Unemployed ex-convict Charles Milles Manson, the son of a prostitute, gathered a group of middle-class "flower children" into obedient followers during California's 1967 flower power era. Institutionalized by extensive prison time, Manson became a dangerous leader who needed followers. He allegedly sent his followers, the "Manson Family," to carry out his hatred of society, planning a race war between whites and blacks. The brutal murders of seven people in 1969, with slogans written in the victims' blood, cemented Manson's name as synonymous with evil.
Born to Kill?
Charles Manson, a charismatic former convict, orchestrated a heinous attack in 1967, sending his followers to brutally slaughter seven people in a bid to spark racial chaos.
