The greatest blessing we are all fortunate to have in this world is free will. Being able to choose for ourselves what we want to become as an adult; whether that be a teacher, astronaut, or a firefighter. We can strive to become cops and save the world or be on the opposite side, criminals and defy the law. We are able to inspire others to do good or encourage to do bad. Unfortunately, we are not able to choose our parents or where we are raised. But that does not mean you are only subjected to that lifestyle. Charles Miles Manson is one of America’s most notorious murders in American history. His ways to manipulate and inspire his followers in to committing murders without second guessing themselves is like nothing ever seen before. The murderers were members of a group led by Charles Manson called the Manson Family. These people were completely controlled by Manson. He had them convinced that they were the chosen ones and that they were only carrying out the orders of a man they thought was Jesus Christ incarnate. They were willing to risk death and imprisonment to satisfy this man. He was born November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother, Kathleen Maddox was six-teen when she gave birth to him. With her troubles in and out of jail, a young Charles Manson spent most of his adolescent childhood with his aunt and uncle is West Virginia. They were very religious and strict individuals which, was a culture shock to him. Growing up just like his mother, Charles Manson was in and out of boys’ homes and detention centers. At the age of nine-teen he was let go on parole and married a waitress named Rosalie Willis and had their first child by the name of Charles Miles Manson Jr., their marriage did not last. Once he got out he became a pimp and started prostituting a young girl named Leona. They later got married and had his second child by the name of Charles Luther Manson. But just like the first marriage the second one turned out the same way. By March 21, 1967, his release day, he had spent more than half of his thirty-two years in prisons and other institutions. Upon his release, he moved to San Francisco and met Mary Brunner a librarian. They also had a child together, Valentine Michael "Pooh Bear" Manson. During that time Charles Manson began to form his cult which was mostly women, which would later be known as the Manson Family. They got a Volkswagen and began traveling. While traveling one day Dennis Wilson, from “The Beach Boys” picked up two hitchhikers and took them home when he realized that Manson and his followers were already inside his home. They became acquaintances and he introduced Manson to a few famous people who found Manson’s views interesting and recorded some of his music. After, car and home damages Charles Manson and his followers were asked to leave and moved to Spahn Ranch. Spahn Ranch, had been a television and movie set for Western flicks. However, by the late 1960’s, the buildings had deteriorated and the ranch was earning money primarily by selling horseback rides. The blind owner by the name of George Spahn agreed to let them stay under the conditions they helped out and on occasion one of Charles Manson followers had sex with him. During their stay there, Charles Manson became a huge fan of the “The Beatles.” He believed that the music they sang had an encrypted message that was meant for their family. He was convinced and preached to his followers, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks and whites; he named it “Helter Skelter.” He believed that the blacks would win but would be unable to govern and then be forced to turn to the Manson Family for leadership. It was one of the songs on the album called “White Album by, The Beatles.” When Manson’s followers numbered twenty or thirty and Helter Skelter had still not begun, he decided to start the spark that would light the fire. On the morning of August 9, 1969, three LAPD officers arrived at 10050 Cielo Drive. The scene that awaited them was horrendous. In the driveway, in a parked car, the body of Steven Parent was found. He was shot four times and stabbed once. Laying about eighteen to twenty feet past the front door of the house, Voytek Frykowski had been shot twice, beaten over the head with a blunt object thirteen times, and stabbed fifty-one times. Also discovered on the lawn was coffee heiress Abigail Folger, stabbed twenty-eight times. Inside the home, in the living room, were the bodies of Jay Sebring and Sharon Tate. Sebring, a hair stylist, had been stabbed seven times and shot once, dying of exsanguination. Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, was stabbed sixteen times in the chest and back. The following evening, in a seemingly unrelated crime, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were discovered in their home at 3301 Waverly Drive. Rosemary was found face down in her bedroom, a lamp cord wound around her neck, in a pool of blood; she had been stabbed forty-one times. Her husband, Leno, had a pillow case over his head, a lamp cord tied around his neck, his hands tied behind his back with a leather thong, and an ivory-handled, bi-tined carving fork in his stomach; he had been stabbed multiple times and had the word “WAR” carved in his flesh. In June of 1960, Charles Manson was sent to prison for forgery, mail theft, and pimping. There, he became involved with a cult called Scientology. Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard; it teaches that each human has a soul called a “thetan.” Scientologists believe that, many years ago, the thetan was “god-like” and that people fell from divinity and forgot their origins. People were then trapped on Earth in “delusions of mortality. Hubbard claimed that he had found the spiritual way to finding the true way to man. He said that one must work through many levels of self-knowledge and knowledge of past lives to “awaken the primordial deity” until divinity is once again achieved. The highest level of awareness in Scientology is called “theta clear.” Manson claims to have reached theta clear while in prison. He supposedly achieved this through many “auditing sessions,” the method that Scientologists use to teach awareness, taught by his cell mate, Lanier Rayner. Most likely, he picked up many of his methods of mind control from these sessions, along with ideas such as karma and reincarnation. Manson and The Process shared ideas on fear also; they preached that fear was the same thing as awareness, and that the more fear one had, the more awareness and therefore more love one had. There were so many similarities between Manson’s philosophy and The Process that even if he was never a member, The Process must have been a great influence on Charles Manson. A great many other ideas of Manson’s came from the Beatles and the Bible. This may seem like an odd pair, but they fit together surprisingly well in Manson’s mind. He prayed on young men and women who were vulnerable and looking for any sense of love or belonging. Many of the members of the Family were young females who had traveled to California in search of God or happiness. He even attracted a few men with LSD trips to “open the mind.” What they found was a man who would convince them of what they desperately wanted to believe: that they were attractive and desirable, and that he was God. As he pulled in followers, Manson began to preach his philosophy. He claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and was known as both God and Satan. He taught that the United States was on the brink of a black/white racial war called Helter Skelter. Manson believed that the blacks would be incapable of governing after being the inferior race for so long and would turn to the Family for leadership. He promised his followers that they would soon retreat into the desert to the Bottomless Pit, another concept shared with The Process, where they would live in comfort until they numbered 144,000. Then, they would return to the upper world where they would rule. Susan Atkins, who was involved in both murders, agreed to testify for the Grand Jury in return for immunity. After the criminal trial started, however, and she had one meeting with Manson, she changed her statement and was once again charged with first degree murder. Manson’s followers who were not arrested held a vigil outside the Hall of Justice everyday throughout the trials. During the court proceedings, when Manson refused to face the judge, the other three defendants did the same. When he carved an X in his forehead, they mimicked him again. The X signified “Xing” himself out of society. And when he changed that X to a swastika, they followed. The defendants repeated all of Manson’s outbursts in court. Vincent Bugliosi says of the Family members in his book Helter Skelter, “They were also young, naive, eager to believe, and, perhaps even more important, belong. There were followers aplenty for any self-styled guru. It didn’t take Manson long to sense this. Manson used the people’s eagerness to implant his philosophy deep into their impressionable young minds. He thought that he was the fifth angel of the Apocalypse, the one that held the key to the Bottomless Pit. What Charles Manson didn’t teach his followers was that the translation of the angel’s name Abbadon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek -- is “destroyer.” In conclusion, Charles Miles Manson lived a troubled life, in and out of jail and prison numerous times. His life choices and beliefs have led him down a path he cannot return from. If you wonder where Charles Manson is these days, just look up the State Prison of California where he will be spending a life in prison behind steel bars till his ending days. He has tried several times to appeal his case but constantly gets turned down. The most bizarre thing about this man is how many followers and letters he still receives till this day. Can he honestly still have so many supporters out there believing in his cause? During my extended time in researching this criminal and trying to understand why he did what he did and how easily he was able to control his followers, I’ve come to realize certain traits this man possesses that can validate certain theorists points. For example, “Classical Criminology”, everyone has free will, the punishment versus benefit belief. He is a motivated offender and if set free he would continue his practice. He is unapologetic and ruthless. Men like this are not fit for society and would be not would not be accepted by them. I believe Charles Manson committed these murders because in his mind he believed that his prophecy will come true. He is psychopath with no remorse to human kind. Either you are with him or against him. There is no in between with this man. Then again, step back for a second and ignore his crimes. The way he was able to persuade those individuals in to believing everything he preached was remarkable. Till this day he receives more letters than any inmate is astonishing. It has been over forty years and we are still mentioning this man’s crimes. I guess you’re free to say or debate if he is one of America’s most notorious murders in American history. Go back in time, how many men or women have been able to pull something like this and still have supporters? Doubt you’ll find one. Whether you like it or not, Charles Manson name will live on in the history books after his bones have turned in to ashes. Will there be copycats? Of course, everyone thinks they can out due there processor. But he is the blueprint, the one who started it all. I believe every criminal with hopes to making a statement will go beyond measures to achieve that goal. To make changes in society which they strongly believe will do good to our world. Nonetheless, they will always fail. Yes, they might have supporters and casualties might occur. But good and justice will always prevail. They usually become ignorant and truly believe their Godly like and that they are invincible which, always leads to their demise. It began on September 1, 1969 when a ten-year-old boy finds the gun used in the Tate murders. The boy's father turns the gun over to the LAPD but the LAPD fails to do a proper investigation. Susan Atkins bragged about her role in the murders and Manson bragged about the killings in some other jail. That brought Manson to his sentence in 1971. The rest is history and another psychopath behind bars.