Manson Family

The Manson Family (known among its members as the Family) was a commune, gang and cult led by criminal Charles Manson that was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At its peak the group consisted of approximately 100 followers who lived an unconventional lifestyle, frequently using psychoactive drugs, including amphetamine and hallucinogens such as LSD. Most were young women from middle-class backgrounds, many of whom were attracted by hippie counterculture and communal living, and then radicalized by Manson's teachings. The group murdered at least nine people, and may have killed as many as twenty-four.

Manson had been institutionalized or incarcerated for more than half of his life by the time he was released from prison in 1967. He began attracting acolytes in the San Francisco Bay Area. They gradually moved to a run-down movie ranch, called the Spahn Ranch, in Los Angeles County. According to group member Susan Atkins, members of the Family became convinced that Manson was a manifestation of Jesus Christ, and believed in his prophecies concerning an imminent, apocalyptic race war.

In 1969, Manson Family members Atkins, Charles Denton "Tex" Watson, and Patricia Krenwinkel entered the home of actress Sharon Tate and murdered her and four others. Linda Kasabian was also present but did not take part. The following night, members of the Family murdered supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary at their home in Los Angeles. Members also committed a number of assaults, petty crimes, theft and street vandalism, including an assassination attempt on U.S. president Gerald Ford in 1975 by Family member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme.