felt that i had met someone that, by being around him, would

have a positive change. >> i don't think anyone ever joined the manson family who completely were self-confident. he could always find a way in. manson met patricia krenwinkel when she was staying with a sister who had problems. manson said to pat, you should come away with me. you're so ugly, and i'm ugly, we're the only two people who will tell each other we're beautiful. >> that night, we slept together and when we made love, all i remember is just crying and crying to this man, because he said, "oh, you're beautiful." i couldn't believe that. i just started crying. >> pat krenwinkel basically left with charlie manson the next day. and pat firmly believed that she was going to leave with charlie and he was going to be her new boyfriend. imagine her shock when she found out she was only part of a harem who would have to share him. >> he had great confidence in his own sexual prowess. >> and what they really liked

about me? you want to really hear it? >> yes. >> i [ bleep ] real good. >> he'd break people down, build them back up in his image. and they would become essentially fingers on his hand, subject to his every direction. >> these kids were putty in his hands. >> you know, it didn't happen overnight. he spent a lot of time taking middle class girls and remolding them. i was an empty shell of a person that was filled up with manson rhetoric. it wasn't so strange in 1967 to drive a bus, to give up all your clothes, you know, and going around and talk peace. a lot of times where you might have had someone say, don't you think what you're doing is odd? instead, we were always in places where people were saying, wow, can i join you? >> the posse gets bigger and bigger and eventually, they all pile in that bus and they drive down to los angeles from san francisco, where they settle at spahn ranch. >> the spahn movie ranch, which

is in the northwest part of l.a. >> all the cowboy shows from the '50s and early '60s were shot there. the saloon, the hotel, the dusty main street. >> manson and his family just moved in there. and that became their base of operation. >> for manson, like any demagogue, if you're trying to take followers and make them buy into your reality, as opposed to anybody else's, you want to get them isolated. you want to get them away from outside influence. >> i was cutting off my past in my own brain, it was like, i can't go back. >> you could absolutely not talk about your past at all. and one thing we didn't have is watches. the whole idea was to let time disappear. there was no time. >> we gave up our birthdays. >> squeaky fromme was another young girl with parental issues.

charlie found her weeping on a bench outside venice, california, one day. introduced himself as the man who's called the gardener, because he tends to all the little flowers in haight-ashbury, and that she should come with him. and she did. >> and i kept thinking, this is fate. because he's exactly what i was looking for. >> love is infinitely strong and infinity mad. it's erratic and crazy. >> people have described her to me as, among all charlie's followers, the greatest true believer. >> she's a little more of a performer, maybe, than the other people in the family. >> you have to make love with it. >> she's very verbal. she has a certain childlike quality that kind of endears you to her, until you listen to what's coming out of her mouth. >> so that you can pick it up any second and shoot. people who met him wanted to be like him.

men especially wanted to have that kind of charisma. so they would do the things that he did. but they didn't do them with the same spirit. >> drugs were always an important part of charlie's appeal. in those days, the enlightened culture was using drugs. you honestly believed that smoking marijuana, taking lsd, would open up your consciousness. >> i was smoking a lot of marijuana, hash. and i had, at that time, had already used acid a couple times. but at that time, drinking and using drugs did not seem unusual, because i was doing it with my high school friends. >> charlie would use lsd for his special ceremonies on a daily basis, where he would preach to people towards the end of the day. >> oh, we took hundreds of trips together. >> he would personally put the dosages in his followers' mouths. but when he took some himself, he was careful to take less, so he'd stay in control. sometimes he'd claim he was jesus christ come again.

he even would take up positions as though he was being crucified. >> sometimes he would re-enact the crucifixion, when we were on lsd, and it was very realistic. and then make the connections of "manson," "son of man," you know. and then the questions would begin. would you die for me? >> and in their drug-induced situation, they listened. so he used lsd as a form of mind control. >> there was, at times, basically, group sex, but it was always very planned, because it was a means of control. when he'd have different men that he was trying to initiate into the family, try to bring them in, he would offer them whatever women he had. >> isn't that what women are for? women receive men and reflect men.

man hold dominion up over woman. it's been that way since -- since we grunted and we came out of caves. >> if a man wanted you, you went with him. you couldn't resist. i mean, he was an excellent pimp. >> manson deliberately sent out the women in the family to go around and troll for famous musicians. they were the bait. that's how charlie meant to use them. >> he thinks he's going to be a singer-songwriter like bob dylan or like neil young. and what he finds is something very different. and something that fuels his anger towards society. ♪ i needed more from my antidepressant. vraylar helped give it a lift. adding vraylar to an antidepressant... ...is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms... ...better than an antidepressant alone. and in vraylar clinical studies,

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people, who will make music that we'll listen to for the next 50 years. >> if you wanted to be a rock n roll star, you had to come to los angeles. manson's goal in life, his obsession, was to become a bigger rock star than the beatles. >> that's why he comes to los angeles. at this particular moment in the on door policy.mmit y h musians, tirddresses were really well known around those times. people would come down from their bedrooms and there'd be three or four people waiting to get a recording deal, and you weren't supposed to call the cops. >> he was convinced he would acquire a patron among all the rock stars who lived in l.a. >> so manson would send some of the women out to places where famous musicians lived, to try to make some sort of connection. >> and one day, two of the women in the family, patricia krenwinkel and a woman called yeller, are hitchhiking. and a fancy car pulls up beside

them. and it's dennis wilson, the drummer of the beach boys. ♪ if everybody had an ocean ♪ >> the beach boys were fantastically talented, with that classic los angeles sound. dennis wilson was the sexy beach boy. there was no doubt about it. couldn't play drums that well, but my gosh, he looked like a rock star. >> he picks up two girls, two manson family members. he takes them back to his house. and he goes off to a recording studio to work. he gets back late that night and manson has moved into his mansion, along with several other family members. >> he came home one night and he told me that charlie and the girls were kind of invited themselves over and stayed for a while. >> one of the manson girls talks about being at dennis wilson's house, walking around with the family members, around dennis wilson's pool on a beautiful southern california afternoon.

the girls are topless. joints are being passed. it just sounded so blissful and that was the '60s. >> always party time. >> dennis really liked women. dennis appears to have liked women pretty much indiscriminately. >> you know, initially for dennis wilson, it was great. it was girls, drugs, and manson could supply both. >> we were invited by dennis to come to dinner to meet charlie. and the family. there were in a group sex kind of situation. and it wasn't my cup of tea, so i excused myself to take a shower. no sner than i got in the shower, the door opened, and charlie manson stood there and looked up at me and said, "you can't do that." i said, "excuse me?" "you can't leave the group." and he looked at me with these wide eyes and kind of maniacal look.

one of your group members is involved with something so weird. it was kind of frightening and freaky to me. >> dennis wilson loved having the manson family with him for a while. he thought manson was a great intellect. he nicknamed him "the wizard." >> he was definitely under charlie's influence at that point in time. >> because charlie could talk such metaphysical mush. dale carnegie, the bible, and homing in on dennis's insecurities about his own talent. dennis was intimidated by the other beach boys. he's low man on the totem pole in the group. charlie builds him up. you're great. your music is exceptional. and little did dennis know that once charlie got his hooks into you, he didn't let go. he was the perfect target. >> he paid for a lot things, like food and transportation and medication. >> the months that the manson

family stayed with him cost him then over $100,000. >> living with dennis wilson got them other benefits. manson got to meet other people in the business, rock stars. >> oddly enough, the one he seemed to impress most was neil young. >> i knew charlie manson. >> neil young talked about his encounter with manson in a bbc documentary. >> he wasn't what you'd call a songwriter. he was like a song-spewer. >> it is astonishing to think that neil young took an interest in the music of charles manson. >> it's good. it was just a little out of control. >> for a few months, dennis wilson thought charles manson was a music genius. and he wrote a song called "cease to exist." ♪ cease to exist ♪ ♪ just come and say you love me ♪ >> dennis wilson brought that song, "cease to exist," to the beach boys, only he renamed it,

gave it some new lyrics. >> it was called "never learn not to love" and we actually recorded that song. ♪ cease to exist ♪ ♪ say you love me ♪ >> i wasn't told about the origins of the song. as far as i knew, dennis had written. i remember mike douglas, i remember doing a show. ♪ i'm your kind i'm your kind ♪ >> the squeaky clean beach boys are singing a song written by charles manson on the mike douglas show. in light of what happened, boggles the mind. and when it appears on the album, it's credited only to dennis wilson. >> manson was furious when he found that dennis wilson had not only changed the lyrics, but had listed himself as the sole composer. when manson goes looking for wilson afterwards, and at one point, leaves a bullet and tells wilson that, i know where you live, i know where your children are, you know what this means. >> i gave dennis wilson a bullet, didn't i?

i gave him a bullet because he changed the words to my song. >> dennis wilson was so terrified ultimately of charlie manson that he ran from him. with anybody else, manson would have physically attacked them, but he has to live with it. he has to swallow it. only because manson still needed wilson's best friend, terry melcher. >> terry melcher was the son of doris day, the famous movie star and singer. he was living on cielo drive in benedict canyon. >> terry melcher is a genius at recognizing how to get marketable hit music. ♪ hey mr. tambourine man ♪ >> he would produce the byrd's version of "mr. tambourine man," "turn, turn, turn." >> he'd have over 80 hit singles within a few years. >> a significant force who could

on his say so have signed charles manson to a record contract. >> so this makes manson all the more determined, whatever it takes, he is going to make terry melcher his friend and terry melcher will love it. manson never, ever considered the fact that maybe he wasn't going to be good enough. manson pursues terry melcher for months. >> unlike people like dennis wilson, you know melcher was a child of hollywood. >> he learns from childhood how to keep people at arm's length. you don't let everybody in. manson once, riding around with melcher and wilson, they actually drive up cielo drive to melcher's home, but melcher does not invite them in. and that frustrates manson. >> terry melcher, on the other hand, did take an interest in finding out about manson's music. >> he finally gets melcher to listen to his music. >> he records manson at the spahn ranch. and melcher talked about that visit to bbc radio one.

>> i arrived and met a bunch of people. they all sat down and played a bunch of songs. there was a big campfire. and it was -- you know, it was quite an interesting thing. >> manson tells the family that melcher has promised him a recording contract. >> then melcher had second thoughts, didn't think manson was talented enough. >> he tells manson, "your music is good, but i wouldn't know what to do with you." and at that moment, charlie manson's life turns completely. >> manson was furious. >> because he did wrong. he lied. when you make a contract, what does a contract mean to you? when you make a contract, you keep your word or you lose your life. >> the dream of being a rock star is not going to happen. for manson, the house on cielo drive comes to represent all he

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♪ by early '69, terry melcher, this big record guy in los angeles who has humiliated charles manson by not signing him to a record deal, moves out of his house in cielo drive. and moving in, instead, is this glamorous young starlet and her filmmaker husband, and neither of them have any idea of the place in his murderous heart that charles manson now has for their new address. >> nobody took my breath away like sharon tate. >> she's gorgeous. drop-dead gorgeous. >> you don't have to have credits. you don't have to have worked your way up. this is hollywood. beauty needs no resume.

>> hello. i'm mr. ed. >> here's the thing about being on "mr. ed." you're on a show with a talking horse, and you are the girl. but you know, that's how everybody broke in. sharon tate is in these shows because she is highly decorative. that doesn't mean that was all she was going to be. that meant that was her foot in the door. >> i first met sharon, i didn't know who she was at all. she was signed to filmways, which is the same company that did the "beverly hillbillies." >> hi. >> well, howdy to you. you're jethro, aren't you? >> well, yes, ma'am. >> the idea was to get sharon used to being on a set with a camera, talking to people. >> they put the dark wig on and most people didn't even know it was her. >> they wanted her not to look like what she looked like. and that strikes us as being counterintuitive now. but the idea then was that a movie actor was something special. it was somebody who would never be caught dead on television. >> let's go. >> every time she met the press, she would be very honest and

say, "i'm just getting started." >> being in front of the camera and going to classes are two different worlds entirely. >> she was not a huge success at that point. she was an up and coming starlet. >> i don't like that word starlet, at all, because there's no such thing, actually. i feel before you make an appearance, it's very necessary to know your craft. >> at the mgm studios in london, sharon tate is reporting for her first motion picture -- "eye of the devil." >> all eyes on sharon tate is essentially a press kit, it's carefully crafted publicity. and we see sharon studying her lines and getting vocal instruction. and all these things that make her look like a hard-working actor. but you look at that ten minutes and the footage you can't forget is her on the dance floor, because she is magic. >> her name is sharon tate. she's today's kind of girl. bursting with youth, beauty, vitality. >> she was, to a large extent,

very insecure. she knew that a lot of her roles were gotten because of her looks. she knew her limitations as an actress, i mean, she really did. i mean, she once said, "i'll never be doing shakespeare." >> i can't see myself doing shakespeare or anything like that. i would love light comedy. >> we're on the set of the picture "the vampire killers", being made at the mgm studios outside of london. and the whole idea comes from the brain of this gentleman named roman polanski. >> roman polanski was and is a great filmmaker. they didn't hit it off at first, they seem to have hit it off quite well afterwards. by the time the movie is over, they're in love. if you were just an average moviegoer in the 1960s, the first time you heard her name was with "valley of the dolls." >> mother, i know i don't have any talent and i know all i have is a body and i am doing my bust exercises. >> "valley of the dolls" the

novel by jacqueline suzanne is one of the biggest selling novels of all time. it's like the ultimate beach read of that era. the movie? well -- >> i'm interested in a young lady with your -- your -- how you say? >> measurements. >> it was perfect camp. >> ann, honey, let's face it, all i know how to do is take off my clothes. >> she had a purity, she had a quietness, she had a real yearning to have a baby. >> i'm pregnant. >> she was the core of the part that she was playing. >> "valley of the dolls" is sharon tate's coming out party. >> sharon tate, star of the film "valley of the dolls," marries film director roman polanski. >> so, when she gets married, and they call it the wedding of the doll, that's a reference to the fact that she became famous for being in this movie. >> i was her california hairdresser, and i helped her shop for the flowers and the

bows. the afterparty playboy club was probably one of the parties of the century. everybody was there. >> among them, michael caine and candice bergen. joan collins and anthony newly. sharon tate's co-star barbara parkins taking time off from "peyton place." >> it was stellar. >> after that, she goes on to be in a matt helm movie. >> oh, i'm sorry. did i hurt you? >> of course you hurt me. >> my father was doing "the wrecking crew," which were those fabulous matt helm movies which were always fun to watch him, when we'd go down to the studio to watch him do it. he thought sharon tate was gorgeous, funny, smart. and he looked forward to maybe recreating her role again in the next movie. >> things were going to be good. sharon tate has married one of the top young filmmakers in hollywood at that time, roman polanski, who has a huge success with "rosemary's baby." she and polanski are going to have a baby. >> so many plans for the future.

we were hoping for a boy, and i say we, because i come from a long line of girls. >> and the symbol of this kind of idyllic success that they're enjoying in hollywood is this house which they're renting. it seems like a place where only love and happiness can be found. and that's what the end of 1968 looks like. and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. mr. clean magic eraser powers through tough messes. so it makes it look like i spent hours cleaning, and you know i didn't. it makes my running shoe look like new!

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♪ in the hollywood hills, the cielo house had a number of well-known owners and residents over the years. it had been photographed for an architectural glossy. >> it was a french farmhouse. >> the grounds were beautiful. it was serene. the views were amazing, because it was off of benedict canyon. >> you'll never find another

view like it. i don't care where you go in the city. it was all the way from the beach to catalina. >> it was the most safe and secure and secluded and peaceful environment she could possibly think of to start her family. >> they came up and looked at the property and i met sharon and it was just magical. she was a lovely lady. >> for sharon, you know, for so many years, it had been all about her acting career, but the moment she found out she was pregnant, her acting career just didn't matter to her at all. everything that mattered was for the baby. >> as we approach august 1969, polanski is in london prepping a movie that mike nichols would go on to direct called "the day of the dolphin." >> sharon tate and her friends were at the house she had rented. she was massively pregnant. she was about to deliver her baby. and her husband was out of the country, so they had come to keep her company and make sure she was okay. >> she was there with her friends abigail folger and voytek frykowski.

and her onetime boyfriend and and now friend jay sebring. >> he was a sharp, charismatic person. he was the creator of men's hair design. >> he wasn't a barber. he was styling men's hair. >> single handedly defined the iconic look of nearly every male recording and film star. >> they wouldn't work without him. >> sammy davis, jim morrison, steve mcqueen, paul newman, warren beatty, frank sinatra, i mean, he was defining culture. >> this is like an evolution from a barber, you understand? like, the guy was the little pole in front, all of a sudden, it was like, on the cover of "time." sharon came back into my salon and brought a new client she wanted me to do, and her name was abigail, abigail folger. >> folger's coffee? >> yeah. >> the last name, of course, is familiar, because she was an heir to the folger coffee fortune.

>> this coffee tastes delicious. >> folger's. >> but she herself was working as a social worker. >> abigail was a little bit of a recluse. she always had her nose buried in a book. >> she wasn't as open and generous in conversation as sharon. a bit more reserved. wojciech was her boyfriend. >> wojciech frykowski was a childhood friend of roman polanski. >> they go out, at one point, that evening, to a restaurant to get some food, because she doesn't feel like cooking. >> they're all staying at the house. they went to el coyote. a place that everyone in los angeles has eaten at. >> we know that they are back in the house by 10:00, because abigail folger's mother calls and talks to abigail at that time. it's simply going to be a quiet, comfortable night. and of course, it turned out not to be. >> because that's the night charles manson has dispatched his followers to go inside the

house and kill everyone inside, whoever they are. tex watson will become a key figure, as the events of august of 1969 take place. watson is there at every key moment. these murders are unimaginable, without watson leading the way. >> charles manson did what many cult leaders have done historically. taking someone into something very bad but by baby steps. never allowing them to see where it was that he was really taking them in the end, which was murder. >> there is a late night visitor. he is the most unlucky man in the history of los angeles. he is a young boy. he's selling a clock radio. his are the first headlights that come up that driveway. and it's when he leaves that the nightmare begins. and his death will set off the

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i'm a convict. i'm an outlaw. i'm not a sunday school teacher. >> this glamorous young actress, sharon tate -- >> well, hello there. >> and four other people at this hollywood hideaway. >> some place, where there are famous rich people, whose

murders will not only get a lot of attention, but also bring some sick satisfaction to charlie manson. >> so, how can charles manson be guilty of murder if he wasn't at the crime scene? when their hand was stabbing somebody, it was manson guiding their hand. >> and just this week, one of those women was released from prison. >> leslie van houten, she served a 53-year sentence. he would tell his story on national tv to diane sawyer and the world would hear a madman. >> if you're going to do something, do it well. leave a sign to let the world know that you were there. have a good day. >> manson was a classic cult leader. a charismatic personality that became an object of worship to his followers. >> he draws these people to him and he tells them they're beautiful, they're wonderful. >> manson used drugs, so he could suggest things to people in states of altered consciousness. >> after i started taking acid

with him, i believed that he had some kind of ultimate source of power. i believed that charlie could blow life into dead birds, that he could control the weather. >> he knew how to groom people and how to insinuate himself in their mind. >> he asked us constantly, each one of us, will you die for me? will you be my finger on a hand? will you, you know, will you be me? he began to feel more paranoid. a rage and hatred for society. >> it's all of that that goes together that ends up taking someone to the door of the tate residence. >> on the night of august 8th, manson goes out and picks three of his women -- susan atkins, patricia krenwinkel and linda kasabian. >> charlie came and woke me up and he said, "get up. i want you to go somewhere." and so i did.

and he said, “do everything that tex says." and we were off. >> manson's instructions to tex watson are these -- you know where the house is up on cielo. go kill everybody there. >> manson associated that house with his disappointed career as a singer and a music writer, because terry melcher, the record producer, had lived in that house. >> he knows terry melcher has already moved, but to manson's mind, this house, on top of this beautiful hill, represented rich, famous people. >> i told them to do what tex said. i never told anybody to do anything other than what they wanted to do. >> he told susan atkins to leave a sign. something witchy. >> susan atkins was a genuinely troubled young woman. she was manson's watchdog, the one that everybody knew was crazy enough to do anything. >> linda kasabian was the

getaway driver. the only reason that she was along was because she had a valid california driver's license. >> they drove about an hour. and they drove up to the front gate. >> tex climbs over the fence, cuts the wires. about this time, a car is coming down the driveway. >> a young man, steven parent, had been visiting the caretaker, who's a friend. >> watson had the type of revolver made for famous u.s. marshall wyatt earp. so, he went up to him and steven parent said, please don't kill me, please don't kill me, i'm on my way out, i won't tell anybody, just let me live. and watson shot him four times at point blank range. >> and that begins the savagery. watson talked about that night in an interview. >> i was so high on speed that i understood what i was doing, but it just didn't make any difference any more.

>> sharon tate has these friends who were staying with her. she's in the late stages of pregnancy. when the four killers break into the house, they cut through a screen window and sneak in that way. they find wojciech frykowski sleeping in a couch in the living room. back in the back bedrooms, abigail folger reading a book in bed, jay sebring and sharon tate in her bedroom sitting on the bed talking. >> tex watson walked in and he said, "i am the devil, and i'm here to do the devil's work." >> then tex says, "we're going to kill you." >> everyone else at that point obviously was getting really frightened and scared. from the moment that tex had said to all of us, i'm going to kill everyone in the house, i knew, this is pure madness. what began to happen is, a scuffle started taking place between tex and jay sebring. >> jay sebring was very

protective of sharon and said, no, you know, she's eight and a half months pregnant, she can't sit on the floor, and watson then stabbed him, shot him, killing him. and then pandemonium broke loose. >> when there was an attempt to tie everyone up, eventually, abigail folger started to get herself undone and she took off. >> abigail folger, wojciech frykowski make a break for it out in the lawn. >> i left and followed her. i ran after her with an upraised knife and we went out through a back door and i ran her down and i began to stab her. i remember her saying, "i'm already dead." when i looked around, i knew this is wrong. but you're a part of this horrendous dance. and it was like, no matter what

or anywhere i turned, it wasn't going to stop. >> abigail folger ended up being stabbed 28 times. watson jumped on frykowski on the lawn. repeatedly stabbed him and hit him over the head with the gun butt. frykowski ended up getting stabbed 51 times. >> susan atkins stabbed sharon tate to death and told her she was going to do it. she talked to the media about killing sharon tate. >> i felt nothing. i felt absolutely nothing for her as she begged for her life and the life of her baby. >> susan atkins, who had given birth herself to a child ten months earlier, killed a woman what was eight and a half month s pregnant, said, you can come back and kill me after i have my baby. >> you can just imagine the horror sharon was in, trying to protect her baby. >> but at that moment, at that final moment in sharon tate's life, she's thinking about her baby.

she's not even thinking about herself. >> one word is written on the door at cielo. susan atkins doesn't actually want to put her finger in their blood, so, she dips a towel in the blood and writes "pig" on the door. >> i said, if you're going to do something, leave something witchy. just like i would tell you. if you're going to do something, do it well. and leave something witchy. leave a sign to let the world know that you were there. have a good day. >> when i got back to the ranch, we got out of the car, charlie came up and asked everybody how it went. i looked at him and i said, "charlie, they were so young." >> we have five dead bodies, three male and two female bodies. >> movie star sharon tate and four other persons were murdered in her home in bel air.

>> los angeles was gripped by fear after these murders. they were so bizarre. and that next night, around midnight, the city news ticker jumped to life. >> the city of los angeles has had another multiple murder. >> and i shouted across the newsroom, it's happened again. ♪ about my family history. with ancestry i dug and dug until i found some information. i was able to find out more than just a name. and then you add it to the tree. i found ship manifests. birth certificate. wow. look at your dad. i love it so much to know where my father work, where he grew up. it's like you discover a new family member. discover even more at ancestry.com ♪ ♪ save 15% on new school styles at old school prices. like kids' tees for $6.99 and under. jeans and more.

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we have five dead bodies. three male bodies and two female bodies. >> i was the one that got the call, so, it was mine. a call that lasted all my life. >> so, you walked in -- >> i walked in, saw the white rambler that steven parent was in. >> you see, there's two bodies on the lawn. >> the words "pig" were written in this area in blood on the front door, and the door was ajar.

sharon tate's body was in this area here. jay sebring was in this area here. >> there are puddles and pools of blood everywhere. >> that particular morning, it was very quiet. and the only thing that i can recall hearing were the sounds of the flies that were on the bodies. >> it is a scene, in my view, that was designed to shock the police. and on a bigger scale, to shock the rest of us. >> you're standing here, do you allow yourself, my god, what -- who are we, what is this? >> it's tough. it's tough. >> all right, now, let's go. one at a time.

>> so, the police, when they arrive and they see all these bodies at the house, the first person they want to talk to is the caretaker. >> so, i got up, and there was a police officer pointing a pistol at me and he grabbed me and he handcuffed me. and i kept saying, what's wrong? and he said, "shut up." >> the only suspect, a caretaker, 19-year-old william garretson, was released yesterday for lack of evidence. now, without a suspect, the los angeles police department must start all over again. >> i was a young reporter at the associated press in august of 1969. and i had been assigned that day to go out to orange county airport. to meet president nixon, he landed, i called in, i said, the president has landed, and they said, forget the president. there's a much bigger story going on. >> i was there the day after the killings, covering the story for abc news. >> the latest in the case from abc's dick shoemaker in los angeles. >> police officers say the

department already has given -- let me do that again. police officers say the department already has given out too much information about the mass murders. my initial reaction was, basically, this is one weird killing. >> there were a lot of rumors that it was a satanic cult had done this, and all sorts of rumors. and they were focused on polanski. and the fact that he had just done the movie "rosemary's baby," which involved satanism and a woman who was pregnant. it was just eerie. >> insulting, damaging rumors. they said, oh, roman did this because he was jealous of jay. i mean, are you kidding me? >> they called sharon everything from the queen of the hollywood orgy scene to a dabbler in satanic arts.

i think the one that sticks with me the most was live freaky, die freaky. basically by saying that, they blamed the victims for their own murders. >> the victim of one grisly addition to this year's crime statistics was buried today. >> sharon tate, a movie career just beginning, a life ended at the age of 26. >> their son was given the name of each of his grandfathers and was buried with sharon. >> you know that feeling where you just want to see them one more time, you just want to be able to hold them one more time and you can't. >> all of you know how beautiful she was. but only few of you know how good she was. >> the city of los angeles has had another multiple murder. last night, a middle aged couple was stabbed to death in a case that has striking similarities to the mass murder saturday of actress sharon tate and four friends.

>> and i shouted across the newsroom, "it's happened again." >> targets of the unknown assassins this time were wholesale grocer leno labianca and his wife rosemary. >> rosemary and leno labianca die because manson knows how to get to their house. though he never met the labiancas, manson and some of the family members attended parties at the house next door. >> it was next door to harold true. harold true was my old road dog. it was a party pad. >> the last stop that leno and rosemary labianca made was to a newsstand. and then she glanced at the headlines and she started crying and she said, "how could anybody be so cruel," not knowing that probably within 15 or 20 minutes, she was going to be a victim of the same killers. >> so manson orchestrates the murder of the labianca s.

he's the one who initially goes into the house, cases the joint, comes back out, gets tex watson. they go back and get a couple of the women. leslie van houten, patricia krenwinkel. >> i knew that people would die. i knew that there would be killing. >> charles mason told leno and rosemary labianca not to worry, that he, it was just a robbery, and he wasn't going to hurt them. he wasn't going to hurt them. >> pat and i took mrs. labianca into the bedroom and the sounds of mr. labianca dying came into the bedroom. >> when mrs. labianca heard her husband being killed by tex, she started calling out to him and yelling for him. >> and tex came in and killed her. >> and then tex turned me around and handed me the knife and he

said, do something, because manson had told him to make sure that all of us got our hands dirty. and i stabbed mrs. labianca in the lower back about 16 times. >> following charlie's orders, words are written in blood, including "helter skelter" on the refrigerator. the murderers stop for a snack, they take from the refrigerator chocolate milk and watermelon. >> they were just savage crimes, savage murders. >> another bizarre murder in los angeles. >> why? what would be the purpose? there wasn't an immediate answer to who had done this terrible crime. and that made people in the hollywood community terrified. p! and i'm about to steal this game from you just like i stole kelly carter in high school. you got no game dude, that's a foul!

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as it stands today, they have two crimes that are similar. they have seven people who are dead. and they have no solid suspects. >> the police at that time really were in a quandary. they came under a lot of heat

from the l.a. papers in 1969 for not getting anywhere with this case. >> they had mayhem, bloodshed, and incomprehensible words scrawled in blood on the walls of these crime scenes. >> i grew up with a lot, a lot of fear. a lot of fear in my own home. because nowhere was safe anymore. nowhere. not laying in your bed at night. nothing was safe in my world anymore. >> panic set in across the city. sporting goods stores were sold out of guns. >> apparently, sinatra left town, tony bennett was living at the beverly hills hotel in one of the bungalows he moved inside to be safe. steve mcqueen supposedly drove around with a gun in the front seat of the car now. >> and all that was because, for three months, no one knew who did it. have you come up with any rational motive for the killings? >> no, everything at this point is purely, purely speculative.

>> they'd found some marijuana and narcotics at the tate killing scene. so, they start investigating who among the victims was using drugs, who their sources might have been. could this have been a drug deal gone bad that night? labianca had some gambling debts. could it have been a gambling murder? could it have been a mob murder of some sort? so weeks were spent pursuing that. >> sergeant cooke, can you tell us now how many men the los angeles police department has working on both these cases? >> yes, we have 17 sergeants and two lieutenants whose prime responsibility now is the investigation of both homicides. >> are they working together? >> no, actually the homicides are not connected. >> for a long time, these two crimes are not connected, even though we looked at the circumstances now and we go, wow, they seem very similar. >> there was one group of detectives investigating the labianca killings, one group investigating the tate killings. >> the detective squads that

were following these were in the same building together on the same floor. but they never worked together to try to link them up. they were there. they could have done it at any time. it just didn't happen. >> it was a botched investigation. part of it, as i say, was because there were two investigations. part of it was that there were missed clues. >> six minutes and 20 seconds of moderate driving up benedict canyon led us up to this spot. and looking over the edge of this hill, we found several pairs of blue jeans and what appeared to be some very dark sweatshirts. >> and then a tv crew, who was out in the area, found the discarded clothes of the killers in the hills. the police didn't find them, the tv crew found them. >> what we did, we came here and actually stood right here in this spot and said, okay, if we had just killed these people, we are covered with blood, where

would we go and where would we throw the clothes? believing from cielo drive, driving up benedict canyon, we timed ourselves and tried to place ourselves in the same position that the people would have been in that night after they left the tate house. >> this is where we found them. it's right down there. >> when the lapd arrived on the scene, detectives were not happy the media figured it out before they did. >> we were notified by my boss who received a phone call from what i leave is channel 7 news. >> they came up and found the clothing, which we introduced at the trial. >> it's a 10-year-old boy who winds up with the gun that was used inside the house. >> one of the manson family members tossed this gun out a window, and a young kid had found it in his yard. >> little stevie weiss. and he was outside playing and found this gun and he went to his father with it and he had seen enough tv that he knew not to touch the gun. >> and so a patrol officer came

out, picked up the gun with his hands and then took it and booked it into evidence in van nuys. >> he was a witness at the trial. and they said to him, when the police arrived and saw the gun, how did they handle it? and he said, they put their hands all over it. he was very annoyed. >> and then it takes forever for the lapd to realize that it is the gun that's used, you know, at the tate home. >> and another killing, a musician who lived in the santa monica mountains. he, too, brutally stabbed, the words "political piggy" scrawled on the wall. >> there was another mistake, there was a musician named gary hinman, who was killed out in malibu shortly before the tate/labianca killings. and manson was one of the murderers there. and unfortunately, malibu is in the l.a. sheriff's jurisdiction. >> the day after the tate murders, the investigators of the hinman murder come to los

angeles, and they're trying to talk to the officers involved with the tate investigation to say, i think maybe there's a link here. they never get the opportunity to do that. they're told, no, we're pretty certain that this murder's going to be drug-related. and they're sent away. >> but then, after all this fumbling around by the los angeles police department, they get this amazing break. >> today, warrants have been issued for the arrest of three individuals in connection with the murders of sharon tate. >> we are about to see what evil looks like in the face of charles manson. on the cover of "life" magazine. and that is how 1969 will end. but that's just the beginning. n trigger migraine attacks, too. that's why my go-to is nurtec odt. it's the only migraine medication that can treat and prevent my attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using.

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but do they really? do they see that crick in your neck? that ache in your heart? will they see that funny little thing that wasn't there last year?

a new bounce in your step? the way your retinal scan connects to your blood sugar? at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you. when i stand on the mountain and i said, "do it," it gets done. if it don't get done, well, then i'll move on it. and that's the last thing in the world you want me to do. >> following the murders, there seems to be a state of high alert and anxiety at the spahn ranch. >> and only a few days after the murders, in fact, here come all these helicopters, here come all these law enforcement officials.

>> only it's not there for the reason we would all assume it's there for. they are there to arrest manson and some of his associates for car theft. >> they were stealing cars from the neighborhood, some of which they were transforming into dune buggies. >> the arresting officers can't understand when they tell manson that this is a raid because of a suspected car theft, he seems relieved. >> when he's told, manson laughs. and so, this crazy, unlikely thing takes place, where these two hideous murders have happened, committed by the people at the ranch, and manson is arrested for a totally different reason. and it's the same kind of trouble manson has even written songs about. ♪ clang bang clang ♪ ♪ went the big iron door ♪ ♪ they put me in a cell ♪ ♪ with a concrete floor ♪ >> the next day in the paper, they've got a story about the

raid, and they've got a story about the murders, never realizing that you've got the same man perpetrating both. >> they have no idea what is going on. >> on the papers authorizing the raid, they get the date wrong, which nullifies the arrest and they have to throw the whole thing out. >>ndhelehigo when nson'seleaseon the car eft charges, he wants to get his family out of los angeles, as far from the police as he possibly can. charlie manson gets the people in a caravan of cars out to death valley. >> he thought that by killing the people at cielo drive, killing the two people at the labianca home, that this would somehow create this race war that he had predicted. helter skelter. the african-americans fighting against the white people and winning. >> manson thought there was going to be an apocalypse, and he was outfitting these dune buggies with gun scabbards and machine gun mounts to be ready to fight. it was like mad max.

manson would get them together and they were riding around on their dune buggies, firing off guns, getting ready for the race war. and that was really a big mistake for manson and that's what brought law enforcement there. >> and when we were in the desert, he said, if they ever capture me again, the men in the black robes, i'm just going to be crazy old charlie that all of you took care of. >> so, if he plays sort of the dumb old charlie, i've got mental health issues, and have the girls sort of spin that to the police, in his mind, he thinks that might work. >> a california highway patrol officer, james purcell, had come to the ranch. >> you got to understand, we had no idea what we had. we felt we were working with a bunch of hippies that were an auto theft gang. >> purcell has a candle in one hand. the light is fading. he's got his .357 magnum in another hand. and he walks into the house. it's terrifying. >> below the sink was a small

cupboard and hair was hanging out over the top of the cupboard door. fingers began wiggling in the hair and the door opened and this figure began coming out. >> he says, "come out and don't do anything or i'll shoot you." >> he came out, and i'll never forget the first thing he said was, "hi." and i said, "who are you?" and he identified himself as charles manson. we dumped 26 people in the jail. krenwinkel, atkins, squeaky, they were all in the first group. >> charlie is originally charged in death valley, again, with car theft. it's only after susan atkins, one of charlie's followers who is involved in the various murders, is transferred back to l.a. that she tries to impress some fellow inmates that things

start to get put together. >> it's like all the king's horses and all the king's men tried to solve this crime, but susan atkins had a secret that she had to share. >> she started saying about how stupid the police were, and how they really were on the wrong track on a lot of crimes, and i do recall saying to her, well, what are you talking about? and her answer to me was, well, you know those murders up benedict canyon? and i said, yeah. and she said to me, well, you know who did it, don't you? and i said, no. and she said, you're looking at her. >> the die was cast, you might say, and charlie probably knew his time was up. >> the men and women suspected of killing actress sharon tate and four others were members of a weird, sadistic hippie cult. and by writing the words "pig" at the scene of the crime, apparently the hippies were trying to throw the police off the track by blaming the murders on the black panthers, a group the hippies hated.

>> manson and his followers had been arrested finally for the tate/labianca murders. and what lay ahead was a murder trial. and a circus that would both fascinate and appall everyone who watched. >> charlie, can you look this way, please? >> and they watched every night. . we can end this war, but it might start a chain reaction. it would ignite the atmosphere. are we saying there's a chance that when we push that button, 3... -we destroy the world? 2... 1...

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thinking like little thinking like little children out of town. sneak in, sneaking all around the courthouse. >> manson's efforts to portray himself as the lone fighter against an unfair establishment are not working. >> the tate/labianca murder trial may be the most widely documented of its time. >> susan atkins, patricia krenwinkel, leslie van houten and charlie go on trial for capital murder. >> it was insanity from beginning to end. it was a circus. >> it was on television every night. it was spectacle. >> the trial started in early 1970 and went on for almost a

year. >> every day in that trial, spontaneous random acts of insanity by manson or the three women defendants. >> manson would come in, suspicious or charming. demonic or eerily, you know, amiable. even more shocking were the sight of the three women. >> how do you feel, ms. krenwinkel? >> in these colorful dresses. sometimes they'd be singing. ♪ the contrast between the savagery of the crime and the kind of carefree nature, it was deeply unsettling. >> every bit of it was planned out by charles manson. >> the entire proceedings were scripted by charlie. every day, we'd meet, and he'd decide, well, today, i want you each to stand up and hold your hands up in some stupid symbols. you're going to get up and scream "old grey mare." you're going to get up and right burn an "x" in your head. you are going to go bald. and that day we proceeded though

the events as he set it. and most the time, we were upstairs because we would get thrown out of court and we would just sit upstairs. >> outside the courtroom, the manson girls who had not gone along on the killings but were dedicated to him, were camped outside the courthouse. they lived there. they slept there. they were available for interviews at all times. it was a scene outside that was almost equal to what was going on inside. >> there's a revolution coming very soon. >> the astonishing thing is, these are people with absolute loyalty to charles manson, even though manson's been in custody for months, and yet, their worshipful fidelity, their absolute loyalty is unshakable. >> hello. >> manson himself was uncontrollable. at one point, he leaped across the counsel table at the judge with a pencil in his hand, screaming, "someone should cut your head off, old man." and a bailiff tackled him in

midair as he was heading towards the judge. and what we heard was that after that incident that the judge started carrying a revolver. >> i noted, for example, the coverage of the charles manson case. >> richard nixon was one of the best helpers charlie manson had during the trial. >> he was at a law enforcement seminar, and they asked him about it, and he decided to say that charlie was guilty. >> here is a man who is guilty directly or indirectly of eight murders without reason. >> that became a huge story, huge headline. >> one of the defense attorneys slipped manson a newspaper. all of a sudden, in the courtroom, manson picks up "the l.a. times" newspaper that says, "manson guilty, nixon declares," and showed it to the jury. >> manson thought at that point he would cause a mistrial. but the judge wasn't buying it.

>> how would the prosecution tie manson into these crimes that had been physically committed by other people? >> vincent bugliosi is the deputy district attorney that prosecutes manson and his followers. >> originally, the los angeles prosecutor's office plan was to present this as a robbery gone wrong, where the victims died. and that made it murder. bugliosi thought it was something beyond that, and he was the one from the start who said, "we need to use helter skelter." >> what does helter skelter mean? >> where does it come from? >> to charles manson, helter skelter means the black man rising up against the white establishment and murdering the entire white race. that is with the exception of charlie and his family who intended to escape to the desert and live in the bottomless pit, a place that he got from revelation 9. >> vincent bugliosi is the one who saw that manson's

fascination with the beatles' "white album" could be part of this. he's the one that in his questioning of the manson family members got them to talk about manson stating that the race war is coming, we know, because the beatles have told us in the song "piggies" and the song "blackbird," most of all in the song "helter skelter." ♪ helter skelter ♪ >> and their strategy was to take those words that had been written on the wall at the labianca home, and to develop from those words manson's theory of this apocalyptic race war. >> i told the jury that when the words helter skelter were found printed in blood at the murder scene, this was tantamount to manson's fingerprints being found at the scene. >> when bugliosi did this, helter skelter, he was able then to quantify the type of hold that manson had over his followers. if manson can get them to

believe the beatles are telling them a race war is coming, this is such a huge step that manson would get them to believe it was their idea to go out and murder people? that was, i think, the genius of the whole helter skelter presentation. >> today in court, the prosecution's key witness, linda kasabian, continued to testify. iv obo t night of d been the august 9th and the night of august 10th. >> we granted linda kasabian immunity, so she was our star witness. she was an accomplice. she was equally guilty. she saw everything. she didn't physically kill anyone. >> and had he not had her, bugliosi might have lost the case, because there was no one else that could give an eyewitness account. she said she was outside on the lawn. frykowski is who she was referring to, she said, a man came forward me, and he was bleeding and he had been stabbed, and i said to myself,

"oh, god, make this stop." >> manson stared at mrs. kasabian and said, "you have lied three times. the next lie, number four, will harm you." >> one of the attorneys is ronald hughes. leslie von houghton's attorney. >> ronald hughes started to really represent van houten and tried to split her off from the others. manson didn't care anything about the women. he wanted all the defense attorneys to represent him. >> manson specifically told the women to testify that he had nothing to do with the murders, and the attorneys realized that their clients were doing what manson told them to do as opposed to what was in their best interests. >> for one of the women to have a lawyer who was saying, "you don't have to be part of this anymore," that was very threatening. >> manson pointed across the counsel table and ronald hughes sat right beside me, so i saw this, manson pointed at him and glared at him and said, "attorney, i don't want to ever see you in this courtroom again." and we never saw him again.

and his body was found six months later, but it was so badly decomposed that we could never tell the cause of death. >> he was found under a rock that had fallen on him or pushed on him or whatever. it sort of looks like someone did him in. >> and then several years later, a former member of manson's family called me, wanting to remain anonymous and said that hughes was murdered by the manson family. >> others say the death of ronald hughes was just a tragic accident. no one was ever charged in connection with his death. >> hughes? hughes? i think the district attorney killed him, because he was the only lawyer we had that was worth anything. he was the only one that was doing anything for us, you know. i think someone pushed him off a cliff. >> the jurors were out for nine days. >> the prosecuting attorney would note that as the jury came in, before the verdict was read, he could see the hands of the big scary charles manson shaking like a leaf. >> the jury today found all four

defendants guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths a year and a half ago of sharon tate, the actress, and four other persons at her home, and the killing of two other persons two nights later. >> they are ultimately convicted of all of the murder charges and are sentenced to death. >> the green room will make anybody terrified. death, for once, was looking at manson. ♪ but i manage it well. ♪ ♪ it's a little pill with a big story to tell. ♪ ♪ i take once-daily jardiance, ♪ ♪ at each day's staaart. ♪ ♪ as time went on it was easy to seee ♪ ♪ i'm lowering my a1c. ♪

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we've seen charlie do things we've seen charlie do things that no human being has ever done. >> what can entirely account for the public's interest and fascination in the manson family homicides of 1969? their lurid claim on our consciousness. >> people see the urban legend. they don't want to see the faces behind the ugliness. >> and it continues to shock the conscious. both because of the brutality of the murders and because of this

eerie cult-like control that manson had over his followers. >> there's no end to it. i saw a guy with a tattoo one time of manson. if you go online, you can buy baby bibs and buy mugs. >> manson and his family members were sentenced to death, and the death penalty has been overturned in california. >> many, many new issues -- >> the prosecutor heard that news -- >> he realized manson won. >> and the fascination lingers because she did not. >> sharon was eerily beautiful. >> a beauty dying young is always a kind of show business trope. and it leaves us with these luminous aenimages that never f. >> she seemed wholesome. >> those who laid eyes on sharon tate the first time seemed to stop whatever it was they were doing, and the only one who didn't was her murderer. >> i told her that i didn't have any mercy on her. >> now, she also is dead. >> susan atkins has died. she suffered from brain cancer.

>> susan atkins would die in prison in 2009. others of manson's ex-followers, their lives destroyed by manson, their identities reclaimed during their prison time, continue to serve life sentences. tex watson's fathered four kids while in prison. >> tex watson remains in prison and will for the rest of his life. >> but after spending nor than a half century behind bars, leslie van houten was released from prison on july 11, 2023, over the objections of her victims' survivors. >> i only did what charlie wanted. that was the whole thing. >> you have to know every part of it. and to know you know it is to know it. >> and squeaky tried to kill a president. >> she was the woman in red who pulled a gun on president gerald

ford. she served 34 years in prison before being released in009. >> we turn next tonight to the death of charles manson, one of the most notorious mass murderers in america. >> the life of charles manson ended in a hospital somewhere near bakersfield, california on november 19th, 2017. the cause of death was listed as natural. he was 83. he had been transferred to this hospital from the california state prison. the reason why he lingers in our minds is because the face of sharon tate lingers in our mind. and it is her memory that endures for us. and that makes him unforgettable in an evil way. >> the beauty and the evil in this case, studied in this country for so many years, and as for leslie van houten tonight, her lawyer says she's ban take ton transitional

housing at an undisclosed location starting a new life there after 53 years in prison that. is our program tonight. thanks for watching. i'm david muir. from all of us at 20/20 and abc news, goodnight. >> live breaking news. dion: the breaking coming out of oakland where a freeway shooting injured an eight-year-old boy. the child is in grave condition tonight. good evening. dan: in the crossfire under rolling gunbattle. tim johns is on the story.