Would Manson(who for some reason is considered a "serial killer") get a life sentence in today's world. After years of reading testimony, books, etc it seems to me that a high school junior could of got Charlie off. Granted I still think he is trash, but come on life in prison. How could he possibly be responsible for what his moron minions do.
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I think as shocking as it was back then did really contribute to his sentence of intitially the death penalty. I doubt he would have received that now, but definitely life.
shareThere is no real evidence he actually killed anyone. However, he was a career criminal who had been in and out of prison. If he hadn't gotten his followers to commit those murders, I think he would be in prison anyway. That's because he had become accustomed to being institutionalized and really couldn't function in the outside world. He just couldn't stay out of trouble.
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That's right, even if he didn't personally kill those people, he was present at both scenes and did set them up so his followers could finish off the victims. The closest he did get to killing someone (that I know of) was when he shot a drug dealer in the stomach shortly before the murders. He used the same gun later used by Tex Watson. The small caliber of the weapon and the man's obesity both saved his life.
Here's another angle I haven't really seen being discussed. According to Susan Atkins in her book, "Child of Satan, Child of God", Gary Hinman was a homosexual who was attracted to both Manson and follower Bobby Beausoleil. This might have been a reason Hinman was murdered. Another was that he had recently inherited a sum of money and refused to give it to Manson.
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Some good rational discussion here. The reason I brought this topic up is becuase I just recently re-acquired some Manson songs that I believe present a different side of his personality (one that has long been erased from years in prison living like an animal). It is just inconvcievable to me today that a person who could write lyrics, sing songs, and apparently control the minds of others (albeit weak-minded individuals) as Manson did, could be the babble of mess he is today. I think he has been so changed by the prison system that he can not truly relay a clear thought. Don't get me wrong, I know that he ultimately would have expired in prison for something else horrible. I do urge some people out there to listen to some of his music. It shows how differnt he was prior to his Spahn Ranch days (where he was intoxicated by women, drugs, and alcohol). There are those out there who wonder who Manson would have been if his music career panned out (including me). However, he is a train wreck today, and no amount of therapy could evoke a rational thought from his head. He has been long gone for some time.
sharefor those who haven't heard his music, some of it's not all that bad. But it's not what most people expect to hear. there is nothing really indicating a raving lunatic murderer in the songs. most of the stuff is in the folk/country vein. some of the stuff on LIE is a bit odd, like Mechanical Man and Ego, but for the most part they are ok songs. I don't think he would have ever been a big time musician. especially at the time he was trying to break through. he at most, had the murders never happened, might have had an album or two out, and then fadded into obscurity as a strange footnote in pop history at best.
but yes the Manson of today, by all accounts is very different from the Manson of the 60's. Even the ex family members who are in prison would tell you that. They say now if he was anything like how he is now, they would never have followed him for 5 minutes, or if he was like how he has been portrayed in the movies.
his crazy act today, I think some of it is just that, an act, but I do think he is cracked to a certain point. but in interviews he gives what he gets, it's obvious. you can watch some interviews where he is pretty lucid, because the person interviewing him is treating him that way, but when the interviewer goes onto him being crazy, then he starts acting crazy.
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