MUCH has been said about Charles Manson since the infamous murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her friends in August 1969. Over two nights, seven people were killed by Manson’s followers – members of his socalled Family. More than 40 years on, people remain shocked by the brutality of the crimes.
At first glance, Manson doesn’t look like the kind of person who could inspire such terrible, sickening events; perhaps the fact that he did is as shocking as what happened in his name. So why did so many young people fall under his spell, enabling him to persuade them to kill?
The documentary The Manson Family: Born to Kill? speaks to the detectives, attorneys and psychiatrists who tried to unravel the mystery of Manson’s magnetism, but perhaps the most telling contributions come from former members of his cult.
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