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.