josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in april 2024, oj simpson, whose rise and fall riveted the nation died of cancer. i can't think of anyone historical or someone that we may have known where the first chapter and the second chapter of their lives are such a stark contrast. revered and then reviled. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): oj simpson may be gone, but his case lives on. that mountain of evidence that was supposed to guarantee a slam dunk conviction, most of it is still around, buried deep in the lapd's archives. [music playing] [music playing] hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is "dateline." all? man: are you sane? sane?

that's relative. guilty, hmm. i wouldn't do anything that i felt guilty about. andrea canning: you may think you know the charles manson story, but not like this. elaine aradillas: things that police had never seen before. virginia graham: sharon tate begged her, please, don't kill me. jeff guinn: he was primed to take advantage of peace and love. flower power. andrea canning: even now, decades later, the world is still fascinated by charles manson and his crimes. we take you inside his world of drugs-- jeff guinn: he would dose them with lsd. andrea canning: --sex-- he slept with all those girls. andrea canning: --and rock 'n' roll-- jeff guinn: they really did listen to "the white album" over and over. andrea canning: --with new interviews-- eric carlson: he says gary, this is your last chance. andrea canning: --and new details. roger smith: he would always frame his statements, this is what i believe, and the girls all believed it. andrea canning: the murders-- these people were brutally butchered.

andrea canning: --the mayhem-- barbara hoyt: charlie was acting meaner towards the girls. andrea canning: --the madman. charles manson: maybe i should have killed 400 or 500 people, then i would have felt better. jeff guinn: he symbolizes the horror that can be possible in this world. [theme music] 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 dream was crushed, it was replaced by a chilling fantasy. a nightmarish prophecy 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's keith morrison with "the summer of manson."

[music playing] keith morrison: all that remains are ruins. the ramshackle barker ranch is long gone. only the fitful, baking death valley wind left now to stir the faded 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 murdered somebody. keith morrison: --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 theirs. these were brutal crime scenes.

things that the police had never seen before. keith morrison: murder so bloody, so ugly, they rewrote history. became a kind of bookmark as an era of optimism ended and a darker time began. the '60s came to a close in 1969, and that was the curtain-- that was the final curtain. keith morrison: who could make sense of it? man: are you sane? - sane? man: yes. that's relative. keith morrison: who, even now? how do our kids end up doing this kind of incredibly violent crime? how did that happen? keith morrison: we'll do our best to answer that question, to get past the myths that have clouded the story of charles manson. and with the help of those who witnessed, finally explain the chaos, the crimes, the horror. it's a story that begins at a small mill town on the banks

of the ohio river, mcmechen, west virginia, where the myth manson spun had its beginning. jeff guinn: manson had told his own life story. that he was a child nobody wanted. his mother's a career criminal and prostitute. keith morrison: but manson lied. this is jeff guinn-- author of "manson." the man whose research revealed the facts behind the myths. jeff guinn: manson was 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. keith morrison: 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. jeff guinn: 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. keith morrison: finally, manson was sent to reform school. eventually prison. by 32, he had spent half his life locked up. jeff guinn: 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." keith morrison: manson also became fascinated with a popular book by dale carnegie called-- jeff guinn: "how to win friends and influence people." keith morrison: this is so strange to hear, that he read dale carnegie. not only read dale carnegie, absorbed it. [music playing] keith morrison: that wasn't the only thing madison picked up in prison. another inmate gave him guitar lessons. and one day in the prison workshop, a radio was blaring the top 40 of 1964.

jeff guinn: he hears this 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. keith morrison: and so by the time charlie manson was released from prison on parole, his fantasy was very strong. jeff guinn: he would be signed to a contract, would become world famous, rich, and have all the women and drugs he wanted. keith morrison: the fantasy and charles manson himself would almost certainly have remained anonymous, a complete unknown, had it not been for this. san francisco's haight-ashbury district, where that very moment in 1967, busloads of kids were arriving to what they thought would be a new world of peace and love. roger smith: there'd be hundreds of people sitting on the sidewalk, and they'd go grass. acid. speed. keith morrison: roger smith was manson's parole officer

in san francisco. and into that scene walked charlie manson. he did. [music playing] jeff guinn: he could, somehow, identify the ones who could be tricked, coerced, drawn in. keith morrison: bent, but not broken, troubled young women. like susan atkins. she left home as a teenager and drifted. washed up in the haight. she worked as a topless dancer, quit, and 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 aradillas has written about manson. elaine aradillas: he slept with all those girls right away, making a connection with them. and they felt, this man gets me. keith morrison: he kept adding women to his entourage. and they went with him everywhere, even to meet and flirt with his parole officer,

who heard firsthand, manson's preaching to his flock. an oddball mix of free love, social commentary, and apocalyptic prophecies. i found a lot of his stuff pretty silly. but he would always frame his statements, this is what i believe, and the girls all believed it. keith morrison: 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, or when he told them he was destined to be bigger than the beatles. jeff guinn: manson fully intended to become a rock and roll star, and didn't think it was going to be very hard. keith morrison: the summer of love was over. manson loaded his family-- they now numbered about a half a dozen-- onto a school bus and took them to los angeles. he was still just a small time criminal with a dream, but not for long. a most unlikely pair, a beach boy and charles manson.

[theme music] andrea canning: coming up-- gregg jakobson: dennis was convinced that he could make charlie a star andrea canning: --and manson's strange hold on his family-- he dances. he sings. he looks beautiful. he looks happy. and this draws a lot of people, just like people are drawn to little babies. andrea canning: --when "dateline" continues. - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. why just give a gift, when you can give a gift with meaning? shutterfly, make something that means something. enjoy 40% off your order with code gifts40. order now for holiday delivery. when you sleep more deeply, you wake up more energized. introducing purple's new mattresses.

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keith morrison: los angeles, 1968, at 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 a wooded haven of alternative living called topanga canyon. eric carlson: he lived out on a place in topanga canyon. it was a burned out house. keith morrison: eric carlson was living nearby. in his first tv interview, he told us how he got to know manson and his very available young women. eric carlson: they would come over to take showers and stuff. keith morrison: and stuff, as he said. eric carlson: sadie was called "sexy sadie," and not without cause. [music playing] keith morrison: wasn't exactly eric's house or shower to offer, mind you. the main occupant and owner of the house in which eric was living was a soft-spoken music

teacher named gary hinman. he was just generous, basically. he never charged me any rent, whatsoever. keith morrison: when some of the manson women were busted for a spree of minor crimes-- eric carlson: charlie came over and asked gary if he could help him. well, he says, well, what's the-- what's the bail? keith morrison: of course, gary hinman, as he generously paid the bail, had no idea how manson would return his favor. manson and the family moved from topanga to a defunct western movie location called spahn ranch a few miles farther out. manson told another of his followers, lynette fromme, who was nicknamed squeaky, to keep the octogenarian owner happy. so the family, in exchange for a few chores, got to live on the ranch for free. all: (singing) for there i will surely be-- no clothing, tears, or hunger. keith morrison: and manson? well, he dances. he sings. he looks beautiful.

he looks happy. and this draws a lot of people, just like people are drawn to little babies. keith morrison: they scrounged for food in trash dumpsters, said former family member barbara hoyt. it was fun. [chuckling] you go behind the store, they used to throw away some good stuff-- good vegetables. you'd find all kinds of treasures out there. keith morrison: but the family didn't just live on scavenged vegetables. they stole cash and credit cards and cars. manson taught them a skill he called creepy crawling, entering houses at night without waking the sleeping people inside. and he used his women to advance his dream of becoming famous. jeff guinn: sends them out into the parts of los angeles that are known as areas where the 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 him to the right people. [music playing] keith morrison: ridiculous? of course. but then, the most extraordinary thing. it worked. gregg jakobson: dennis picked up a couple of girls on sunset. they were hitchhiking. keith morrison: dennis was dennis wilson of the beach boys. at the time, america's answer to the beatles. gregg jakobson was a music producer and friend of dennis wilson's. gregg jakobson: they went to dennis's house. they had a good time and played music and all the things that they would do. keith morrison: manson's system worked like a charm, offering his young women as sexual favors to get what he wanted. before the day was out, he and most of the family had moved right into dennis wilson's house. dennis used to call me up and said-- said gregg, come on down, man. we're partying. all these girls are here. charlie, you got to meet charlie, the wizard. dennis was convinced that he could make charlie a star.

keith morrison: and so, improbable as it seems, dennis took manson to his brother brian's studio-- that's brian wilson-- to record some of his songs. here's manson singing during that session. [charles manson, "sick city"] restless as the wind. this town is killin' me. keith morrison: but when the other beach boys actually heard that-- they didn't have a very high opinion of the music, or charlie. keith morrison: --the session fizzled. but the beach boys did play one of manson's songs on "the mike douglas tv show." but dennis rewrote the words and the title. gregg jakobson: oh, charlie was so angry that anybody would dare to change the lyric or change anything he said. it was like misquoting him. keith morrison: so the beach boys were not the answer to manson's dreams. but there was one more chance. gregg jakobson knew a man in los angeles who could snap his fingers and get manson a contract.

his name was terry melcher, one of la's top music producers. and in the late spring of '69, melcher agreed to come to spahn ranch to hear manson sing. gregg jakobson: charlie almost expected somebody to pull out a contract and a pen and say here, sign here. you now have a contract with columbia records. keith morrison: but there was to be no contract. because later, terry melcher politely, but firmly rejected charlie manson. charlie was really crushed. keith morrison: 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. there's going to be a race war.

[sirens] keith morrison: it was a time of racial strife in america, especially in la. and manson blended that information somehow with the book of revelation to prophesy armageddon, a world-ending race war. he called it helter skelter, after one of the songs on the beatles' "white album." his followers believed it. but did he? roger smith isn't so sure. roger smith: 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. keith morrison: time to move, he told his family. gather money, cars. get to the desert to wait out the war between the races. where, again, the manson story might have disappeared from history without a ripple or a trace, except-- [sirens blaring] [theme music] andrea canning: coming up, a day in the life of the manson family.

jeff guinn: every day, he would gather everyone together and dose them with lsd. andrea canning: and the killing begins, when "dateline" continues.

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all aboard! come with me to meet the wizard. why couldn't possibly. this is your moment. i'm coming. if you think that's something to see, wait til you see this. ♪ ♪ you're good. -very good. [music playing] keith morrison: charlie manson had come to los angeles with a plan, to be bigger than the beatles. by the summer of '69, he knew that wasn't going to happen. and that's when manson told his followers they had

to ignite something he called helter skelter, an imminent, world-destroying race war, which he'd named-- for reasons only he knew-- after a song on the beatles' "white album." elaine aradillas: they were going to go in the desert, stay there for 150 years, while the black man takes over. but then they're going to need him later. and that's when he's 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 that this was real. keith morrison: he was serious about this kind of the world thing. yeah, he believed it. keith morrison: or so, he persuaded his followers. he told them he needed complete loyalty and complete control. jeff guinn: every day, he would gather everyone together and dose them with lsd, and he would talk for a while.

keith morrison: 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. barbara hoyt: charlie was acting meaner towards the girls. keith morrison: and if they failed to follow his directions? he'd hit you in the head with a stick. he went from good charlie to bad charlie. yeah, he really got mean. keith morrison: mean and desperate to find the money and cars to take his family to death valley, where he told them they'd wait out helter skelter. and who had money and cars? his music teacher friend, gary hinman. and charlie knew all of that. keith morrison: eric carlson was with gary when manson called and made demands. eric carlson: he's telling gary that it's time for him to join the family because this whole helter skelter was coming. and that he needed to cash out all of his investments and go with the family and go out to the desert. keith morrison: gary told manson, no.

but the man who'd become used to getting what he wanted persisted. eric carlson: 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." keith morrison: karma manson style. then he sent a friend to the family named bobby beausoleil, along with loyal family member susan atkins and mary brunner, to shake down gary. jeff guinn: beausoleil beats him up him and keeps claiming owe any money any money. keith morrison: eventually, beausoleil called manson. jeff guinn: manson comes down. he's wearing a sword that he's waving around. charlie actually slices part of hinman's ear off. departs again. keith morrison: manson's followers tortured gary hinman for three days, until he finally signed over the pink slips for his cars. but then he threatened to call the police.

beausoleil calls manson, again. what are we going to do? manson says, "you know what you have to do." keith morrison: 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 the cars. eric carlson: yes, but it was equally important that he become a part of. what? become a part of us, or we'll kill you? the revolution is coming. a lot of people are going to die. keith morrison: manson had a term for these people, piggies. another song from "the white album." eric carlson: if you want to be one of the piggies, today's pork is tomorrow's bacon. keith morrison: so on manson's orders, on the wall of gary's house, they wrote the words "political piggy" and left a paw print all in the victim's blood, hoping it would lead the police to suspect black panthers committed the murder. jeff guinn: the county police come to investigate. it's a murder, but they don't, in any way, link it to a black revolutionary execution.

keith morrison: manson's misdirection failed. in less than a week, bobby beausoleil was pulled over driving one of gary hinman's cars, where police found a bloody knife. beausoleil called manson from jail demanding help and saying he hadn't ratted on him, yet. jeff guinn believes manson decided on a plan to spring beausoleil and save his own skin. jeff guinn: family members at spahn ranch are talking about what's happened to bobby. he's in prison. what's going to happen? how can we break him out? keith morrison: 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. [theme music] andrea canning: coming up, helter skelter, a night of madness and murder-- jeff guinn: sharon tate, quite naturally, is screaming. she's begging not for her life, but for her babies.

susan atkins says, "bitch, i have no sympathy for you." andrea canning: --when "dateline" continues. go-friends, gather! keke! chris! jason! boop! friends. let's go, let's go, friends! hold onto your dice. woohoo!! -nice frosting, pratt. -thank you! how we doin', keke? tastes like money to me. i can't go back to jail! wait, did you rob my bank? -hehe. -are we winning!? -ha ha ha! -oh boy! yeah! money, power, friendship. let's go! no more gross cough syrup. we all want you to feel better.

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i'm jessica layton. the white house is calling russia's latest attack on ukraine's energy infrastructure outrageous. hundreds of thousands of ukrainians are without power after that russian bombardment. temperatures in ukraine are below freezing. and winter storms across the country could cause more delays for travelers. lake-effect snow is expected from michigan to new york starting today. some areas could get several feet of snow. and now back to "dateline." w and now back to "dateline. charlie manson was afraid bobby might talk, implicate him and the family. and then, an idea.

a crazy, horrible idea. eric carlson: they're watching some old james cagney movie where he's in jail for these murders. and they do these copycat murders to prove that he's not the one. keith morrison: and that's 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'd release bobby beausoleil. but the key to these copycat killings, manson decided, was to find a high-profile victim. jeff guinn: if it's somebody famous and the newspapers and the tv are making a big deal out of it, then it'll work. they'll have to let bobby out. keith morrison: free bobby and maybe touch off helter skelter in the bargain by framing the black panthers. august 8, 1969, late. susan atkins-- sexy sadie-- dressed in black and headed out of spahn ranch. barbara hoyt: sadie hung out the car window

and yelled, "we're going to kill some [muted] pigs." keith morrison: 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 manson's hopes for a record deal. whoever's living there now has to be rich and famous. nobody else could afford a house like that. keith morrison: manson had actually been at the house earlier that year 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 over the gate. and just then, a young man named steven parent, who'd been visiting the property caretaker, 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 wojciech frykowski was asleep on the couch. tex kicked him. susan atkins went to see who else was there. jeff guinn: she starts down a hallway, and there's a guest bedroom. and there's a woman sitting up in bed. it's abigail folger. keith morrison: heiress to the folger's coffee fortune. folger assumed this was just some other friend of sharon's and waves to her. and susan atkins gives the little finger wave back. continues down the hall. keith morrison: in the bedroom, she found sharon tate and jay sebring, a celebrity hairdresser and tate's former boyfriend. she herded them into the living room. anthony dimaria is jay sebring's nephew. at a certain point, watson turned his back and jay charged, and he shot

jay as he was coming to him. and then watson and krenwinkel went over and started stabbing and kicking. sharon tate, quite naturally, is screaming. frykowski and folger break out a side door and are running across the lawn. krenwinkel and watson chase after them. keith morrison: soon, everyone was left for dead, except sharon tate. jeff guinn: she's begging not for her life, but for her baby's. susan atkins says, "bitch, i have no sympathy for you." and she's slaughtered. keith morrison: then susan atkins wrote the word "pig" in blood on the front door to make sure the cops would connect these murders to gary hinman's murder. jeff guinn: they arrive back at the ranch. charlie manson is waiting for them. "what'd you do? tell me about it."

and they tell him, and he's furious. from their description, he doesn't think they've left the house appalling enough that it will get the attention they want. keith morrison: so, said guinn, manson himself returned to the house and draped an american flag near sharon tate's body. jeff guinn: manson, with his sense of theater, thought that would be the thing that would really, really make everybody gasp and pay attention. a movie actress and four of her friends were murdered and the circumstances were lurid. man: are the bodies badly mutilated? this, i'd rather not discuss. man: lieutenant. keith morrison: 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'll have to do it again. tonight, and this time, i'm going with you to make sure

it gets done properly. keith morrison: he took his band of killers on a tour of los angeles looking for just the right innocent victims. there was a street manson knew-- had been to a party there-- in the los feliz area of la. he picked the house next door. no idea who lived there. it was the home of leno and rosemary labianca. jeff guinn: charlie says, when they're outside the labianca home, that he'll go in, he'll check it out. charlie comes back out. gets tex watson. they go in first. they capture leno labianca, and he ties labianca up. asks, is there anybody else here? my wife's in the bedroom. keith morrison: then manson went and got tex watson, susan atkins, patricia krenwinkel, and leslie van houten, who had begged to go with them this time. jeff guinn: charlie tells them go in there, do what you need to do.

and he drives off in the car. keith morrison: the labiancas died as brutally as those the night before. bound and blindfolded and gagged. the crime scene created to horrify. man: with blood, the killer had scrawled "death to pigs." keith morrison: helter skelter misspelled had been written in blood on the refrigerator. and carved into leno labianca's torso, there was one word, "war." surely, no one could miss that message. [theme music] andrea canning: coming up, the killing still wasn't over-- jeff guinn: this was the one murder that manson was personally involved in. andrea canning: --and how a jailhouse chat finally brings the nightmare to an end, when "dateline" continues. billy: one second, grandma. this guy is going to buy my car. okay? grandma: you need carvana... entering plate number... grandma: no accidents, right? billy: no. grandma: generating offer... carvana can pick it up tomorrow!

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[music playing] keith morrison: there were many funerals that week in the summer of '69. too many. one for the beautiful sharon tate. man: many of hollywood's elite turned out for the funeral, despite the fact that it was billed as a private family affair. keith morrison: families watched the shocking news on tv, including the manson family and follower barbara hoyt. barbara hoyt: i remember being scared by that. how did they react to the news? barbara hoyt: they laughed. it didn't bother them at all. keith morrison: charlie manson thought he'd hoodwinked

the police for sure. that they would think the same people who killed tate and the labiancas also killed gary hinman, and so they'd free family member bobby beausoleil. but even though there was talk that the tate and labianca murders might be connected to each other-- man: police today could but speculate, whether these two crimes had been done by the same person. keith morrison: --no one connected them to the hinman case. the plan failed. bobby beausoleil stayed in jail. and if that wasn't frustrating enough for manson, just six days after the labianca murders, more than 100 sheriff's deputies descended on the family. jeff guinn: they decide, they're going to have a huge raid on spahn ranch. they're going to arrest everybody in it. keith morrison: but the raid turned out to be good news for charlie manson because it didn't have anything to do with murder. the warrant was for auto theft.

totally unrelated. and even that charge didn't stick. jeff guinn: manson uses this as a great example. see how powerful he is? they arrested all of us, but i used my power, and they're letting us go. keith morrison: the "la times" ran a small story about the car theft raid, along with an article about the tate murders and the labianca murders. each story completely separate. but manson was still on edge, especially after he found out a ranch hand named shorty shea was trying to get the family kicked out of spahn ranch. barbara hoyt remembers what happened next. barbara hoyt: i heard a scream, and i bolted up. is there any way to describe what that sounded like? just pure horror. did you have any idea whether it was a human or an animal or? i knew who-- it was shorty. you knew it was shorty. i recognized the voice. this was the one murder that manson was personally involved in. and shea was sort of hacked to pieces.

[music playing] keith morrison: manson decided it was time to get out of la. maybe he was feeling the heat from that raid, or maybe he wanted an even more remote place to keep his family under his control. jeff guinn: to him, the whole idea of control is not just having people worshipping you, but having people follow your orders in ways that contradict common sense. keith morrison: that is, fleeing an apocalyptic race war-- helter skelter. he moved them out to an old homestead called barker ranch over 200 miles from los angeles. now part of death valley national park. yes, death valley. jeff guinn: 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. keith morrison: he seriously thought there was something beneath the earth where all of you

could go and hide and escape the race war? mm-hmm. rivers of milk and honey. trees with different kinds of fruit. keith morrison: barbara hoyt remained loyal to manson, until, as she tells it, out in the desert one day, 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. keith morrison: so early one morning, barbara and a friend took a huge risk. we walked out. you walked out? yeah, we walked out. into the heat of death valley. they walked for miles to the nearest ranch, said barbara. and she eventually reunited with her real family. but the rest of the manson family stayed busy in the desert. jeff guinn: the family's up to its old tricks. there's cars stolen. there's different desecration of national monument areas. keith morrison: 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 sink. he told authorities his name was manson, charles m, a.k.a. jesus christ, god. the charges were auto theft and arson. they'd faced similar charges before, had beaten the rap before, but this time, something unexpected, completely out of manson's control. somebody in the family squealed about susan atkins and her role in gary hinman's murder. so atkins was moved from a jail near death valley to los angeles. elaine aradillas: she couldn't stay quiet. she started sharing this incredible and unbelievable story. keith morrison: atkins boasted to a fellow inmate named virginia graham about the sharon tate murders. she said, "you know who did it, don't you?" and i looked at her, and i said, no, i don't. and her words to me were, "well, you're looking at her."

keith morrison: atkins told virginia graham every hideous detail. even mocking one of her victims. virginia graham: he was screaming help, help. somebody, please help me. and she said, "and nobody came, and we killed him." keith morrison: virginia told the cops. man: police apparently got their break in the tate case when this girl, susan atkins, was arrested and talked to a cellmate about the tate killings. keith morrison: four months after the tate and labianca killings, charles manson and several of his followers were indicted for murder. he'd come to la seeking fame. he was about to find it. [theme music] andrea canning: coming up, what if the manson family hadn't been stopped? who might have been next? virginia graham: elizabeth taylor, steve mcqueen, and frank sinatra. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

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to testify against manson. most stayed ferociously loyal. and some of those not charged staged demonstrations outside the courthouse. even shaved their heads in a show of solidarity. we'd die. we'd do anything for a brother. keith morrison: 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. man: now that you've had a chance to get it off your chest, can you describe for me, how you feel? dead. man: dead? what kind of feeling is that? keith morrison: but atkins recanted. so bugliosi turned to virginia graham, one of the two fellow jail inmates atkins had confessed to. graham told the jury how atkins giddily described the tate and labianca murders. there wasn't a sign of remorse of anything. in fact, it was almost, very boastful. keith morrison: and atkins vowed they were just getting started, said graham.

they had a plan to murder a-list celebrities. virginia graham: it was tom jones, elizabeth taylor, steve mcqueen, and frank sinatra. they were going to skin him alive and make purses out of it and sell it on hollywood boulevard. keith morrison: 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. keith morrison: manson and several members of the family were sentenced to death for the tate and labianca murders. a career-making victory for prosecutor vincent bugliosi, who was emphatic that the sentence was richly deserved. in view of the incredible brutality of these savage, nightmarish murders, the death penalty, unquestionably, was the proper verdict in this case. keith morrison: but then, a little over a year later,

it all changed. the california supreme court ruled today that the death penalty is unconstitutional. keith morrison: there would be no gas chamber for manson or any of his convicted family members. man: do you believe that there should be a death penalty? aren't we all born to die? we're born with a death penalty. man: in a gas chamber? i believe what i'm told to believe. don't you? [music playing] keith morrison: 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 rages decades later. can people like these be rehabilitated? should they ever be released? there are so many reasons why i'm against parole. keith morrison: anthony dimaria has spent most of his adult life fighting parole for the killers of his uncle, jay sebring. anthony dimaria: when somebody says, well, i've changed,

i've rehabilitated, well, you might have. but your victims are dusty and rotting in a grave. [music playing] keith morrison: over the years, manson, tex watson, patricia krenwinkel, and susan atkins all had parole hearings. each time, they were quickly denied. but leslie van houten seemed to have some hope of being paroled. this was her hearing in 2000. it's really hard to live with the murder. i accept responsibility. i know that what i did is inexcusable. keith morrison: van houten was recommended for parole on five different occasions, but each time, the governor's office overruled the decision. and sharon tate's sister debra was relieved. i don't think she deserves it. these people were brutally butchered. there has to be some kind of accountability in this world. there just simply has to be. and it doesn't stop when a person is 65.

no. keith morrison: but then in the spring of 2023, debra tate got the news she had feared for years. the california court of appeal overruled the governor and granted van houten's parole. 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, frail and in ill health. one of his friends told us he believed manson was suffering from early stages of dementia. shortly after his 83rd birthday, in november of 2017, charles mills manson died of natural causes. up until his last day on earth, never even a hint of remorse. charles manson: i haven't done anything i'm ashamed of. guilty, hmm. i wouldn't do anything that i felt guilty about. keith morrison: 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 burnishing

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. keith morrison: a small man who used his talents, such as they were, to become not just a symbol of the loss of innocence or of naivety, but an enduring lesson in how not to be a human being. that's all for this edition of "dateline." [theme music] i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. for all the reporting about the incoming president's administration is being shaped