Who was Charles Manson part 2: The Manson Family

In my last post, I introduced Charles Manson and The Manson Family. However, I wanted to go more into the crimes that Charles and his followers committed. The most infamous murders committed by the Manson family would be the Sharon Tate Murder and The LaBianca Murders.
Sharon Tate was an actress and model. She was married to a famous director named Roman Polanski and lived in Los Angeles,California. Charles's first encounter with Sharon was when he went to her home to visit Terry Melcher, a musician, who had previously owned the property. It is said that Sharon's friend denied  him entrance at first and that may be the cause as to why Charles set his eyes on the home.  In an interview with some members of The Manson Family, they described how the murders went down. The females were being led by a male member of the family names Tex Watkins. Charles Manson wasn't actually their during the murders but had left Tex in charge. He instructed the females that they were to do everything that Tex said. To Tex, he said that no one was to leave without getting their hands dirty. Some of the details were very gruesome. Sharon as well as 5 other people that were spending the night at her home that night were murdered. Sharon was also 8 months pregnant at the time.

The next night they struck again. This time the victims were Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, a married couple that also lived in Los Angeles. Charles states that he chose their home because he had attended a party their the year before so he knew the home very well. He went into the home first and managed to tie up the victims while they were asleep. He then came back out and ordered some the members to kill the couple. One of the members states in an interview that she was too scared to participate, but then got ordered to "do something, so she stabbed the already dead body of Mrs. LaBianca 14 times. This murder was just as gruesome as the last. One of the most interesting things to me was that after the second murder was discovered, investigators did not tie the murders together. Investigators thought that each murder had different killers and motives.  For the Tate murder, some thought it could've been her husband since he was out of the country filming a movie during the murder. The breakthrough came when a roommate of Susan Atkins, a member the Manson Family, informed police of their involvement of the murders.

Now, if you've seen footage of the murder trials, they're actually kind of creepy. The women are seen holding hands while walking down towards the courtroom, they were singing songs that were later revealed as songs that were written by Charles Manson, and they just looked carefree and unbothered of the crimes they had just committed. They just look nuts. However, during an interview with these women, they reveal that all of their actions during the trial were all actually rehearsed and instructed by Manson. He wanted their trial to be remembered forever, so he would tell them how to act and they obeyed. Although all these women show remorse for the wrongs they committed, some feel like they are just acting. As I watched them talk about the murders they committed, I do see regret in them. To me, I feel like they were just young and wanted to rebel. Unfortunately for them, they will now spend the rest of their lives paying for their horrific crimes.

Who was Charles Manson?

Charles Manson, age 13

Charles Manson was born in  November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Manson's mom was only 16 and unmarried when he was born. Charles never knew his biological father. His mother was a prostitute and was arrested for robbing a service station so he spent a lot of his childhood away from her. In an interview, he spoke about how he always dreamed of days spent with her. He was taken in by his very religious aunt and uncle. Although he did not like going to church with them he did enjoy the singing.
Charles started committing crimes at a very young age. He didn't like being told what to do so he set the school on fire when he was 9. When he turned 13, he started committing burglaries. He was eventually caught in the act when he attempted to steal a bicycle and was sent to a juvenile detention center. As he grew older he was still committing crimes. he stole cars, forged checks, burglary, stole mail, and had prostitutes working for him. By the age of 32 he had spent half of his life in prison. It was all he knew. It is said that when he was first released, he had asked them not to. A caseworker declared him to be very antisocial.

After his release date, he was given permission to move to San Francisco. While living there he met a woman named Mary Brunner, who would be one of the first members of the Manson Family. He moved into her apartment and convinced her to let him bring other women to live with them. At one point, they shared the house with 18 other women. Among these women, many of them came to join his group of followers, which was named Manson Family. He taught his followers that they were the reincarnation of the original Christians and he also often implied that he was Christ. To keep his followers interested, they traveled a lot all over the U.S. and Mexico before settling back in San Francisco. It is there where Mary Brunner became pregnant by Manson and gave birth to a son she named Valentine Michael. Her Birth was assisted by several of the members of the Manson Family.

Now, how is any of this relevant? How are Charles Manson and the Manson Family important enough to even know about? Well this group of individuals became widely known when they were found responsible for the deaths of 8 people in California. To this day, Charles and many member of the Manson family are serving life in prison.

Charles Manson in 2012

My Documentary Analysis on "Babies behind Bars"

The United States has the highest rate of women in prison in the world, and the rate of pregnant inmates is increasing. There is now a program in an Indiana prison that allows a handful of inmates to keep their babies after they give birth that is called the "Wee Ones Nursery". In the documentary it is stated that their are about 60 babies delivered by inmates from their prison each year. There are only ten rooms available in the maternity wing so it is very hard to qualify. To be able to qualify you must only have a sentence of 16 months or shorter. Since the inmates will be around other babies they must also be serving for non violent crimes and have no history of violence. For the inmates who do not qualify to keep their babies after labor, they are forced to give up their baby after 24 hours of giving birth. The babies are then taken by a family member or put into foster care until the mother is able to care for them out of prison.
The director of this program mentions that their is a lot of backlash towards this program. The biggest concern of the public was for the babies. Would spending their first months of life in a prison negatively impact their life? In my opinion, I think their lives would be impacted more being away from their mother's. The first months are crucial for the baby and mother to be able to bond. It could also motivate the mother's to start making better decisions. For the babies, it could show them to think about their actions as they get older so they don't end up in the same situation as their mother's. While watching the inmates that were staying in the maternity wing being interviewed, it was very heartwarming to see how much they cared for their babies. A lot of them were in prison for substance abuse but they all said that being able to see what motivates them to be better mother's definitely helps them control their impulses. They made some bad choices in their life but being able to be with their kids is motivating them to become better people.

(If) He Did It

What comes to mind when you first hear the name O.J. Simpson? Is it that he used to be an NFL football player? Or is it that he was accused of murdering his wife and her friend? For those of you who don't know about the infamous trial, O.J. Simpson was the prime suspect when his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were found murdered at Nicole's house. There was many evidence that pointed towards O.J. but somehow he got away with it. For starters, Nicole and O.J.'s marriage was never perfect. She had accused him of domestic violence a few times, there is actually a 911 phone call that she had made while he was breaking into her home and he was trying to attack her. This audio is available to the public, which you can take a look at here:


Nicole Brown Simpson 911 call

Although there weren’t any witnesses that could testify that O.J. was seen at the crime scene on the night of the murders and there were no weapons found either, the prosecutors did have two very important pieces of evidence that the they could use against him. One of the biggest pieces of evidence they found was blood from both of the victims and from O.J. Simpson at the crime scene. Investigators also found Nicole and Ron’s blood in O.J.’s white Ford Bronco. When police arrived at the crime scene, the two fatally stabbed bodies were found along with one bloody black glove. As they continued their investigation at O.J. Simpson’s house. another identical glove was found in his property with blood that ended up being a match to both Nicole and Ron as well. This was one of the biggest trials in history, and the final verdict left some people watching cheering to see O.J. Simpson walk away an innocent free man, and others appalled that he had possibly gotten away with murder.

The victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman

Where is Kyron Horman?

The disappearance of Kyron Horman is one of the biggest cases in Oregon. Kyron was last seen at his school, Skyline Elementary on June 4th, 2010. He was taken to the school by his stepmother Terri Horman. She stayed with him before the first bell to attend a science fair in which Kyron's project would be displayed. This is a picture that she took of him next to his display:

This is the last picture of him before he disappeared that day. When this first happened, I was too young to really get to deep into this case. All I knew was that a boy had disappeared and no one knew where he was. I remember hearing that his stepmom had tried to change her name and moved away right after his disappearance and this is when things got sketchy. She was the last person who saw him, so how couldn't she be a suspect? I started to look around to see if I could find anything else about her, this is when I found her interview with Dr. Phil. She had gone on his show just last year to speak about his disappearance. I watched interviews from her side as well as from Kyron's parents and even the investigators that were handling the case, these are some of the things that made me suspect even more that Terri could be responsible with Kyron's disappearance:

1.     Right after Kyron's disappearance, it was revealed by police that the family's landscaper came forward and told them that Terri tried to hire him to help her kill her husband, Kyron's father, Kaine Horman. When asked, about the attempt,  he couldn't believe it at first but afterwards he filed for divorce and got a restraining order against her.

2.     Just three weeks after Kyron's disappearance, it was revealed that Terri was sexting one of Kaines friends. This is not normal behavior for a mother who is grieving the loss of their child. In the interview, she claims that she only did it to get back at Kaine for infidelity from his part. 

3.     Kyron's parents and stepparents were all ordered to take polygraph tests; Terri actually had to take 2 and failed both.

4.     She tried to change her name to Claire Sullivan, which is actually a name out of a murder story.

5.     Kyron's mom says that there are a few witnesses including one of  Kyron's friends that say they saw him walk out with Terri that day.

6.     A police chief handling the case said that one of his teachers were told by Terri that Kyron had a doctor's appointment that day. He states that this was why the school never questioned why he was not in class that day. When Terri was questioned about this, she said that she meant the following Thursday, the 11th. The chief then went on to explain that this is irrelevant because the day Kyron went missing was the last day of school, so it would not matter to the school if he had an appointment the following week.

Although they have all these clues, Terri has never been officially named a prime suspect or even a person of interest. Getting deeper into this case has convinced me that Terri is responsible for Kyron’s disappearance. It has now been almost 7 years since Kyron has been missing, I hope for his parent's sake they get the answers that they are looking for. The Kyron Horman case is still currently open.

Famous Cold Case: Tupac Shakur

   Tupac Amaru Shakur was a musician, actor and poet. He was a rapper from California and starred in several movies before he was fatally shot. Till this day, no one really knows who actually killed Tupac Shakur. Some don't even believe that he is dead, but that it was all set up by him because he was tired of the fame. Tupac was shot 4 times on September 7th, 1996 while on a trip to Las Vegas where he had gone to support His friend Mike Tyson in a boxing match. He was at a red light sitting in the passenger seat of his manager's car when a white Cadillac  pulled up next to the car and fired 9 times into the car and sped off. Four of those shots hit Tupac in the lung so it had to be removed to stop internal bleeding. He then spent 6 days in a medically induced coma before he passed away on September 23rd.

  Tupac had a lot of enemies. Although he never claimed a gang, some gangs hated him simply because of how he was portrayed. Another famous rival that he had was fellow rap artist Biggie Smalls. Their feud started when Tupac released a diss track called "Hit Em Up" aimed at Biggie. Biggie then released his own diss track called "Who Shot Ya" aimed at Tupac. There feud was never resolved.  A lot of people thought it could've even been Tupac's manager, Suge Knight that set everything up. Tupac was not happy with what he was getting from the label and felt that Suge was being unfair so he was planning on leaving Suge's Record Label, Death Row Records.

 I watched an interview with Tupac's bodyguard and he claims that he never left Tupac's side until that fatal night. Suge Knight had asked Tupac to ask his body guard to ride in seperate cars so he could talk to Tupac privately. His body guard thinks that Suge Knight, being a very violent person, was responsible for Tupac's death. It is interesting that even though Suge was also in the car the night of the murder, he was only left with a bullet grazing his head.

 Another Theory as mentioned before is that Tupac isn't really dead, but that he faked his own death himself. These are some of facts that I found to support this theory.

• Tupac was very interested in a 16th century philosopher named Niccolo Machiavelli. Niccolo advocated the staging of one's death in order to evade one's enemies and gain power. While in Jail Tupac read Machiavelli's book "Discourses Upon the First Ten Books of Titus Livy. in Book 2 Chapter XIII he says "a prince who wishes to achieve great things must learn to deceive." 
• Tupac's last and final album was released under his other stage name Makaveli. (Sounds a lot like Machiavelli.) 
• His final album was called The 7 Day Theory. On the cover there is a picture of Tupac being crucified kind of like Jesus was before he reincarnated. This fits with the idea that Tupac "died" so he could be reincarnated as Makaveli. 
•  It's actually legal to fake your own death in the state of Nevada! 
• Tupac was shot on September 7th. He surived the days 7th through 12th of September before passing on the 13th, which kind of ties to the title of  his album The 7 day Theory.
• Tupac never had a funeral. His body was immediately cremated after his death. Some think that's suspicious.  

After learning about these different theories, I'm not sure what to believe. 

Independent Research

For my independent research I decided  to watch a documentary on Amanda Knox. For those of you who don't know Amanda and her boyfriend Raffaelle Sollecito were accused of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy. She was convicted guilty for the 2007 murder and spent almost 4 years in Italian prison before she was given a retrial in 2011 and again in 2015. She was acquitted both times. The first time I even heard about this event was after I watched the lifetime movie based on this story.

 In the documentary that I watched they interviewed Amanda Knox, her then boyfriend Raffaelle Sollecito, a freelance journalist that covered the story for The Daily Note named Nick Pisa and the leading prosecutor Guiliano Mignini. the main thing I was looking for while watching this documentary was to hear her side of the story and also the prosecutor's to see why he thought they were guilty. The whole story is really long and both sides point out very valid arguments but a helpful piece of evidence was presented by Guiliano Mignini. In the beginning of the documentary he states that he thinks she is guilty because of the way she was acting during the whole thing. She was very calm, she was overheard talking to her boyfriend about the sex they had the night after the murder was discovered and she was doing cartwheels and stretches at the police station. He also says that from experience he has noticed that only female murderers are common to cover the victims bodies just how Meredith's body was discovered covered in a blanket. Another thing that he found strange was that nothing was taken from the house after the supposed break in. The outside walls showed no evidence of being  climbed on and it looked very much like it was staged. Guiliano said that usually the main purpose for a staged break in is to throw off suspicion of someone who has connection to the house. Although I was not able to speak to anyone involved in this case I still found it very helpful to have been able to watch interviews from both parties. I will be honest, at the beginning I was convinced that Amanda was guilty, but after this documentary I am not so sure. She was acting like a psycho during the investigation, but during the interview she seems so sincere.. the evidence found were not good enough to keep her in jail in Italy though, so Amanda is currently free living in Seattle, Washington. I have decided that I will try to write to her to ask her about her behavior and what kind of impact this whole thing has had in her life. I am hoping she will respond to me and if she does choose to respond I will post the letter on this blog. If anyone reading this would also like to contact her this is how you can reach her:

Amandaknoxmedia@gmail.com

During my research on her I have also learned that she has her own blog as well:

http://www.amandaknox.com/blog/