hofment labianca was the head of -- leno labianca was the head of a supermarket chain and he and hisary had returned from a weekend of boating when manson slipped into their home. >> he convinced leno that if he cooperated no harm would come to him. he tied his hands behind his back with his leather thong is -- thongs and sent his killers in there. >> he was joined by leslie van houghton from california. >> leslie van houghton had been the homecoming queen in her hometown. but she fell in with a young man who turned her on to drugs. and he brought her to spahn ranch. greta: the three slaughtered the couple. leno labianca was stabbed 12 times with a niche and 14 times with a carving fork. the fork was left protruding from his abdomen and the knife was jabbed into his throat. the word "war" had been carved into his stomach. rosemary labianca was stabbed 41 times. death to pigs, rise, and a misspelled "helter skelter" had been screbled on the walls and refrigerator in the victims' blood. >> the total stab wounds on these two nights of murders of 169. greta: two nights of savagery, seven

hofment labianca was the head of -- leno labianca was the head of a supermarket chain and he and histurned from a weekend of boating when manson slipped into their home. >> he convinced leno that if he cooperated no harm would come to him. he tied his hands behind his back with his leather thong is -- thongs and sent his killers in there. >> he was joined by leslie van houghton from california. >> leslie van houghton had been the homecoming queen in her hometown. but she fell in with a young man who turned her on to drugs. and he brought her to spahn ranch. greta: the three slaughtered the couple. leno labianca was stabbed 12 times with a niche and 14 times with a carving fork. the fork was left protruding from his abdomen and the knife was jabbed into his throat. the word "war" had been carved into his stomach. rosemary labianca was stabbed 41 times. death to pigs, rise, and a misspelled "helter skelter" had been screbled on the walls and refrigerator in the victims' blood. >> the total stab wounds on these two nights of murders of 169. greta: two nights of savagery, seven dead bodi

hofment labianca was the head of -- leno labianca was the head of a supermarket chain and he and hisemary had returned from a weekend of boating when manson slipped into their home. >> he convinced leno that if he cooperated no harm would come to him. he tied his hands behind his back with his leather thong is -- thongs and sent his killers in there. >> he was joined by leslie van houghton from california. >> leslie van houghton had been the homecoming queen in her hometown. but she fell in with a young man who turned her on to drugs. and he brought her to spahn ranch. greta: the three slaughtered the couple. leno labianca was stabbed 12 times with a niche and 14 times with a carving fork. the fork was left protruding from his abdomen and the knife was jabbed into his throat. the word "war" had been carved into his stomach. rosemary labianca was stabbed 41 times. death to pigs, rise, and a misspelled "helter skelter" had been screbled on the walls and refrigerator in the victims' blood. >> the total stab wounds on these two nights of murders of 169. greta: two nights of savagery, sev

labianca was laying on the floor on her stomach and i stabbed her numerous times in the back. >> reporteratkins was with watson and krenwinkle holts down 8 1/2 month pregnant sharon tate as she pea pleaded for her and her child's life. >> she asked me for mercy. i told her i didn't have mercy. >> reporter: how skmoon vinced his flock to kill and torture without remorse baffled the world. manson family members said it was a combination of charisma, drugs and manson's knack for recruiting the right group of vulnerable followers. >> we were like little birds with our mouths open saying feed us. we thought he had an in to our very thoughts and hearts. >> reporter: the women say they left broken homes, watson would turn out to be manson's right-hand man. the faces of the manson killers have gotten older, the courthouse smiles and giggles replaced with pleas for forgiveness. >> i'm appalled that i could even have been involved with something like that. >> because i feel terrible about it. i cannot change it. no matter what i do i cannot change one minute of my life. >> granted, i have committed

alice labianca. the ex-wife of leno labianca. she read a letter at the 1998 parole hearing. the instructions of charles manson, drug crazed killers as her family. what about my family? when do we get our parole? when does leno get his parole? sympathy thr these killers and especially this one is misplaced. >>> new and frankly chilling detaili detailing are emerged from a health club shooting. five are dead, 15 are wounded. wtae says a man with a duffel bag walked into an exercise room and turned off the lights before opening fire. police described the scene as utter terror, some lit only by muzzle flashes. >> i was in a spinning class. the class was over with. i was in the locker room getting my i testimonies and on my way out. i stopped i guess to wash my hands. at that point i heard gun fire. >> which you were not expecting. >> that was the furthest thing -- i talked myself out of it. surely that is not gun fire in a gym. a few seconds later a guy came running into the locker room and he said somebody is shooting. a few of us in the locker room made our way out the back do

criminal and aspiring musician named charles manson were later arrested for the 1969 tate -labianca murders. the killers in the counterculture would prove to be the death knell for the hippy movement. >> you got it stuck in your mind that i murdered somebody. i never killed anyone. i don't need to kill anyone. i have it here. greta: the hippy dream of peace and love was very much alive in the spring of 1967. the burgeoning counterculture had turned its back on straight society and instead embracing long hair, drugs, psychedelic music and free love. the hippy mecca was the asbury district of san francisco. one. thousands that poured into maight-ashbury was ex-con named charles manson. born out of wedlock in ohio to a teenage runaway who would later be jailed for armed robbery, the 5'2" manson never knew his father and had spent

alice labianca read a letter. leslie van houten chose to follow the instructions of charles manson. chose drug crazed can i recalls as her family and she became one of them. but what about my family? when do we get our parole? when does leno get his parole? sympathy for these killers, and especially this one, is misplaced. we want to update you on the breaking news out of western pennsylvania. new and chilling detail es merging fra a shooting in a health club south of pittsburgh where five are reported dead including the gunman who apparently killed himself according to local authorities. 15 people are wounded. wtae says a man with a duffel bag walked into an exercise room and turned off the lights before opening fire. police describe a team of utter terror, some of it lit only by the flash of a muzzle. >> i was in a spinning class. i stopped to wash my hands and at that point i heard what i thought to be gun fire. >> what you were not expecting. >> i talked myself out of it. i was like okay, surely that's not gun fire in a gym. a few seconds later a guy came run into a locker room.

the labiancas all at the hands of a small group led by charles manson.ders he had told them would ignite an apocalyptic race war. >> these murders would never have happened if it had not been for charles manson. >> reporter: for twisted than his vision was his ability to turn fire people, three of them young women into eager killers who laughed when they were put on trial. ♪ now as the 40th anniversary of the murders approaches there are fresh calls from family and friends for the release of two of manson's followers, susan atkins and leslie van houghton. it was atkins who stabbed tate to death. she described it at a parole hearing years ago. >> she asked me to let her baby live. >> what did you say to her? >> i told her i didn't have any mercy for her. >> reporter: atkins is now dying of cancer and she is asking to be released so she can die in hospice. leslie have pleading for it too. she wish she had been there when sharon tate was there. she was there the next night stabbing rosemary labianca 16 times. >> the older i get, the harder it is. i took awa

manson wasn't along on the first night of murders but we did go along on the labianca murders.e stole rosemary labianca's wallet and had it placed in a gas station in what he thought was a black person because he wanted the black person to find her wallet and use her credit card and get blamed for the murders. these people are fine in prison. i commend them for doing well thp they can help other prisoners. you can't predict what they're going to do on the outside. these are people -- they're not hippies. they hated hippies. when they joined the family, a lot of hippies heard manson, what he was saying and they got away from him as fast as possible because what he was saying was adolf hitler was his hero for what he did to jews in world war ii. manson was a racist. would not allow minorities in the family and would tell different people who could get together and have babies. these killers, something resonated within them and they stayed. some of them were bright. leslie van houten has 121 i.x., in the top 5% of people in the u.s. she admitted in her cross-examination it took he

labianca was laying on the floor on her stomach, and i stabbed her numerous times in the back. >> reporterkins was with watson and krenwinkle during the tate murders, holding down 8 1/2-month-pregnant actress sharon tate as she pleaded for her and her child's life. >> she asked me to give her mercy. >> what did you say to her? >> i told her i didn't give mercy. >> how manson convinced his flock to kill and torture without remorse baffled the world. manson family members say it was a combination of charisma, drug, and manson's knack for recruiting the right group of vulnerable followers. >> like little birds with our mouths open, beat us, and he would be saying the things we had been thinking. we thought that he had an in to our very thoughts and our very hearths. >> atkins, krenwinkle and van houten say they left broken homes. watson would be his right-hand man. the faces of the manson killers have gotten earlier. the courthouse smiles and giggles replaced with pleas for forgiveness. >> and i'm appall ed that i coud even have been involved with something like that. >> it's terribly difficu

that all stopped with the tate-labianca murders.tha: i hope we can show some of the pictures of the so-called manson family. as you point out and as you have written so extensively about, they look like everybody's kids. they look like like your -- like your next door neighbor's kids. that was what was so shocking about this. tell us a little about what happened on these two nights, about the extent of these murders. >> well, to summarize the murders is pretty hard to do, but manson sent his killers the first night to the former home of doris day's son with instructions to murder everyone on the premises. that night sharon and four others were brutally stabbed to death. three of the victims were also shot. the second night was a little different. manson originally accompanied his killers. they drove throughout the city of l.a. looking for victims completely at random. ultimately stopping in front of the home of a husband and wife, labianca. manson sent his killers into the home to make the killings as brutal as the previous night. s

market owner leo la bean carl cameron and his wife -- labianca were found murdered. >> it was a story on page one all over the country.e on it was shocking. i mean if you are not safe ina. your own home, when are you asafe?t >> when the tate la biancao killingsr happened, peopleiker started locking their doors. people stopped picking up hitch hikers.a: >> greta: a band of hippies lei my an aspiring musician namedaf charles manson were later -labested for the tate and la bianca murders.e ers the killers would prove to beh the death nell for the hippyukn movement.mind >> i never killed any one. i don't need to kill any one! i think it. i have it here! >> greta: the hippy dream of peace and love was very much allove in the spring of 1967. turned its back on straightb society, instead, embracing,ine longhair, drugs and free love. the helppy mecca. one of the thousands that pour into ash bury in search of bo aropia was an ex-connamed charles manson. the 5'2" manson never knew his father and had spent most of his life in prison. >> i have been with prostitutes and bums an and winos all my l

as we approach the 40th anniversary of the tate labianca murders, vincent bugliosi joining us from pasadenaia. >> happy to be on the show. >> 40 years later still this obsessive subculture around manson. you got to know him better than anybody. what explains the fascination? >> well, there are many reasons. i think one reason is the sociallogical implication the manson murders may have sounded the hippies and all that are represented. the white album, said the '60s, the so-called decade of love, quote, ended abruptly on august the 9th, 1969, the night of the tate murders. we have the fact they may have murdered 35 people and already had plans to murder prominent personalities like frank sinatra, liz taylor, et cetera. the fact the murders were incredibly brutal. 169 stab wounds. if i were to single out one reason above all others for the continuing fascination of the case, the murders were probably the most bizarre in the records of american crime. people are fascinated by things that are strange and bizarre. manson, himself, how many charles mansons are out there. the incredible motives fo

and 40 years of the tate/labianca murders, susan atkins is also asking for parole. jim avila explains, this request is a little more complicated, isn't it, jim? >> reporter: it is. four decades have passed. and the prisoners have grown old in prison. and now, one of the manson killers are going to appeal to the parole board for release, on medical grounds. too ill to die in custody. it's a face you may not recognize anymore. it's susan atkins today. still in prison. but gravely ill from brain cancer. and asking for mercy she did not give her victims. 40 years ago, she was a member of charles manson's family and took part in one of the most evil crimes in history. it was atkins who held down pregnant actress sharon tate, as she was stabbed 16 times, that she described in a blood-curdling detail at a parole hearing years ago. >> she asked me to spare her. >> what did you say to her? >> i told her i didn't have any mercy for her. >> reporter: but today, atkins is so ill, her family says she can no longer pose a threat to society. and they argue with the california budg

i went back in the bedroom and miss labianca was laying on the floor on her stomach and i stabbed hers in the back. >> she was with them during the murders, holding down 8 1/2 month pregnant sharon tate as she pleaded for her and her child's life. how manson convinced his flock to kill and torture without remorse baffled the world? manson family members say it was a combination of charisma, drugs and his knack for recruiting the right group of followers. >> we were like little birds with our mouths open to feed us. he would be saying the things we had been thinking. we thought he had an in to our thoughts and heart. >> reporter: they say they left broken homes. watson would turn out to be manson's right-hand man. the faces have gotten older. the courthouse smiles and giggles replaced with pleas for forgiveness. >> i'm appalled that i could even have been following something like that. i feel terrible about it. i can't change it no matter what i do. >> i am very remorseful for that. >> reporter: first sentenced to death, the maen snson killers w given life sentences. charles manson rem

the tate labianca killings.nd while manson and others are serving life terms, one is being paroled this week. cnn.com's melissa long joins us with details. >> reflecting on those 40 years, the attorney who was prosecuting manson and the so-called members of his family reflects on the case, saying it was really the most bizarre and far out in recorded american history. so, it's perfectly understandable that this story would be among the most popular today. and we introduce you to what the convicted killers are doing today. we have a gallery that introduces you to them, because so many people are familiar with charles manson, but they don't know about the so-called family members. and we have a gallery of the key players like leslie van houten, who helped to hold a woman down as she was stabbed to death by another member of the family. now she's been involved in prison programs, mentoring other inmates, chuck, and they say she is the best candidate for parole. susan atkins, perhaps the most infamous after manson h