by James Harvey

Created on: August 10, 2011   Last Updated: August 11, 2011

There are comparatively few people living today who can vividly remember the shocking events of the Summer of 1969, which gripped major news headlines.  A self-proclaimed guru and Messiah-like figure, Charles Manson, and his followers committed what was then one of the most bizarre, graphic and grisliest murders of its time, namely the "Helter Skelter" Murders, the term, which was written on the refrigerator of one of the victims' home-in blood. The crime literally left America shaken, who was just learning to cope with the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy more than a year earlier.

The acknowledged leader, Charles Manson, had a very troubled and disturbed life from the start.  Born on November 12, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a underage, unwed teenage mother, Kathleen Maddox, who was just sixteen at the time of her sons' birth.  Charles' father, was identified as a "Colonel Scott", whomever that was supposed to be. Some sources have even claimed that Charles Manson's father was an African American, but that has not been conclusively proven; at most, it appears to be based on speculation. In any event, the actual father of Charles Manson remains unknown.  Shortly, after Charles' birth, Kathleen Maddox married a William Manson, the boy hence being named Charles Manson.

Young Charles' mother was a confirmed drunkard as well as a hardened criminal; in 1939, she and her brother were arrested and convicted for robbing a gas station in West Virginia, in which she was sentenced to three years in prison.  As a result, Charles stayed with an aunt and uncle.

In 1942, when Charles was about 7 or 8, he was released back into the custody of his mother when she was released from jail, but the relationship between mother and son did not improve, even though young Charles did everything to try to win his mother's affection.  In fact, she tried to have Charles placed in a foster home, but there was none in their town, which was Terre Haute, Indiana.  When that failed, she had him placed in a school for troubled boys, which he stayed for ten months before escaping.  When he attempted to return to his mother, he was ultimately rejected-for good.

It was also around this time-the late 1940s-from 1947 onward, that Charles began to embark on what would be a lifelong career in crime.  He started out as a burglar by robbing a grocery store to get money to secure a room.  He therefore began to commit a string of

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