relax people, my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself. >> i'm craig melvin. . i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". >> it's all a plea, isn't it? >> are you ashamed? >> shame,? it's relevant. >> empty. >> i would do to wouldn't do anything i'd feel guilty a bout. >> you may think you know the charles manson story, but not like this. >> things that police had never seen before. >> sharon tate begged her, please don't kill me. >> he was prime to take advantage of peace and love, flower power.

>> even now, decades later, the world is still fascinated by charles manson and his crimes. we take you inside his world of drugs -- >> he would dose them with lsd -- >> sex. >> he slept with all those girls. >> and rock'n'roll -- >> they really did listen to the "white" album over and over. >> with new interviews -- >> he says, gary, this is your last chance. >> and new details. >> he would always frame his statements, this is what i believe and the girls all believed it. >> the murders. >> these people were brutally butchered. >> the mayhem. >> charlie was acting meaner towards the girl. >> the mad men. >> maybe i should have killed four, 500 people, then i would've felt better. >> he symbolizes the horror that can be possible in this world. >> hello and welcome to

"dateline". charles manson was a man of small stature and monstrous delusions. the one-time amateur musician believed he would be bigger than the beatles. after that green dream was crushed, it was replaced by a chilling fantasy. a nightmarish prophesy placing manson atop the throne as ruler of a post armageddon world. this is the story of how a career criminal, calling himself jesus, convinced his young followers to slaughter innocent victims. delivering charles manson the fame he craved. here is keith morrison with "the summer of manson". >> all that remains are ruins. the rams champ coal barker ranch is long gone. only the fitful baking death valley left out. tooth are story the fated bits, the rusted junk.

the artifacts from another time, when this was ground zero for one of the most infamous crimes in history. the hideout of a living personification of evil. >> you've got it stuck in your brain that i. >> charles manson. >> one hot, dry weekend in los angeles. august, 1969. a pregnant movie star, slaughtered. along with four others in her home. across town, a couple, butchered in there's. >> these were brutal crime scenes. things that the police had never seen before. >> murders so bloody, so ugly, they rewrote history. became a kind of bookmark as an era of optimism ended. and a darker time began. >> the sixties came to a close, 1969, and that was the curtain. that was the final curtain. >> who could make sense of it? >> sane?

that's relevant. >> who? even though. >> how do our kids and up doing this kind of incredible violent crime? how did that happen? >>. charles manson. ,,,,. it's a story that begins in a small town on the banks of the hot ohio river. mcmechen, west virginia. where the mid manson spun had its beginning. >> had manson told his own life story. that he was a child nobody wanted. his mother is a career criminal and prostitute. >> but manson lied. >> this is jeff guinn, author

of manson. the man whose research revealed the facts behind the mist. >> was manson raised by a very loving family. his uncle and aunt and his grandmother. these were folks who were very religious. and they of course, wanted charlie to go to church. which he hated. but he had an amazing knack to memorize scripture. >> he was fascinated particularly with the book of revelation. which he learned to quote at great length. but he did not learn to be good. >> he constantly stole. he lied. he picked on people. he was fascinated with knives and nothing you would do to try to discipline him worked. >> finally, was manson sent to reform school. eventually prison. by 32, he had spent half his life locked up. >> he was immediately struck by the pimps. from them, he learned how to

control women who were and this is his quote, bent but not broken. >> manson also became fascinated with a popular book by dale carnegie. called "how to win friends and influence people". this is so strange to hear. that he read dale carnegie. >> not only red dale carnegie, absorbed it. >> that wasn't the only thing manson picked up in prison. another inmate gave him guitar lessons. and one day in the prison workshop, a radio was blaring the top 40 at of 1964. >> he hears the song by the beatles. and so, he sets a goal for himself of becoming even better than the beatles and he starts writing songs and performing in prison shows. >> and so, by the time charlie manson was released from prison on parole, his fantasy was very strong. >> he would be signed to a contract. he would become world famous,

rich, have all the women and drugs he wanted. >> a fantasy that charles manson himself would have remained anonymous. a complete unknown. had it not been for this -- san francisco cisco's haight district, were that very moment in 1967 busloads of kids were arriving. to what they thought would be a new world of peace and love. >> there would be hundreds of people sitting on the sidewalks and you'd go grass, pass it. speed. >> roger smith was her manson's parole officer in san francisco. and in that scene walked charlie medicine? >> he did. >> he could somehow identify the ones who could be tricked, coerced, drawn in. >> vent but not broken. troubled young women. like susan atkins, she left home as a teenager and drifted.

washed up in the haight. she looked worked as a topless dancer, quit then fell under manson's spell. he nicknamed her, sadie. later, there was leslie van houten. who got into drugs, ran away from home, had an abortion and then met him. people magazine's elaine diaz has written about manson. >> he slept with all those girls right away. making a connection with them. and they felt this man gets me. >> he kept adding women to his entourage. and they went with him everywhere. even to me and flirt with his parole officer. who heard firsthand manson's preaching to his flock and oddball makes a free but love, social commentary and apocalyptic prophesy's. >> i found a lot of this stuff pretty silly. but he would always frame his statements, this is what i believe and the girls all believed it. >> the girls hung on every word he spoke.

seemed ready to do anything he asked. like when he told them to have sex with men he wanted to win over. when he told them he was destined to be bigger than the beatles. >> manson philly intended to become a rock'n'roll star and didn't think it would be very hard. >> the summer of love was over. manson loaded his family, they now numbered about half a dozen, onto a school bus. took them to los angeles. he was still just a small time criminal with, adrienne. but not for long. >> a most unlikely pair. a beach boy and charles manson. coming up -- >> dennis was could convince he could make charlie a star. >> and's strange hold on his family. >> he dances, he sings, it looks beautiful, he looks happy -- and this draws a lot of people. >> when "dateline" continues. tinues rollerball design.

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los angeles, 1968. the center of the rock'n'roll universe. here was capitol records, the beatles record company. the sunset strip. and here the producers who could make charles manson a star. he positioned his family out here in the wooded haven of alternative living called topanga canyon. >> he lived on a place in

topanga canyon. it took >> he lived on a place in topanga canyon it. was it burned out can. >> in his first tv interview he told us how he got to know and manson his very available young women. >> they would come over to take showers and. such >> and stuff as he said. >> sadie was called sexy sadie, and not without cause. >> was it exactly eric's house, the main occupant and owner of the house in which eric was living with was a softspoken music teacher named gary hinman. he was just generous, basically. >> he never charged me any rent, whatsoever. >> when some of the manson women were busted for a spree of minor crimes, -- >> charlie came over and ask gary if he could help him. >> he says will what is the bill? >> of course, gary hinman, as he generously paid the bill, had no idea how manson would return his favor.

and manson the family moved from topanga canyon to a defunct western movie location called spahn ranch a few miles further out. men's and told another of his followers, lynette fromme who is nicknamed "squeaky", to keep the octogenarian octogenarian owner happy. so the family, in exchange for a futures got to live on the ranch for free. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and monsoon? >> he dances. he sings. he looks beautiful. he looks happy. this draws a lot of people. just like people are drawn to little babies. >> they scrounge for food and trash bins. but formal or family member, barbara hoyt -- >> it was fun [laughs] you go behind the store. they used to throw a some good stuff. good vegetables. you find all kinds of treasures out there. [laughs] >> but the family didn't just live on scavenge and vegetable.

they stole cash and credit cards. cars. taught manson them a skill he called creepy crawling. entering houses at night without waiting the sleeping people inside. and he used his women to advance his dream of becoming famous. >> sends them out into parts of los angeles that are known as areas where this rock stars live. to find some of them, do what it takes and get them to take charlie on as sort of their project that they will introduce to the right people. >> ridiculous? of course. but then, the most extraordinary thing. it worked. >> dennis picked up a couple girls uncensored. >> dennis was dennis wilson of the beach boys. at the time, americas answers

to the the beatles. >> was gregg jakobson a friend and producer of dennis. >> they played music all the time at his house. >> manchin's system worked like a charm. offering his young women as sexual favors. to get what he wanted. before the day was out, he had and most of the family had moved right into dennis wilson's house. >> dennis used to call me every day and say greg, come on down. you've got to meet charlie the wasn't wizard. dennis was convinced he could make charlie a star. >> so, improbable as it seems, dennis took man's into his brother bryant's studio. that's brian wilson. to record some of his songs. here's manson singing during that session. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> but when the other beach boys actually heard that? >> they didn't have a very high opinion of the music or charlie.

>> the session fizzled. but the beach boys did play one of manson's songs on the the mike douglas show. but dennis we were the words and the title. >> oh, was charlie so angry that anybody would dare to change the lyrics or anything he said. it was like misquoting him. >> so, the beach boys were not the answer to manson's dreams. but there was one more chance. gregg jakobson new a man in los angeles who could snap his fingers and get manson a contract. his name was terry melcher. one of l.a.'s top music producers. and lean late spring of 1969, melcher agreed to come to spahn ranch to hear manson saying. >> charlie almost expected somebody to pull out a contrast dependency here, sign here. you now have a contract with columbia records. >> but there was to be no contract.

because later, terry melcher, politely but firmly rejected charlie manson. >> charlie was really crushed. >> he would not be a rock'n'roll star. he would not be rich and famous. he was a failure. which to manson meant, said his parole officer roger smith -- >> charlie was in serious danger of losing the family. he did something that politicians are masterful at. and that is, he creates this horrible thing out there. that there is going to be a race war. >>. . it was a time of racial strife in america. especially in early. and mentioned blended that information somehow with the book of revelation. to proffer site armageddon and a world ending race war. he called it "helter skelter", after one of the songs on the the beatles map "white" album. his followers believed it. but did he? roger smith is not so sure. >> i think it was basically

used to keep them focused and maybe even divert attention from the fact that he was not doing well, in terms of realizing his dream. >> time to move, he told his family. gather money, cars. pitch to the desert her wait out the war between the races. we're again, manson's story might have disappeared from history, without a ripple or a trace. except -- >> coming up -- a day in the life of the manson family. >> every day he would gather everyone together and dose them with lsd. >> and the killing begins. when "dateline" continues. f 5g, by giving every customer a new 5g phone. old customers. new customers new 5g phones when you trade in your old ones. upgrade your phone. upgrade your network. ♪ born to be wild ♪

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los angeles with a plan. to be bigger than the beatles. by the sumter summer of 1969, he knew that wasn't going to happen. and that is when manson told his followers they had to ignite something he called "helter skelter". an imminent role destroying race war, which he had named for reasons only he knew. after a song on the beatles "white" album. >> they were going to go in the desert. stay there for 150 years. while the black man takes over. but then they are going to need him later, and that's when he is going to come out as the master race and be the leader

of everyone. >> it sounds ridiculous, of course. >> it is ridiculous. but combination of drugs, being isolated. he had them all convinced this was real. >> he was serious about this? >> yeah. he believed it. >> or so he persuaded his followers. he told them he needed a complete loyalty and complete control. >> every day, he would gather everyone together and dose them with lsd. and he would talk for a while. >> that's when for his bent but not broken flock, manson portrayed himself as the new jesus. but not a sweet and kindly version of jesus. >> charlie was acting meaner towards the girls. >> and if they failed to follow his directions? >> he would hit you in the head with a stick. >> a math >> yeah he really got mean? >> mean to find and desperate

to find the money and cars to take his family to death valley. where he told them they would wait out helter skelter. and who had money and cars? >> his munich music teacher friend, gary hinman. >> and charlie knew all of that. >> eric carlson was with gary when manson called with his demands. >> he's telling that gary it's time for him to join the family because this whole helter skelter was coming and he needed to cash out all of his investments and go with the family and go out to the desert. >> gary told manson no. but the man who had become used to getting what he wanted persisted. >> he says gary, this is your last chance. if you don't do this, i will not be responsible for the karma you will invoke upon yourself. >> karma, manson style. a friend of the family named bobby beausoleil, along with

susan atkins and mary brunner. >> beausoleil beats him up and says you owe him money. he says i don't know anybody. >> eventually both -- silly >> man some comes down, he's wearing a sword and he is waving it around. charlie actually slices part of hinman's air. off departs again. >> manson's gary hinman. . manson -- benson says you know what you have to do. >> beausoleil stabbed gary hinman. and then mary brunner and susan atkins finished him with a pillow over his face. >> gary died because he didn't want to give up his money and cars. >> yes. but it was equally important that he become a part of. >> what? become part of or will kill you. >> the revolution is coming.

a lot of people will die. >> benson had a term for these people. piggies. another song from "white" album. if >> you want to be one of the piggies, today's pork is tomorrow's bacon. >> so, on's orders, on the wall of gary's house had wrote the world word political piggy and left pawprints all in the victims blood. hoping it would lead the police to suspect black panthers committed the murder. >> the county police came to investigate. it's a murder, but they don't in any way like it to black revolutionaries execution. >> manson's misdirection failed. in less than a week bobby was pulled over driving one of gary hinman's cars were police found the bloody knife. beausoleil called from manson jail demanding help and saying he hadn't ratted on him, yet. jeff guinn believes mention decided on a plan to spring beausoleil and save his own

skin. >> family members at spahn ranch our talking about what happened to bobby. he's in prison. what's going to happen? how can we break him out? >> they did hatch a plan. so horrible, that the name charlie manson would be famous, all right. not as a star. but as a symbol of evil. >> coming -- up helter skelter. a night of madness. and murder. >> sharon tate, quite naturally screaming. she's not she's begging for not for her life, but for her babies. >> susan susan atkins atkins says (bleep) i have no sympathy for you. >> when "dateline" continues. just think, he'll be driving for real soon.

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nine bobby beausoleil was in jail accused of murdering gary hinman. charlie manson was afraid bobby might talk. implicate him in the family. then an idea. crazy, horrible idea. >> they're watching some old james cagney movie where he is in jail for these murders. and they do these copycat murders to prove he is not the one. >> that is what when charlie manson decided to commit murder so similar to what they did to

hinman, that the cops would have to think the real killers were still on the loose. and if they thought that, they would release bobby beausoleil. but the key to these copycat killings, manson decided, was to find a high-profile victim. >> if it's somebody famous. and the newspapers the, tv are making a big deal out of it, then it will work. they'll have to let bobby go. >> free bobby and maybe touch off helter skelter by framing the black panthers. all the states, 1969. late. susan atkins, sexy sadie, dressed in black and headed out to of spahn ranch. >> sadie hung out of the car window and yelled, we're going to kill some (bleep) pigs. >> also in the car, tex watson, patricia krenwinkel, and linda kasabian. their target? whoever lived in the house recently vacated by terry

melcher, who months earlier, had politely blown off man since desire for a deal. >> nobody else could afford a house like that. >> manson had actually been at the house earlier that you're looking for terry melcher. he moved out. but manson encountered the current resident, actress sharon tate. the pregnant wife of film director roman polanski. now tex climbed a telephone pole and cut wires to that very same house. they all went up to the house. but just then a young man who had been visiting the property was headed out of the driveway. tex confronted him with a knife then shot him several times. the killing had begun. with kasabian standing guard, susan, patricia and tex went inside the house. polanski was out of the country that night. but his friend was asleep on the couch. tex kicked him. susan atkins went to see who

else was there. >> she starts down a hallway and there is a guest bedroom. and there is a woman sitting on the bed. it's abigail folger. >> a rigorous to the folders coffee fortune. >> folger assumes this is just another friend of sharon's and waves to her. and gives susan atkins a little finger wave back and continues down the hall. >> in the bedroom, she found sharon tate, and jay sebring, a celebrity hairdresser and tate 's former boyfriend. anthony dimaria is jay sebring's nephew. >> at a certain point turned watson his back and he shot jay sebring. and then watson and -- >> sharon tate is quite naturally screaming. frykowski and folger break out

across the lawn. watson chases after them. >> soon everyone was left for dead except for sharon tate. >> she's begging for her life, but for her babies. susan atkins says, (bleep) i have no sympathy for you. and she slaughtered her. >> then susan atkins wrote the word paid in blood on the front door, to make sure the cops would connect these murders to gary hinman's murder. >> they arrive back at the ranch. charlie manson is waiting for them. what did you do? tell me about it? and they tell him. and he is furious. from their description, he doesn't think they've left the house appalling enough that it will get the attention they want. >> so, said guinn, manson himself returned to the house and draped an american flag

near sharon tate's body. >> manson with his sense of theater thought that would be the thing that would really, really make everybody gasp and pay attention. >> the actress and four of her friends were murdered in circumstances -- >> bodies badly mutilated. >> but nobody made a link to gary hinman. beausoleil remained in jail. >> charlie was furious. they had screwed up. >> he blamed them? >> very much so. if they had done it right -- >> they'd have to do again. >> they do again tonight and, this time i'm going with you to make sure it gets done properly. >> he took his band of colors on a tour of los angeles, looking for just the right of innocent victims. there was a street manson new. had been to a party there. in the los feliz area of l.a..

he picked that house next door. no idea who live there. it was the home of leno and rosemary fall labianca. >> charlie says when they're outside the labianca home. will go in, check it out. charlie comes back out. get tex watson. they go in first, they capture capture leno labianca. they tie labianca up ask is anybody else here? my wife is in the bedroom. >> then manson went and got big tex watson, susan atkins week patricia krenwinkel and leslie van houten. who had begged to go within this time. >> charlie tells them, go in there do, what you need to do and he drives off in the car. >> the labianca's died as brutally as those the night before. found blindfolded, gag. a crime scene created a horrified. >> the killer scrawled death to pigs. >> we helter skelter,

misspelled, have been written in blood on the refrigerator. and carved into big leno labianca's torso, there was one word, wore. surely, no one could miss that message. >> coming up -- the killing still isn't over. >> this was the one murder that was manchin was personally involved in. and how a jailhouse chat finally brings a nightmare to an end. when "dateline" continues. "dateline" continues. yardwork... teamwork... long walks.... that's how you du more, with dupixent, which helps prevent asthma attacks. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on-treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. and can reduce, or even eliminate, oral steroids.

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the summer 16. the first for sharon tate. >> but it was billed as a private family affair, and yet, many people turned up >> families watched the shocking news on tv. including the men's and family and follower the barbara hoyt. >> i remember being scared by that. >> how did they react to the news? >> they left. it didn't bother them at. all >> the charlie manson felt that they would evade the police for sure. and so they freed a family member bobby beausoleil, yet the murders could be one

murders could be -- where >> these two crimes committed by the same person? >> no one connected them to the henry case. the plan fails. bobby beausoleil stays in jail and if that wasn't frustrating enough for a man's, in just six days after the labianca's murders, the sheriffs descended on the family. >> they decided we're gonna have a huge raid on what spahn ranch. they're gonna arrest everybody. >> but the raid turned out to be good news for charlie manson because it did not have anything to do with murder. what the warrant was for auto theft. totally on related. and even that charge did not stick. >> the men's and use this this as a good example. see how powerful he is? they arrested us, but i used my power and they are letting us go.

>> but there was a small story about the car theft raid including the story about the tape murder and allowed bianca murder. but they were unprotected. but charlie manson was on edge. especially since the family was going to be kicked off the ranch. the >> i heard a scream. and i bolted up. >> is there any way to describe what that sounded like? >> pure her. >> do you have any idea if it was a human or or a person? >> i knew it was shortly. >> i recognize the voice. >> this was one that man son was involved in and for -- >> what manson decided it was time to get out of l.a.. maybe was feeling the heat of the raid, or maybe he needed a place to keep the family under his control. >> to, him the whole idea of control is not just having people worship-ing you, but

having people follow your orders in ways that contradict common sense. >> that is fleeing an apocalyptic race for "helter skelter". he moved to an old homestead called barker ranch. yes, death valley. the >> during this war, he will lead his family into death valley where there is a bottomless pit and a city underneath the surface. they will go down there and be safe. >> he seriously thought that there was something be need fear where all of you would go and hide? >> yes. >> and escape the race? war >> rivers of milk and honey, trees with different kinds of throughout. >> the barbara hoyt remained loyal to the manson until she overheard susan atkins

gleefully describing the murder of sharon tate and suddenly feared for her own life. >> i knew i had to get out of there. >> so early one morning, barbara and friend took a huge risk. >> we walked out. >> you walked out? >> yeah, we walked out. >> into the heat of death valley, they walked four miles to the nearest ranch, said barbara. and she eventually reunited with her real family. but the rest of the manson family? stay busy in the desert. >> the families up to its old's tricks, there are cars stolen, desecration of national monuments. >> all of which once again drew the notice of law enforcement. during two raids in october, they rounded up most of the family. the last to be captured was manson himself, hiding under the bathroom safe. he told authorities that his fifth name was manson, k, aka

jesus, god. look they had beaten the rack before. but this time, something unexpected, completely out of manson the's control, someone in the family squealed about the susan atkins and her role in gary's murder murder. the so she was moved from definitely to the central. as >> she could not stay quiet. she started sharing this incredible and unbelievable story. >> for atkins boasted to a fellow inmate about the the sharon tate murders. >> she said you know who did it don't you? and i said no i don't. and her words to me where, while you are looking at her. >> atkins told virginia graham every hideous detail. even mocking one of her victims. >> he was screaming help, help, somebody help me. and nobody came. and we killed him. >> virginia told the cops. >> the we got a break in the

tate case when this girl, susan atkins, was arrested after telling a cell made about the tate killings. >> four months after the tate and labianca killings, food manson and several of his followers were indicted for murder. he came to l.a. seeking fame, he was about to find it. >> coming up, what if the manson family had not been stopped, who might have been next? >> elizabeth taylor, steve mcqueen, and frank sinatra. >> when dateline continues. theteline continues th ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing] ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy.

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i know what i've done. it's not about, is it? >> a man about to be tried for one of the most notorious killing sprees in american history. >> i think mr. manson feels he is a product of our society. >> the case went to the late vincent bugliosi, a young prosecutor at the time. >> i used to have conversations with manson all the time. he says i'm gonna convict you, but after get a fair trial. >> try bugliosi to flip the family members to testify against manson. most states ferociously loyal. and some of those not charge stage demonstrations outside the courthouse. even shaved their heads in a show of solidarity. >> you know, we do anything for our brother.

>> chatty susan atkins was supposed to be a key witness. she had bragged about the killings in jail. then told the whole story to a grand jury. >> now that you've had a chance to get it off your chest, do you how do you feel? what kind of feeling is that? >> but atkins recanted. so bugliosi turn to virginia graham, one of the two fellow jail inmates had atkins confessed. stu graham told bugliosi how atkins giggle gun giggling confessed to the murders. >> there was it a sign of remorse. almost very boastful. >> and atkins while they were just getting started, said grim. they had planned to murder a list celebrities. >> it was tom jones, elizabeth taylor, me steve mcqueen and frank sinatra. they were going to skin him alive and make purses out of him and sell it on hollywood

boulevard. >> virginia graham's testimony made the front page. one of many headlines. in a trial that lasted some seven months. >> the jury hearing the charges against charles manson and three girl members of his so-called family, brought in its verdict this afternoon. all were found guilty of murder in the first degree. >> and manson several members of the family were sentenced to death for the tate and labianca murders. a career making victory for prosecutor bugliosi who was emphatic that the sentence was richly deserved. >> in view of the incredible brutality of the savage, nightmarish murders, the death penalty was unquestionably the proper verdict in this case. >> then a little over a year later, it all changed. >> the california supreme court ruled today, that the death penalty is unconstitutional. >> there would be no gas chamber for manson or any of his convicted family members. >> do you believe that there should be a death penalty? >> are we all born today?

were born with a death penalty? >> in a gas chamber? >> i believe what i'm told to believe. don't you? >> because of that california state supreme court ruling, the sentences were reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. even for manson. and that touched off a debate that still reaches decades later. can people like these be rehabilitated? should they ever be released? >> there are so many reasons why -- >> has anthony dimaria spent most of his adult life fighting parole for the killers of his uncle, jay sebring. when >> somebody says i've change, i've rehabilitated. well, you might have. but your victims are dusty and rotting in a grief. >> over the years, manson, tex watson, patricia krenwinkel and susan atkins all had parole hearings. each time they were quickly

denied. that leslie van houten seemed to have some hope for parole. this was her hearing in 2000. >> it's really hard to live with murder. >> she had been a model prisoner and earn two degrees behind bars and ran a self help group for inmates. and it has express remorse for death decades. >> i accept responsibility. i know that what i did is inexcusable. >> leslie van houten had been recommended for approval of multiple occasions. but each time the governor's office overruled the decision. >> sharon tate's sister, debra, strongly opposes her release. >> i don't think she deserves it. these people were brutally butchered. there has to be some kind of accountability in this world. they're just simply has to be. >> and it is a stop when a person is 65? >> no. >> and the man behind it all? who wanted so desperately to be famous? after nearly 50 years in prison,

charles manson had become a shell of his former self. for ill and in ill health. one of his friends told us he believed manson with suffering from early stages of dementia. shortly after his 83rd birthday, in november of 2017, charles manson died of natural causes. up until his last day on earth, he never even admitted remorse. >> i haven't done anything i'm ashamed of. guilty, i wouldn't do anything i felt guilty about. >> manson and his family still seem to occupy some dark corner of our imagination. but, said jeff guinn, it's time to strip away the mystery and stop burnish-ing the legend of charles manson. >> we can't stop what manson did, we can't stop his fame. if he's notorious, let him be notorious for what he is. this horrible, sociopath.

>> a small man who used his talents, such as they were, to become not just a symbol of a loss of innocence or naivety. but an enduring lesson in how not to be a human being. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline". i'm natalie morales. thanks for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> only her feet were exposed. her last hours on earth were not pleasant. look >> young women murdered or missing. families in anguish. >> i would text her and she would text right back. but this time, nothing. >> when they killed her, they killed me. >> a serial killer at work and