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Charles Manson Timeline

1934	Charles Manson is born on November 12 in Cincinnati, Ohio to 16-year-old Kathleen Maddox and is named Charles Miles Maddox. For a short period of time after Manson’s birth, Kathleen Maddox is married to William Manson, and Charles adopts his last name. Manson’s biological father is “Colonel Scott”; it is unclear whether Manson ever met him.
1939	Manson’s mother, Kathleen Maddox, and her brother rob a Charleston, West Virginia service station. Maddox and her brother receive five years imprisonment, during which time Manson goes to live in McMechen, West Virginia with his aunt and uncle.
1943	Kathleen Maddox is released from prison and reclaims her son. In an interview with author Nuel Emmons later in life, Manson described the embrace he received from his mother upon her release as the only joy of his childhood. Following her release from prison, Maddox provides shelter for Manson by taking him to live in run-down motel rooms.
1947	Maddox unsuccessfully tries to place Manson in a foster home; no space is available. As a result, the court places Manson in Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana where he resides for 10 months until fleeing to his mother, who refuses to take care of him.
1948	Manson commits a string of burglaries which provide the cash to rent a room. During one robbery, he steals a bicycle, gets caught and is sent to a juvenile detention center where he spends one day before escaping. Manson is recaptured and placed in Father Flanagan’s Boys Town, where he remains for four days before escaping with another boy. After committing two robberies at grocery stores, Manson is captured again and sent to the Indiana School for Boys in Plainfield, Indiana at the age of 13. In later interviews Manson claims that he was physically and emotionally brutalized at the Indiana School.
1951	After a number of failed attempts, Manson and two other children escape from the Indiana School for Boys. Robbing gas stations along the way to Utah, Manson and his two compatriots are caught driving a stolen car across state lines. Manson is sent to the National Training School for Boys in Washington, DC in March. Despite four years of prior schooling and an average IQ, he remains illiterate and a caseworker claims he is “aggressively anti-social.” In October of the same year, Manson is transferred to National Bridge Honor Camp, a minimum security facility, upon a psychiatrist’s recommendation.
1952	In January, Manson is sent to the Federal Reformatory in Petersburg, Virginia for putting a razor blade to another boy’s throat and sodomizing him. At the Federal Reformatory, Manson is deemed “dangerous.” By September, Manson has committed a number of disciplinary offenses in the reformatory and is relocated to another Federal Reformatory which is more secure in Chillicothe, Ohio. Within a month, Manson has become a model prisoner and over the next two years advances his education level from the lower fourth grade to the upper seventh grade.
1954	Manson’s positive behavior in the Ohio Reformatory earns him parole and he is awarded the Meritorious Service Award. He temporarily abides by the parole requirements which include living with his aunt and uncle in McMechen, West Virginia, but shortly thereafter, Manson violates parole and moves to be with his mother in Wheeling, West Virginia.
1955	In January, 21-year-old Manson marries 18-year-old hospital waitress Rosalie Jean Willis and supports her through auto theft and petty crime. In July of the same year, Manson and his pregnant wife drive to Los Angeles in a stolen car from Ohio. Around October, he is caught again for driving a stolen car over state lines and receives five years probation following a psychiatric evaluation.
1956	Manson fails to appear at a Los Angeles hearing in regards to another charge of driving over state lines in a stolen car in Florida, and as a result he is arrested in Indianapolis and his probation is revoked. He is sentenced to three years in prison at Terminal Island in San Pedro, California. Charles M. Manson Jr. is born during Manson’s first year in prison, and Manson receives visits from his wife and mother who are living in Los Angeles.
1957	In March, Rosalie stops visiting Manson and he learns from his mother that Rosalie is living with another man. Less than a month later and two weeks before his parole hearing, Manson makes an escape attempt by trying to steal a car. Manson is denied parole and Rosalie files for divorce.
1958	Rosalie’s divorce from Manson is finalized and she receives full custody of their son, Charles Jr. In September, Manson is released from prison and receives five years’ probation. Within two months, Manson has become the pimp of a 16-year-old girl and is gaining additional financial support from another girl with wealthy parents.
1959	Manson is arrested in Los Angeles and pleads guilty to attempting to cash a forged U.S. Treasury check in the amount of $37.50. He receives a 10-year suspended sentence and probation following the testimony of a young woman who tells the court she has fallen in love with Manson and will marry him if he is freed. The woman, Leona, a prostitute also known as “Candy Stevens,” marries Manson before the end of the year. He takes Leona and another woman to New Mexico with intent to use them for prostitution and is questioned by police for violation of the Mann Act, a statute which bans human trafficking and prostitution. Manson is freed without charged, but quickly disappears and violates parole, fearing the investigation has not come to a close.
1960	A bench warrant is issued for Manson’s arrest when he is found in violation of his parole and he is indicted for violation of the Mann Act. Manson returns to Los Angeles after he is arrested in Laredo, Texas. Manson is ordered to serve his 10-year sentence for attempting to cash a U.S. Treasury check since he violated his parole.
1961	After spending a year trying unsuccessfully to appeal his revoked probation, Manson is transferred from the Los Angeles County Jail to the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island due to the federal offense of trying to cash a forged Treasury check. The Mann Act charge has been officially dropped. In an annual review in September, Manson is found to have a “tremendous drive to call attention to himself.” Upon his transfer, Manson claims “Scientology” as his religion.
1963	Leona is granted a divorce from Manson. It is believed that during this time Leona gives birth to Manson’s son, Charles Luther Manson.
1966	Manson is sent to Terminal Island for the second time in his life in preparation for his release.
1967	Manson is released on March 21. By this point, he has spent more than half of his 32 years of life in prisons and other correctional institutions. Manson asks authorities to let him remain in prison, arguing that it has become his home. The request is denied. Manson receives permission to move to San Franciso, where he obtains an apartment in Berkeley. He quickly meets 23-year-old Mary Brunner, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and moves in with her at 636 Cole Street in San Francisco. Before long, he has convinced her to allow other women to live in the apartment – totaling as many as 18 women in the home at one time. Manson makes a living by playing steel guitar – a skill he learned in prison – and panhandling. Manson ingratiates himself into hippie society in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, where he quickly recruits a group of devoted young followers, especially women. According to one account, in the summer of 1967 Manson and a group of eight or nine women take a school bus and travel north to Washington State, and then south through Los Angeles, Mexico and other areas of the southwest, finally returning to Los Angeles where they take up residence in various places including Topanga Canyon, Malibu and Venice.
1968	In late spring, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys is believed to pick up two Manson girls who are hitchhiking and brings them back to his house before returning them home a few hours later where he meets Manson for the first time. Members of the Manson “Family” quickly work their way into Wilson’s home where, over the span of a few months, they tally up bills in the range of $100,000 for medical expenses, accidental destruction of a car, etc. Manson and Wilson sing and talk together and share the pleasures of Manson’s girls. By the summer, Wilson’s manager evicts members of the Manson “Family” from his home, and Manson establishes a new home base at Spahn’s Movie Ranch. George Spahn, the 80-year-old blind owner of the ranch remains on-site to do odds and ends for Manson in exchange for sexual favors from Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a member of the “Family.” During this time, Charles “Tex” Watson joins Manson’s group after meeting him at Wilson’s home. In November, Manson expands his operation by setting up additional headquarters in Death Valley by acquiring Myers and Barker ranches. Shortly thereafter, Manson hears The Beatles’ White Album for the first time, and he interprets the songs to be speaking to a racial war he believes is about to erupt – impending social doom he comes to call “Helter Skelter.” By February, Manson has perfected his vision and has planned that the “Family” will create a musical album that will act as the catalyst for “Helter Skelter.” They are told that record producer Terry Melcher is coming to hear the album, but he never arrives.
March 1969	On March 23, Manson visits 10050 Cielo Drive, the former residence of Terry Melcher and current residence of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski. Manson is greeted by Sharokh Hatami, a friend and photographer of Tate’s who says the property is the Polanski residence and he doesn’t know anyone by the name of Melcher. Manson returns later the same evening and this time speaks with Rudy Altobelli, the owner of the Cielo Drive property who is also in the entertainment business. Altobelli lies to Manson, claiming he doesn’t know Melcher’s new address, and asks that Manson not disturb his tenants (Tate and Polanski).
May 1969	May – Terry Melcher visits the “Family” and listens to their music but does not record them.
June 1969	June – Manson asks Charles “Tex” Watson to defraud a black drug dealer named Bernard Crowe, and Crowe subsequently threatens the members of Manson’s “Family” at Spahn Ranch.
July 1969	In retaliation to Crowe’s threats, Manson shoots Crowe at his apartment on July 1 and believes him to be dead. Manson hears on the news that the body of a Black Panther has been found and mistakenly believes that this is Crowe’s body. Fearing retaliation from the Black Panthers, Manson sets up a defensive fortress at Spahn Ranch and he claims that "Helter Skelter" is imminent. On July 25, Manson sends “Family” members Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins to the home of acquaintance Gary Hinman, believing that Hinman has recently come into an inheritance of $21,000 and should turn the money over to the “Family.” The trio holds the uncooperative Hinman (who does not have any money) hostage for two days, during which time he is gagged and bound and Manson allegedly visits him to slash his ear with a sword. On the second day, Beausoleil stabs Hinman to death. One of the members writes “Political Piggy” in Hinman’s blood on the wall and draws a Black Panther symbol.
August 1969	August 6 – Bobby Beausoleil is arrested driving Hinman’s car with the murder weapon in his possession. Manson declares “Helter Skelter” has begun. August 8 – Manson instructs “Family” members Charles “Tex” Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel to go to “that house where Melcher used to live” (10050 Cielo Drive) and wreak havoc upon the house and those in it. The Manson family members arrive at Cielo Drive around midnight and cut the telephone cords to the house. August 9 – As the group approaches the house, 18-year-old Steven Parent (a casual acquaintance of the home’s caretaker) approaches in a car and is shot to death by Watson. Entering the house, Manson’s “Family” brutally and systematically take the lives of actress Sharon Tate, eight-and-a-half months pregnant; Tate’s family friend Jay Sebring; coffee heiress Abigail Folger; and Folger’s significant other Wojciech Frykowski. Susan Atkins writes the word “Pig” on the front door of the home in Tate’s blood as previously ordered by Manson to “leave a sign…something witchy.” The group members change their bloody clothes and discard their weapons in the hills on the way home. August 10 – The four participants in the Tate murders, plus Leslie Van Houten, Steve “Clem” Grogan and Manson himself set out the next night with a similarly brutal plan. Angered by the distress of the murder victims the previous night, Manson plans to show his protégées “how to do it.” After driving around for a few hours, they end up at 3301 Waverly Drive, a home next door to a house the Manson “Family” had once visited for a party. Manson enters the home, which belongs to supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary and ties up the couple. The group viciously murders both of them in a similar manner as the night before and leaves notes in blood on the walls such as “Rise,” “Death to Pigs” and “Healter Skelter” [sic]. August 11 – William Garretson, caretaker of the Cielo Drive home, is held briefly by police as a suspect in the murders but is released without charges after taking a polygraph test. August 12 – The Los Angeles Police Department tells the media there is believed to be no connection between the Tate and LaBianca murders. August 16 – Manson and 25 others living at Spahn Ranch are arrested as suspects in an auto theft ring, but released when it is discovered that the police warrant is misdated.
October 1969	Manson and Atkins are arrested on charges unrelated to the murders and police begin to discover similarities between the two crimes and the murder of Gary Hinman.
December 1969	Warrants are issued for members of the “Family” that are still at large: Charles “Tex” Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian. Watson and Krenwinkel are found to be already under arrest in Texas and Alabama respectively, and Kasabian turns herself in shortly thereafter.
1970	The Tate-LaBianca murder trial begins on June 15 with charges brought against Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten (for the LaBianca murders only) and Linda Kasabian (who is granted immunity for her testimony as she did not directly participate in the crimes). July 24 – Testimony begins and Manson arrives in court with a black “X” carved in his forehead in protest after being denied the right to act as his own attorney. The female defendants and other members of the “Family” mimic this action to show solidarity with Manson.
August 1970	August 4 – Manson nearly causes a mistrial when he gets hold of a newspaper and flashes the headline “Manson Guilty, Nixon Declares” to the jury.
November 1970	The prosecution rests and in an upset the defense rests as well without calling a single witness for fear that their clients will take all the blame for the murders upon themselves in support of Manson.
December 1970	Leslie Van Houten’s attorney, Ronald Hughes, disappears and must be replaced. His body is discovered months later in March and many believe the “Family” to be behind the murder though no conclusive evidence is found or charges made.
January 1971	Guilty verdicts are returned for all four defendants. Manson, Krenwinkel and Atkins are found guilty of seven counts of murder and one of conspiracy, while Van Houten is found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy.
March 29	The jury returns verdicts of death against all four defendants.
1971	In August, Charles “Tex” Watson’s trial begins in Texas. Two months later, he is found guilty of seven counts of murder and one count of conspiracy and is sentenced to death.
1972	Death sentences for Charles Manson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Charles “Tex” Watson are reduced to sentences of life in prison based on California v. Anderson in which the state has temporarily abolished the death penalty.
1975	The Manson “Family” grabs headlines again when “Family” member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme attempts – unsuccessfully – to assassinate President Gerald Ford at a Sacramento rally. She is found guilty and receives a sentence of life in prison.
1984	Manson is attacked by a fellow prison inmate who douses him with paint thinner and sets him on fire. He suffers second and third degree burns on 20% of his body but makes a full recovery.
2007	Manson is denied parole for the 11th time. His next parole hearing will take place in 2012.

bluebirdandsing	Latest page update: made by bluebirdandsing , Aug 8 2008, 12:36 PM EDT (about this update About This Update Edited by bluebirdandsing - complete history)
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