Charles Milles Manson (born Maddox; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician. He founded the Manson Family and became infamous for directing the Tate–LaBianca murders, in which his followers killed nine people in Los Angeles in 1969.
Charles Milles Maddox was born on November 12, 1934, to 16-year-old Ada Kathleen Maddox of Ashland, Kentucky, at Cincinnati General Hospital in Ohio. His birth certificate lists his name as “Manson.” His biological father was likely Colonel Walker Henderson Scott Sr. of Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Maddox filed a paternity suit against Scott, which concluded with an agreed judgment in 1937. Scott, who worked in local mills and was known as a con artist, allowed Maddox to believe he was an army colonel, though “Colonel” was his first name. When Maddox informed him of her pregnancy, he claimed to have army business and left. She later realized he would not return, and Manson never met his biological father.
In August 1934, before Charles was born, Maddox married William Eugene Manson, who worked at a dry cleaning business. Maddox frequently went out drinking with her brother Luther, leaving Charles with babysitters. On April 30, 1937, Maddox and William divorced after he accused her of “gross neglect of duty.” Charles retained William’s last name, Manson. On August 1, 1939, Kathleen and Luther were arrested for assault and robbery and sentenced to five and ten years in prison, respectively.
Manson was placed in the home of an aunt and uncle in McMechen, West Virginia. His mother was paroled in 1942. Manson later characterised the first weeks after her return from prison as the happiest time of his life. Weeks after her release, Manson’s family moved to Charleston, West Virginia, where he frequently played truant, and his mother spent her evenings drinking. She was arrested for grand larceny, but was not convicted. The family later moved to Indianapolis, where Maddox met alcoholic Lewis Woodson Cavender Jr. (1916–1979) through Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and married him in August 1943.
On April 11, 2012, Manson was denied parole at his twelfth hearing, which he did not attend. After his March 27, 1997 hearing, he refused to participate in further hearings. The panel cited his “history of controlling behavior” and “mental health issues” such as schizophrenia and paranoid delusional disorder, deeming him too dangerous for release. They also noted 108 rule violations, lack of remorse, no insight into his crimes, failure to understand their seriousness, callous disregard for human suffering, and absence of parole plans.
At the April 11, 2012 parole hearing, officials determined Manson would not be eligible for parole again for fifteen years, not before 2027, when he would have been 92. In 2023, researchers re-examined his psychological state and suggested he may have been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, proposing instead that he had bipolar disorder and psychopathy.
On January 1, 2017, while incarcerated at Corcoran Prison, Manson was taken to Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield due to gastrointestinal bleeding. A source told the Los Angeles Times that Manson was seriously ill, and TMZ reported that doctors considered him “too weak” for surgery typically performed in such cases. He was returned to prison on January 6, and details of his treatment were not disclosed. On November 15, 2017, an unauthorized source reported that Manson had returned to a hospital in Bakersfield, but the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not confirm this, citing medical privacy laws. He died at the hospital on November 19 from cardiac arrest caused by respiratory failure resulting from colon cancer.
Three individuals expressed intent to claim Manson’s estate and body. His grandson, Jason Freeman, sought possession of Manson’s remains and personal effects. Michael Channels, a pen-pal, claimed to have a will dated February 14, 2002, leaving the entire estate and body to him. Ben Gurecki, a friend, claimed to have a will dated January 2017, which bequeathed the estate and body to Matthew Roberts, another alleged son.
Posthumous releases
