Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
“The Summer of Manson” is an episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered that will be aired on Oxygen on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. It will revolve around Charles Manson’s rise to notoriety and the crime of the Manson Family.
The Manson Family killed Sharon Tate and her friends, including coffee company heiress Abigal Folger, celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, and Wojciech Frykowski on August 9, 1969. The crime took place inside Sharon Tate’s house, which she shared with her husband, Roman Polanski. The next day, the Manson Family killed Rosemary and Leno LaBianca.
In October 1969, Charles Manson and the other members of the Manson Family had been arrested on charges of auto theft. The following month, Susan Atkins, a prominent member of the Manson Family, disclosed to an inmate in the cell that she killed Sharon Tate so that the whole world would notice. Detectives then interrogated Al Springer, a motorcycle gang member who knew Manson. Springer told authorities that Manson admitted to murdering people a few days after the Tate-LaBianca murders, according to CNN.
The murder of an eight-month pregnant Sharon Tate, who was stabbed 16 times, was still being investigated at the time. The Manson Family members who were actively involved in the Tate-LaBianca murders included Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, and Linda Kasabian. All of them were reportedly charged with seven murders, following which the trial began. Another member, Van Houten, was also accused of the LaBianca murders.
Manson and his followers were subsequently convicted of seven murders. All the Manson Family members were initially considered for the death penalty. However, they were given a life in prison because California had abolished the death penalty at the time.
How many people did the Manson Family kill?
Four people were killed inside Roman Polnski’s Benedict Canyon home on August 9, 1969. Steven Parent, a friend of the estate caretaker who was outside the home at the time, was also killed. The next day, the group killed Rosemary and Leno LaBianca, bringing their collective victim count up to seven.
Charles Manson reportedly took his followers to kill the LaBiancas as he was displeased with how the murders at Tate’s residence were carried out. Before the Tate-LaBianca murders, Bobby Beausoleil, a Manson Family member, killed Gary Hinman, according to CNN.
Although Manson and his followers were convicted of a total of nine murders, authorities reportedly believe that their kill count may have gone up to 35. Many of the Manson Family members initially claimed they killed many more and buried them. According to the New York Times, authorities searched a stretch of the desert in Death Valley to find victims unaccounted for. No new charges were filed.
Charles Manson died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 83, in a hospital in Kern County, California. He was reportedly admitted to the hospital for intestinal bleeding and was considered too frail to undergo surgery. His murders were widely interpreted as attempts to trigger a race war. He called it “Helter Skelter,” a phrase he used to define the chaos that he thought his crimes started.
“The Summer of Manson” will be aired on Oxygen on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
