Cults Podcast - Manson Famiy - E1 Charles Manson (part II) PDF

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SPEAKER: M1 Hi I’m Greg Polson and this is cults. Today we’re going to be taking a deeper look at one of the most infamous cults in modern history the Manson family. I’m here with my cohost Vanessa Richardson. SPEAKER: F1 Hi everyone. In part one of our two part series on the Manson family. We focused on Manson himself tracing the trajectory of the troubled child who grew up to become one of the most notorious cult leaders in American history. SPEAKER: M2 In today’s episode we’ll learn more about the Manson family. Who were these young men and women who joined Manson’s cult. How did Manson change them from law abiding citizens into ruthless murderers. Stay tuned to find out. SPEAKER: F1 Due to the graphic nature of this material. Listener discretion is advised this episode contains discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. SPEAKER: F4 Other and the fact that they have day they are like What have they. SPEAKER: M1 Those are the haunting words of Debra Tate speaking about the members of a cult whose crimes have remained etched into the public consciousness for almost 50 years. SPEAKER: F9 This cult was led by Charles Manson and its members were known as the Manson family for the purposes of our show. SPEAKER: M1 We’re using the term cult to refer specifically to destructive cults. Vanessa is going to be taking over on the psychology here and throughout the rest of the episode. Please note Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist but she has done a lot of research for this show. SPEAKER: F3 Thanks Greg. OK. Destructive cults destructive cults unlike new religious movements are branded as such because the cult members harm and murder both members of their own cult and unsuspecting outsiders. According to the psychologist Robert Lifton destructive cults generally have three distinctive features. First destructive cults have a charismatic leader who becomes an object of worship. Second this cult leader takes advantage of the group members and uses them for sex and financial gain. And third is what Lifton called thought to perform or as it’s known in popular culture. SPEAKER: M12 Mind control the destructive cult known as the Manson family originated in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco after Manson got out of prison in March of 1967. He soon began dating the woman who gave him a place to live and became his first follower. SPEAKER: F9 Mary Brunner Manson began observing and imitating hippie culture in order to recruit followers. He later described himself to an FBI agent as a mirror reflecting what the kids wanted to see. He utilized the hippie concept of free love to convince Mary to let him bring more women into her home. SPEAKER: M1 This small group migrated to Los Angeles and grew exponentially larger. SPEAKER: F13 Manson had a knack for spotting troubled young people with malleable personalities and convincing them that he was the answer to all of their problems in life. SPEAKER: F5 One of his most well-known followers Linda Kasabian would later comment that when she first met Manson she thought this is what I’ve been looking for. SPEAKER: F3 Manson could pretend to be whatever his followers wanted him to be. Manson was so successful at recruiting followers that he eventually began using some of his male followers like Charles Tex Watson to help recruit others into the cult. SPEAKER: M1

At its height Manson’s cult had around 100 followers with 25 to 30 devoted followers willing to do anything for him. Manson and its core followers began their murder spree on August 9th of 1969. SPEAKER: M2 August 9th of 1969 had been another hot and muggy day at the spon Ranch in Los Angeles where Charlie Manson lived with his cult followers. But Manson had more on his mind than the heat. SPEAKER: M12 One of his followers Bobby Beausoleil was sitting in a jail cell arrested for killing a music teacher and drug dealer named Gary Henneman. The longer Beausoleil sat in the cell the more time he had to talk to the police. SPEAKER: F9 Manson didn’t walk Beausoleil talking to the police and for good reason. Beausoleil wasn’t the only one who had participated in Henman’s murder. On July 25th only a few days earlier Manson had been at Henman’s home right along with Beausoleil demanding that he give them their money back over a drug deal gone bad. SPEAKER: M12 When Henneman didn’t offer up the money and asked Manson why Manson’s family members were beating him. Manson cut off Henman’s ear with a sword. Worried that himan would go to the police when they were done torturing him. Manson told Beausoleil you know what to do. SPEAKER: F9 This was one of Manson’s signature manipulation tactics. He never had to directly order one of his followers to commit murder. Not only could Manson swayed his followers to kill whoever he wanted. He could make it seem like it was their idea who Beausoleil stabbed Henneman. SPEAKER: M12 On July 27th he was assisted by two of Mansons devoted female followers Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner who took turns holding a pillow over Henman’s face. Beausoleil wrote the words political piggy in the dying man’s blood and stamped a bloody paw print on the wall. Manson’s family hoped the police would see the paw print and blamed the Black Panthers for the murder. But Beausoleil left a fingerprint at the scene. On August 6 10 days after the murder police discovered Beausoleil sleeping on the side of the road in the murdered man’s car and arrested him. They tested his fingerprints and found a match. SPEAKER: F18 When Manson found out Beausoleil was imprisoned for Henman’s murder he was terrified that Beausoleil would confess Manson’s involvement to the police. Manson had spent most of his childhood and adult life in reform schools and prisons and he didn’t want to go back. He needed to create a series of random copycat murders to distract the police. Someone needed to die someone rich someone famous. SPEAKER: M1 Manson wasn’t just worried about going back to prison. He also needed to maintain control over his followers who believed he was a higher being. Both Jesus and the devil he liked to remind his followers that his name was Manson or Son of Man. SPEAKER: F18 Emphasizing his similarity to Jesus the psychologist Robert Lifton noticed that cult leaders often set themselves up as spiritually endowed figures elevated above the rest of mankind. He called this technique mystical manipulation. He considered it one of the key elements of thought reform or mind control employed by cult leaders. Another aspect of a cult leader’s mystical manipulation of his cult often involves the cult leaders setting himself up as a prophet the cult leader will reframe coincidences to make it look like these events are the fulfillment of prophecies. SPEAKER: M1 The Manson family believed their leader was a prophet and their profit had predicted that an apocalyptic race war known as helter skelter was going to commence. That summer. SPEAKER: M20 Mansi took the name Helter-Skelter from the Beatles White Album which dropped on November 22nd of 1968. SPEAKER: M1 The Beatles had titled The song Helter-Skelter after an amusement park ride. But Manson convinced his followers that the Beatles were using the song as a dog whistle to warn the Manson family about the impending race war. SPEAKER: F5

This is another example of Mistick manipulation Manson twisted an ordinary song about a children’s theme park ride into a prophecy of war. SPEAKER: M12 Manson preached that during helter skelter African-Americans would rise up against the white people who had mistreated them and murder them all. The only white people who would survive would be Manson’s family hidden safely away in a secret underground city and Death Valley. SPEAKER: F5 This summer was now almost over and the African-American populace had not risen up against the white oppressors. Manson couldn’t let his followers think that he was wrong that drawl he was a divine being and infallible since it looked like African-Americans weren’t going to start a race war. SPEAKER: M12 Maybe Manson’s family needed to instigate it. Manson’s family could commit a series of murders and get the Black Panthers to take the fall for their crimes. The racist reprisals from the government against the AfricanAmerican community would force African-Americans to rise up and rebel. And if the police were busy dealing with a full scale uprising they wouldn’t have time to dig into the murder of Gary Henneman the Manson family could take advantage of the distraction to rescue people Soul �� and Manson wouldn’t have to go back to prison. SPEAKER: F14 Manson’s followers found his post apocalyptic prophecies to be so real in part because of the hundreds of LSD trips they had undergone with him under the influence of LSD. They listened rapt as Manson preached repeatedly about helter skelter. They completely believed the apocalyptic race war was inevitable and that they would soon rule over and repopulate the world. SPEAKER: M2 So on August 9th when Manson told his followers that Helter-Skelter needed to happen they were eager to do his bidding. SPEAKER: F2 Manson chose one of his male followers to lead the murders. SPEAKER: M2 Charles Tex Watson Manson had created an odd hierarchical structure in the cult over which he reigned supreme. He preached that children were purer than adults because they had not yet been corrupted by an evil society. Male children were to be respected above all and allowed to develop with as much freedom as they desired. SPEAKER: F2 Manson may have come up with this idea as a reaction to his own boyhood which was filled with strict parental figures and reform school teachers as a child he loved breaking the rules. He probably would have enjoyed growing up in a cult without rules where he could do whatever he wanted. SPEAKER: M1 After male children came female children the same hierarchical rule applied to adults. Women were meant to obey men. If the cult was going to commit murder a male follower needed to lead. Manson had Beausoleil lead the killing of Gary Henneman and now the BeauSoleil was in prison. Manson needed another male follower to do his dirty work. SPEAKER: M2 And so on that fateful August night he approached Charles Tex Watson. SPEAKER: F2 Watson got his nickname Tex because he was in fact from a small Texas town and he seemed destined for a promising future. He was a track athlete an honor roll student. SPEAKER: M1 He was also popular yell leader yell leaders function a bit like cheerleaders using hand gestures during games to amp up the student body and encourage them to cheer and scream for their school’s team. SPEAKER: F2 By August 9th of 1969 Watson’s mind had been addled by hundreds of LSD trips. But he still longed to be a leader. SPEAKER: M2 In fact Watson had been engaged in a power struggle with Manson. He was bossing other family members around to trying to prove he could also be one of the cults leaders. Manson manipulated Watson’s desire for

power within the cult. He asked Watson if he really wanted to prove he was a leader. And of course Watson wanted to prove himself. SPEAKER: F2 Manson then effectively guilt tripped Watson by blaming him for the drug deal that had gone wrong in June of 1969 with a black panther who went by the street name latza papa. When Watson stole from lots of Papa and the drug dealers showed up demanding his money. SPEAKER: M1 Manson had shot lots of Popeye in the chest lots of puppies survived but never reported the shooting to the police and Manson initially believed he had killed him. SPEAKER: F2 Months later Madsen now used this past incident to his advantage. Manson had put himself at risk and killed lots of papa because of Watson’s mistakes. Was Watson willing to return the favor was he willing to kill for Manson. SPEAKER: M3 It didn’t take Watson long to make up his mind. He quickly agreed to lead the murders. He was ready to incite Helter Skelter and the apocalyptic race war. He just needed to pick a target. SPEAKER: F3 Manson had just the target in mind for the past year he had aspired to become a famous singer and songwriter. He hoped that record producer Terry Melcher son of the actress Doris Day would make him famous. Manson had driven with Terry to his home several times and played his music in the car hoping to charm the producer. SPEAKER: M3 But Terry was dismissive of Mansons music. He refused to give Manson a record deal and cut ties with him in the summer of 1969 leaving Manson and livid but Manson didn’t forget Melchor address 1 0 0 5 0 Cielo Drive. He knew Melchor no longer live there but it wasn’t expensive property. So whoever rented it was likely to be rich and famous. A perfect target for the family’s murderers. SPEAKER: F1 Manson also hoped to terrify Terry Melcher and get him back for not giving Manson his record deal. SPEAKER: M3 Manson wanted Tex Watson to murder the residents of 1 0 0 5 0 Oseola drive but he didn’t want to get blamed for the killings. So used that same manipulation tactic that it always worked so well for him. He managed to convince Tex Watson that killing everyone at the house on Celo drive was Watson’s idea. Manson asked Watson where he was thinking of going to commit the copycat murders. Had Watson considered Terry mulches old house. After Manson put the idea in his head. Watson then proposed that he would in fact go to 1 0 0 5 0 Oseola drive. SPEAKER: F1 Manson’s ability to manipulate Watson was so powerful that even when Watson was interviewed years later by an FBI agent he still believed the killings were his own idea. SPEAKER: M7 Manson then selected three female followers to accompany Watson in the Manson family. Women were supposed to do what men told them to do without question. SPEAKER: M1 Manson didn’t tell the women they would be committing murder that night. He knew that they would do what Watson ordered them to do. SPEAKER: F3 No matter what cult leaders used thought reform techniques to break down followers abilities to think independently. Having lost the ability to think for themselves the followers then rely on the cult’s leaders to critically analyze situations and make moral choices for them to assist Watson in the killings. SPEAKER: M4 Manson picked one of his first followers Patricia Krenn Winckel. On the surface credit was the opposite of someone who would end up in a cult. She had a seemingly normal middle class childhood. She was a sweet well-behaved child who never got into trouble at school. She had swimming and dancing lessons. She attended church. SPEAKER: F6

But beneath the surface Cren Winckel felt isolated and lonely her parents separated when she was 15. She switched high schools three times and never felt like she fit in and she had an older half sister who proved to be a bad influence. SPEAKER: M7 Winkle’s older sister introduced her to marijuana and LSD. SPEAKER: M4 Eventually Kren Winckel dropped out of college and moved in with her sister and nephew. But her older sister was unstable and made several attempts to kill herself. Current Weichel found herself desperate for direction in life and for someone who had love her. SPEAKER: F7 When Manson met Kren Winckel he quickly noticed the 19 year old’s loneliness and lack of self-confidence. Despite being 13 years older than her. SPEAKER: F13 Manson used the techniques he had learned from pimps in prison to seduce Kren Winckel and make her believe that he was her soulmate. SPEAKER: M5 He could offer her all the love and attention she needed he could give her a sense of purpose Cronan Winckel agreed to leave her sister’s apartment in Manhattan Beach with Manson convinced that he was the perfect boyfriend. By the time she realized that Manson wasn’t who he claimed to be. Manson was already making her afraid to leave. SPEAKER: F7 Manson used techniques common among both pimps and domestic abusers to keep Kren Winckel and the other women from leaving. SPEAKER: F8 A combination of flattery fear and violence. He would make Kren Winckel stand still and throw knives at her terrifying her. SPEAKER: M5 He shamed her in front of the other women. Manson would make Crinum Wical stand naked in the middle of the other followers and call her ugly and stupid and nothing Robert Lifton cites shaming and confession as to additional mind control techniques used by cult leaders forcing Kren Winckel to confess her inadequacies in front of the group allowed Manson to identify her psychological weak points shaming Kren Winckel broke down her confidence and forced her to remain loyal to the cult. SPEAKER: M6 Krunch Winkle’s loyalty to Manson was tested in the days leading up to August 9th. Two of Manson’s followers who against his rules had become a couple decided to leave the cult after finding out about Gary Henman’s murder. SPEAKER: F10 They asked Kren winkled to come with them but Kren Winkle had tried to run away from Manson before Manson found her easily. She feared that if she tried to run away with the couple Manson would just find her again. The couple left without her. SPEAKER: M1 It was the decision Crinum Michael would regret in the years to come. SPEAKER: F5 The next woman that Manson picked to participate in the murders was Susan Atkins. Manson had met 20 year old Adkins in the fall of 1967. After he got out of prison on parole. Adkins had been a troubled child whose mother died of cancer when she was only 15. She spent her late teens cycling through abusive boyfriends and relying on drugs and alcohol to cope with her deep longing for love and attention. SPEAKER: M1 By the time she met Manson Atkins had already spent time as a topless vampire dancer for a group of satanists. She had a love of music and was drawn to Manson when she saw him playing the guitar. SPEAKER: F5 Manson once again used the techniques he had learned from the pimps in prison to figure out that Adkins was a vulnerable young woman who had issues with her father. He had sex with Adkins ordering her to pretend that she was actually having sex with her dad. SPEAKER: M7

Manson told Adkins that she could now shed her old identity and her old family and join a new family. The Manson Family. SPEAKER: F5 This is yet another example of one of the mind control techniques commonly used by cult leaders like Manson isolating a follower and convincing her to give up her identity to the group. SPEAKER: M1 Susan Atkins became one of Manson’s most devoted followers willing to do anything for him. She had already held Beausoleil kill Gary Hinman a couple of weeks ago in July. Manson knew she could stomach the spree murders. SPEAKER: F9 Manson also needed a getaway driver someone with a legal driver’s license. So Manson chose Linda Kasabian. Linda met Manson in 1968. SPEAKER: F13 She had recently split from her husband Bob when she met Tex Watson who slept with her and recruited her into the family. SPEAKER: F5 Unlike most of the Manson family members Linda had a valid California driver’s license. SPEAKER: F7 This piqued Madsen’s interest in Linda and he invited her to join the family. SPEAKER: M3 Linda’s driver’s license was the reason that Manson asked her to join the family in the first place. And now it was the reason he wanted her to take part in the murders. SPEAKER: F5 Tex Watson Linda Kasabian Susan Atkins and Patricia Friend Winckel all clambered into a yellow 1959 Ford. Watson brought with him a length of rope a knife and a 22 caliber high standard Buntline revolver. SPEAKER: F10 Watson not Linda was also the one driving. He was the only one who knew their destination. SPEAKER: M5 As the yellow Ford wound its way through Benedick Canyon 2 1 0 0 5 0 Celo Dr. Kasabian Atkins and Kren Winckel wondered aloud what they would be doing that August night. Maybe they would be stealing cars or creepy crawling Mansons term for breaking and entering into random strangers homes at night without waking them. SPEAKER: F9 The women had no idea that they were about to commit one of the most notorious spree murders in American history. SPEAKER: M8 It’s unthinkable that these women were capable of something so grotesque. We’ll talk more in depth about what they did and what got them caught. For those of you that are interested in investigations who isn’t true. Everyone thinks they’d be a good detective....