Manson is dead

[Billski]

Charles Manson, whose cult slayings horrified world, dies

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader who became the hypnotic-eyed face of evil across America after orchestrating the gruesome murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969, died Sunday after nearly a half-century in prison. He was 83.

Manson, whose name to this day is synonymous with unspeakable violence and madness, died at 8:13 p.m. of natural causes at a Kern County hospital, according to a California Department of Corrections statement.

 

[ouch]

That this man was a hero to some is more appalling than his crimes. Whenever I would turn on The Beverly Hillbillies and catch a glimpse of a young Sharon Tate, I would be sickened. After almost half a century, the families of the victims may finally have some well deserved closure.

 

[Phog Allen]

I know we are to maintain a certain decorum on this board and I will not deviate too much and go on some rant. It won't help anyone now. All I can say is a piece of human excrement is finally unable to mentally harm the families of the victims any further. As Ouch pointedly put it, why the following? I never understood it. Good riddance.

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

I hate to drag up the generational gap and trot out the when-I-was-younger card, but the events over those two days in August, 1969 really freaked everybody out. We weren’t bombarded on a weekly or even daily basis by breaking news of the latest atrocity. The, then, horrific number of people slaughtered over those two days (eight, including Tate’s unborn child), wouldn’t garner much more that regional attention in today’s news cycle. The full and complete story of the savagery committed to the victims bodies weren’t revealed until the trials and even then, the details of the brutality were not public knowledge until Bugliosi’s book came out some four years later.
This sort of thing didn’t happen on a regular basis back then...now, well we live in a much more jaded and cynical time. These days we even break down each new atrocity into sub-categories like worst church shooting, largest number of pedestrians run down, greatest number of mass suicides. Once again, back then it was a simpler time.
However, those times they were a’changing as outlets like the very young Rolling Stone and other “underground/counter culture” newspapers regularly put this grubby little conman on their front pages, conferring celebrity status onto him and his family. One paper hailed this diseased little vermin as it’s Man of the Year. These were the middle finger to middle America, much like when decades later Rolling Stone featured the the dreamy eyed Boston Marathon Bomber on the cover using a Jim ‘He’s Hot, He’s Sexy, He’s Dead’ Morrison type of photo. I saw that RS cover more as a throwback to the covers featuring that messianic murderer (funny that Rolling Stone is in its final death throes right now, too).
The crimes brought about by this slimy little slug were shocking enough for the late 60’ and early 70’s. Sad to say that today it would be bumped off the front page by tomorrow’s expected calumnies. I call it the “Hey look, a squirrel” effect of the short attention span era we live in.

Rest In Peace Sharon and baby Tate, Jay Sebring, Abby Folger, Woytech Frykowski, Steve Parent and Leno and Rose LaBianca.

 

[Graybeard57]

Good.

 

[ackvil]

From the NY Post.

 

[dpm802]

 

[Raissermesser]

I hate to drag up the generational gap and trot out the when-I-was-younger card, but the events over those two days in August, 1969 really freaked everybody out. We weren’t bombarded on a weekly or even daily basis by breaking news of the latest atrocity. The, then, horrific number of people slaughtered over those two days (eight, including Tate’s unborn child), wouldn’t garner much more that regional attention in today’s news cycle. The full and complete story of the savagery committed to the victims bodies weren’t revealed until the trials and even then, the details of the brutality were not public knowledge until Bugliosi’s book came out some four years later.

This is precisely what I thought about. When Stringbean Akeman and his wife were murdered in 1973, the Charles Manson murders were mentioned along with it in a "what is the world coming to" sort of way.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

 

[beginish]

50 years too late.

 

[John Rose]

I was thinking that actor Jeremy Davies ("Lost", "Saving Private Ryan") could totally play Manson in a movie.

 

[oc_in_fw]

The world became a slightly better place.

 

[cleanshaved]

Rest in peace to his victims.
Manson.............I will withhold my comment.

 

[Alacrity59]

His continued existence was if anything a reminder of how easily people can be persuaded to do horrific things. I hate to have his name in the news or mentioned. Yet, we need to learn from history.

 

[FarmerTan]

And I saw nowhere stated on the news about the fact that he was obviously a schizophrenic. This would be a case, in my professional opinion, of insanity not being a good reason for escaping the death penalty. He ..... Never mind. I've said too much already.

 

[Alacrity59]

And I saw nowhere stated on the news about the fact that he was obviously a schizophrenic. This would be a case, in my professional opinion, of insanity not being a good reason for escaping the death penalty. He ..... Never mind. I've said too much already.

I'm not an active moderator but really we don't want to get into a death penalty debate. That is my professional opinion as a world class nerd.

 

[Vespasian]

When I read Bugliosi's book Helter-Skelter, I turned on all the lights and ran around the house checking the door and window locks. Manson scared the heck out of me, a grown-up adult..

 

[FarmerTan]

I'm not an active moderator but really we don't want to get into a death penalty debate. That is my professional opinion as a world class nerd.

Sorry. Point taken. Please delete if you can, and thanks. And since he has died, my original point is moot. So I should have stayed mute.

 

[bamafan64]

My grandmother worked with Patricia Krenwinkle's mother. I still remember when the murders happened. Very scary time.

 

[noahpictures]

For anyone that thinks evil doesn’t exist or everyone and anyone is redeemable, I present Manson.