Editing Manson Family (section)

== Crimes ==
=== Crowe shooting ===
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Bernard Crowe shooting
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| location = Franklin Garden Apartments, 6917–6933 Franklin Avenue, [[Los Angeles, California]]
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| date = {{start date|1969|07|01}}
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| type = Shooting
| fatalities = 0
| injuries = 1
| victims = Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe<ref>{{cite web|url=https://findery.com/MadameSpooky/notes/manson-family-crime-the-shooting-of-bernard-crowe|title=Manson Family Crime: The Shooting of Bernard Crowe|website=Findery.com|access-date=May 19, 2018|archive-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520053934/https://findery.com/MadameSpooky/notes/manson-family-crime-the-shooting-of-bernard-crowe|url-status=live}}</ref>
| perpetrator = [[Charles Manson]]; accomplices – [[Tex Watson]], Thomas "T.J." Walleman
| susperps = <!-- or | susperp     = -->
| weapons = [[.22 caliber]] [[High Standard Manufacturing Company|High Standard]] [[Colt Buntline|Buntline]] [[revolver]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cielodrive.com/photo-archive/buntline-22-tate-murder-gun-02.php|title=Hi-Standard Double Nine Longhorn "Buntline" Styled .22 Caliber Revolver – Charles Manson Family and Sharon Tate-Labianca Murders|website=Cielodrive.com|access-date=May 19, 2018|archive-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520054455/http://cielodrive.com/photo-archive/buntline-22-tate-murder-gun-02.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
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[[Tex Watson]] became involved in drug dealing<ref name="Waxman"/> and robbed a drug dealer named Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe. Crowe allegedly responded with a threat to kill everyone at Spahn Ranch. In response, [[Charles Manson]] shot Crowe on July 1, 1969, at Manson's [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] apartment.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|91–96,99–113}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|147–149}}<ref name="watson12">{{Cite book|title=Will You Die For Me?|last=Watson|first=Charles|date=1978|publisher=F.H. Revell|isbn=0800709128}}</ref>

Manson's belief that he had killed Crowe was seemingly confirmed by a news report of the discovery of the dumped body of a [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther]] in Los Angeles. Although Crowe was not a member of the Black Panthers, Manson concluded he had been and expected retaliation from the Panthers. He turned Spahn Ranch into a defensive camp, establishing night patrols by armed guards.<ref name="watson12"/><ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|151}} Tex Watson would later write, "Blackie was trying to get at the chosen ones."<ref name="watson12"/>

Manson brought in members of the Straight Satans Motorcycle Club to act as security. At this time, [[Bobby Beausoleil]] became more involved with the Family.<ref name="Waxman">{{cite web|last=Waxman|first=Olivia B.|url=https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/|title=Why Did the Manson Family Kill Sharon Tate? Here's the Story Charles Manson Told the Last Man Who Interviewed Him|work=[[Time magazine]]|date=July 26, 2019|access-date=March 5, 2022|archive-date=September 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924061655/https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Hinman murder ===
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Gary Hinman murder
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| location = 964 Old Topanga Canyon Road, [[Topanga, California]]
| target = Gary Alan Hinman<ref name="cielodrive.com">{{cite web|url=http://cielodrive.com/gary-hinman.php|title=Gary Hinman – Charles Manson Family and Sharon Tate-Labianca Murders|website=Cielodrive.com|access-date=May 19, 2018|archive-date=June 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605083705/http://www.cielodrive.com/gary-hinman.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
| coordinates = 
| date = {{start date|1969|07|25}}–<br />{{end date|1969|07|27}}
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| timezone = [[Pacific Time Zone]]
| type = Stabbing
| fatalities = 1
| injuries = 
| victims = <!-- or | victim      = -->
| perpetrator = [[Bobby Beausoleil]]; accomplices – [[Susan Atkins]], [[Mary Brunner]], [[Charles Manson]], [[Bruce M. Davis]]
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}}

Gary Alan Hinman (b. December 24, 1934 in Colorado) was [[Music education|a music teacher]] and [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD student]] at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]. At some point in the late 1960s, he befriended members of the Manson Family, allowing some to occasionally stay at his home.<ref name="cielodrive.com" /> According to some people, including Family member [[Susan Atkins]], Manson believed Hinman was wealthy. He sent Family members Bobby Beausoleil, [[Mary Brunner]] and Atkins to Hinman's home on July 25, 1969, to convince him to join the Family and turn over the assets Manson thought Hinman had inherited.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|75–77}}<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="atkins">{{cite book|title=Child of Satan, Child of God|publisher=Plainfield, NJ: Logos International | year=1977 | isbn=0-88270-276-9 | pages=94–120 | author=Atkins, Susan, with Slosser, Bob}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=The People of the State of California vs. Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel (page 7) |url=http://www.cielodrive.com/people-v-manson-atkins-vanhouten-krenwinkel/04-trial/Vol3081.pdf |website=cielodrive.com}}</ref> The three held Hinman hostage for two days, as he denied having any money. During this time, Manson arrived with a sword and slashed Hinman's face and ear. After that, Beausoleil stabbed Hinman to death, allegedly on Manson's instruction. Before leaving the Topanga Canyon residence, Beausoleil or one of the women used Hinman's blood to write "Political piggy"<!--"Piggy", not "Piggie"; photo is in Bugliosi 1994, between pages 142 and 143--> on the wall and to draw a panther paw, a Black Panther symbol.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|33, 91–96, 99–113}}<ref name="Sanders" />{{rp|184}}

According to Manson and Beausoleil in magazine interviews of 1981 and 1998–1999,<ref name="seconds">{{cite web|work=beausoleil.net|url=http://www.beausoleil.net/mminterview.html|title=Beausoleil ''Seconds'' interviews|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607180026/http://www.beausoleil.net/mminterview.html|archive-date=June 7, 2007}}</ref> Beausoleil said he went to Hinman's to recover money paid to Hinman for [[mescaline]] provided to the Straight Satans that had supposedly been bad.<ref name="Waxman"/> Beausoleil added that Brunner and Atkins, unaware of his intent, went along to visit Hinman. Atkins, in her 1977 autobiography, wrote that Manson directed Beausoleil, Brunner, and her to go to Hinman's and get the supposed inheritance of $21,000. She said that two days earlier Manson had told her privately that, if she wanted to "do something important", she could kill Hinman and get his money.<ref name="atkins"/>

Beausoleil was arrested on August 6, 1969, after he was caught driving Hinman's car. Police found the murder weapon in the tire well.<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{Rp|28–38}}

===Murders of Tate, Sebring, Folger, Frykowski, and Parent===
{{Main|Tate–LaBianca murders}}

On the night of August 8, 1969, Manson directed [[Tex Watson]] to take [[Susan Atkins]], [[Linda Kasabian]], and [[Patricia Krenwinkel]] to Melcher's former home at [[10050 Cielo Drive]] in Los Angeles. According to Watson, Manson told them to kill everyone there. The home had recently been rented to actress [[Sharon Tate]] and her husband, director [[Roman Polanski]]. (Polanski was away in Europe working on ''[[The Day of the Dolphin]]''). Manson told the three women to do as Watson told them.

The Family members killed the five people they found: Sharon Tate (eight and a half months pregnant), who was living there at the time, [[Jay Sebring]], Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski, who were visiting her, and Steven Parent, who had been visiting the caretaker of the home. Atkins wrote "pig" with Tate's blood on the front door as they left. The murders created a nationwide sensation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19790809&id=zrg0AAAAIBAJ&pg=1327,1436322&hl=en|title=Sharon Tate murder 10 years ago|date=August 9, 1979|work=UPI|publisher=The Hour|access-date=January 25, 2016|archive-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720042418/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19790809&id=zrg0AAAAIBAJ&pg=1327%2C1436322&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Murder of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca ===
{{Main|Tate–LaBianca murders}}

The night of August 9, 1969, seven Family members ([[Leslie Van Houten]], [[Steve "Clem" Grogan]], [[Charles Manson]], and the four from the previous night) drove to<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}}<ref name="watson12"/> the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|22–25, 42–48}} Watson said that, having gone there alone, Manson returned to take him to the house with him. After Manson pointed through a window to a man sleeping in the living room, the two men entered the house through an unlocked back door.<ref name="watson12"/> Watson bound the couple and covered their heads with pillowcases. Manson left, sending Krenwinkel and Van Houten into the house.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}}<ref name="watson12" />

Watson sent the women to the bedroom where Rosemary had been bound. He began stabbing Leno with a bayonet in the living room.<ref name="watson12" /> Going to the bedroom, Watson discovered Rosemary swinging a lamp at the Family women. He stabbed her with the bayonet, and returned to the living room to resume attacking Leno, whom he stabbed 12 times.<ref name="watson12" /> Krenwinkel stabbed Rosemary. Watson told Van Houten to stab the woman, too,<ref name="watson12"/> which she did.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|204–210, 297–300, 341–344}} Krenwinkel used the LaBiancas' blood to write "Rise" and "Death to pigs" on the walls, and "Healter{{sic}} Skelter" on the refrigerator door.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}}<ref name="watson12" />

Meanwhile, Manson directed Kasabian to drive to the home of an acquaintance of hers. Manson dropped off Kasabian, Grogan, and Atkins, and drove back to Spahn Ranch.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|176–184, 258–269}} Kasabian allegedly thwarted a murder by deliberately knocking on the wrong door.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|270–273}}

=== Shea murder ===
In a 1971 trial that took place after his Tate–LaBianca convictions, Manson was found guilty of the murders of Gary Hinman and [[Donald Shea|Donald "Shorty" Shea]]. He was given a [[Life imprisonment|life sentence]]. Shea was a Spahn Ranch stuntman and horse wrangler who had been killed approximately ten days after a sheriff's raid on the ranch which had been carried out on 16 August 1969. Manson, who suspected that Shea had helped set up the raid, apparently believed Shea was trying to get Spahn to run the Family off the ranch. Manson may have considered it a "sin" that Shea, a white man, had married a black woman. Furthermore, there was the possibility that Shea knew about the Tate–LaBianca killings.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|99–113}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|271–272}} In separate trials, Family members [[Bruce M. Davis|Bruce Davis]] and Steve "Clem" Grogan were also found guilty of Shea's murder.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|99–113, 463–468}}<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020804023947/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonparole.html Transcript of Charles Manson's 1992 parole hearing] University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Retrieved May 24, 2007.</ref>

In 1977, authorities learned the exact location of the remains of Shorty Shea and, contrary to Family claims, also learned that Shea had not been dismembered and buried in several places. Contacting the prosecutor in his case, Steve Grogan told him Shea's corpse had been buried intact. Grogan drew a map that pinpointed the location, and the body was recovered. Of those convicted of Manson-ordered murders, Grogan would become, in 1985, the first one to be paroled.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|509}}

===Suspected further murders===
In total, Manson and his followers were convicted of nine counts of [[first-degree murder]]. However, the LAPD believes that the Family could have claimed up to at least twelve more victims.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tata|first1=Samantha|last2=Kovacik|first2=Robert|title=12 Unsolved Murders Have Possible Ties to Manson Family, LAPD Says|url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/charles-tex-watson-manson-lapd-lawyer-audio-tape-recordings-murders/1939554/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=NBC Los Angeles|date=October 18, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite news|last1=Winton|first1=Richard|title=How many more did Manson family kill? LAPD investigating 12 unsolved murders|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-07/charles-manson-unsolved-murders|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=12 Unsolved murders link to Charles Manson|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9622216/Unsolved-murders-link-to-Charles-Manson.html|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=October 20, 2012}}</ref> Cliff Shepard, a former LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division detective, said that Manson "repeatedly" claimed to have killed many others. Prosecutor Stephen Kay supported this assertion: "I know that Manson one time told one of his cellmates that he was responsible for 35 murders." Tate's younger sister, Debra Tate, has also claimed that investigators are "just scraping the surface" when it comes to the number of Manson's victims and has further elaborated on how Manson sent her a taunting map of the [[Panamint Range]], with crosses on it that she believed were meant to represent buried bodies. This has resulted in several excavations that have been undertaken at Manson's [[Barker Ranch]], but they have not resulted in any bodies being found.<ref>{{cite news|title=Did The Manson Family Have Other Victims?|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-the-manson-family-have-other-victims/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[CBS News]]|date=March 16, 2008}}</ref> 
* '''Nancy Warren''', 65, and '''Clyda Dulaney''', 24, were both found near [[Ukiah, California]] at the antique store owned by Warren on October 13, 1968. They had both been beaten and strangled to death with thirty-six leather thongs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Seven-year-old child finds bodies; no clue to slayer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1212658/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=Ukiah Daily Journal|date=October 14, 1968}}</ref> After the Family members were arrested, they became suspects when it was discovered that members of the Family had been in the Ukiah area at the time of the murders. However, no one in the Family was ever charged with the murders and no arrests were ever made in the case.
* '''Marina Elizabeth Habe''', 17, was murdered on December 30, 1968. She was a student at the [[University of Hawaii]] home on vacation when she was murdered in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>''More of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries'', John Austin, SP Books, 1992, p. 240.<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref><ref name="The Family">Ed Sanders, ''The Family'', [[Avon Books]], May 1972, p. 132.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> According to the autopsy report, Habe's throat had been slashed and she had received numerous knife wounds to the chest. She suffered multiple contusions to the face and throat, and had been garrotted. There was no evidence of rape.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philropost.com/2015/02/suspects-and-suspicions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415041135/http://www.philropost.com/2015/02/suspects-and-suspicions.html |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |title=SUSPECTS AND SUSPICIONS|website=philropost.com|date=February 2015}}</ref> Habe was abducted outside the home of her mother in [[West Hollywood]], 8962 Cynthia Avenue.<ref>"Police report progress of autopsy", ''Los Angeles Times'', January 3, 1969, pg. D1.</ref> A former Manson Family associate claimed members of the Family had known Habe and it was conjectured she had been one of their victims.<ref name="The Family"/><ref name=times>"Officials Reveal Coed, 17, Was Stabbed To Death", ''Los Angeles Times'', January 3, 1969, pg. SF1.</ref>
* '''Darwin Morell Scott''', 64, was the uncle of Manson and the brother of Manson's father, Colonel Scott. On May 27, 1969, Scott was found brutally stabbed to death in his [[Ashland, Kentucky]] apartment. His body was pinned to the kitchen floor with a butcher knife, and he had been stabbed nineteen times. After Manson's arrest, it was reported that local residents claimed to have seen a man resembling Manson using the alias "Preacher" in the area at the time Darwin was murdered. Manson was on parole in California at the time of the murder, but the murder occurred when Manson was out of touch with his parole officers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stabbing Evidence Still Out|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80979236/death-of-darwin-morell-scott-64-who/|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=The Dominion News|date=May 30, 1969}}</ref>
* '''Mark Walts''', 16, was an acquaintance of the Family members and was even known to associate with them at the Spahn Ranch. On July 17, 1969, Walts hitchhiked to the [[Santa Monica Pier]] so he could go fishing. His fishing pole was found abandoned at the pier, and his body was found the next day near [[Mulholland Drive]]. He had been shot three times in the chest. Though the Family was reportedly "shocked" by Walts' murder, his brother was convinced that Manson was responsible for his death and even called him in order to directly accuse him of his murder. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department investigated Spahn Ranch in regard to Walts' murder, but no links were found, and the murder was never solved.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romano|first1=Aja|title=The Manson Family murders, and their complicated legacy, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/20695284/charles-manson-family-what-is-helter-skelter-explained|accessdate=June 2, 2022|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>
* '''John Philip Haught''', 22, was an [[Ohio]] native who had moved to [[California]] and met Manson in the summer of 1969. He joined the Manson Family and was amongst the group who was arrested in the October raid of the clan for the [[Tate-LaBianca murders]]; Manson suspected him of being an informant. On November 5, 1969, Haught was associating with some members of the Family. According to all present, Haught suddenly found a gun in the room, picked it up, and promptly shot himself while attempting a game of [[Russian roulette]]. However, when police investigated the death, they found that the gun, rather than having zero bullets and one spent shell casing, instead contained seven bullets and one spent shell. Moreover, the gun had been wiped free of prints. Additionally, a male witness who had held Haught's head after the shooting told Cohen he had entered the room to find a female Manson follower with the gun in her hand.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romano|first1=Aja|title=The Manson Family murders, and their complicated legacy, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/8/7/20695284/charles-manson-family-what-is-helter-skelter-explained|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|date=August 7, 2019}}</ref> Despite this, police concluded Haught had actually killed himself.
* '''James Sharp''', 15, and '''Doreen Gaul''', 19, were both found stabbed to death in an alley in Los Angeles on November 7, 1969. The murder of the two young [[Scientologists]] involved both being stabbed between fifty and sixty times. Police immediately noted the similarities to these murders and those of the [[Tate-LaBianca murders]];<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pelisek|first1=Christine|title=Did Charles Manson Have 4 More Victims? 'There's an Answer There Somewhere,' Says LAPD Detective|url=https://people.com/crime/did-charles-manson-have-4-more-victims-people-magazine-investigates/?did=344169-20190222&cid=344169&mid=18790762691|access-date=June 2, 2022|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=February 22, 2019}}</ref> the killings of Sharp and Gaul happened close to where the Labianca's lived. In ''[[Helter Skelter (book)|Helter Skelter]]'', author Vincent Bugliosi wrote that Gaul was rumoured to be a former girlfriend of Manson Family member [[Bruce M. Davis|Bruce Davis]] — Davis had lived at the same housing complex as Gaul, but in a police interview he denied knowing her.
* '''[[Reet Jurvetson]]''', 19, was a young woman found stabbed to death on November 16, 1969.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siemaszko|first1=Corky|title=Reet Jurvetson, Killed in 1969, Could Be a Manson Family Murder Victim|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/reet-jurvetson-killed-1969-could-be-manson-family-murder-victim-n564106|access-date=September 7, 2016|publisher=[[NBC]]|date=April 28, 2016}}</ref> Her body was found with over one hundred and fifty stab wounds from a penknife to her neck and upper body, along with defensive wounds on her hands and arms. She had been disposed of along [[Mulholland Drive]] in [[Los Angeles, California]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://people.com/crime/lapd-seeks-to-identify-two-men-in-connection-with-murder-of-reet-jurvetson/ |title=L.A. Cops Search for Two in 1969 Unsolved Murder of Reet Jurvetson; Say No Charles Manson Connection |newspaper=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=September 8, 2016 |access-date=March 29, 2017}}</ref> Some witnesses claimed to have seen a woman named "Sherry" who matched Jurvetson's description among members of the Manson Family, but it turned out that this individual was alive. Manson himself denied any involvement in killing Jurvetson. Detectives within the Los Angeles Police Department have noted "striking similarities" between the method of murder of both Jurvetson and Habe, but no firm connection between both murders has ever been established.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/reet-jurvetson-other-cases-1.3857691 |title=Could Canadian's Brutal 1969 Stabbing Death Be Connected to Another L.A. Cold Case? |access-date=September 3, 2017 |newspaper=CBC News |date=November 20, 2016}}</ref>
* '''Joel Pugh''', 29, was found dead in the Talgarth Hotel in [[London]], England, on December 1, 1969. His wrists had been cut and his throat was slit twice. British authorities listed the death a drug-induced suicide, saying Pugh had been depressed. Pugh was a Family member who was married to another member of the Family, [[Sandra Good]]. Stephen Kay and others claim Manson hated Pugh. "He had no reason to commit suicide, and Manson was very unhappy that Sandy was with Pugh", Kay has said. Pugh's death occurred when a number of Manson Family members were being arrested for the [[Tate-LaBianca murders]]. Manson follower [[Bruce M. Davis|Bruce Davis]] was in London at the time Pugh died.<ref name="Los Angeles Times"/>
* '''[[Ronald Hughes]]''', 35, was an American [[Lawyer|attorney]] who represented [[Leslie Van Houten]], a member of the Manson Family. Hughes disappeared while on a camping trip during a ten-day recess from the [[#Trial|Tate-LaBianca murder trial]] in November 1970. The badly decomposed body of Hughes was found in March 1971 wedged between two boulders in [[Ventura County, California|Ventura County]].<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|457}} It was rumoured, although never proven, that Hughes was murdered by the Family, possibly because he had stood up to Manson and refused to allow Van Houten to take the stand and absolve Manson of the crimes,<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|387, 394, 481}} though he might have perished in flooding.<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|393–394, 481}}<ref name="Sanders"/>{{rp|436–438}} Attorney Stephen Kay has stated that while he is "on the fence" about the Family's involvement in Hughes' death, Manson had open contempt for Hughes during the trial. Kay added, "The last thing Manson said to him [Hughes] was, 'I don't want to see you in the courtroom again,' and he was never seen again alive."<ref name="latimes">{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/01/local/la-me-manson-tapes-20120601/2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603205301/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/01/local/la-me-manson-tapes-20120601/2|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 3, 2012|title=Manson follower's tapes may yield new clues, LAPD says|last=Becerra|first=Hector|author2=Winton, Richard |date=June 1, 2012|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|page=2|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> Family member [[Sandra Good]] stated that Hughes was "the first of the retaliation murders".<ref name="bugliosi" />{{Rp|481–482, 625}}
* On November 8, 1972, the body of 26-year-old Vietnam Marine combat veteran '''James Lambert Willett''' was found by a hiker near [[Guerneville, California]].<ref name=SuspectInKilling /> Months earlier, he had been forced to dig his own grave, and then was shot and poorly buried. His [[station wagon]] was found outside a house in [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] where several Manson followers were living, including Priscilla Cooper, Lynette Fromme, and Nancy Pitman. Police forced their way into the house and arrested several of the people there. The body of Willett's 19-year-old wife '''Lauren Chavelle Willett'''<ref name=posed>"Two men and three women charged with murder of 19-year-old girl",  [[Reuters]] News Service, 1972.</ref> was found buried in the basement.<ref name=SuspectInKilling>[http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9/suspectinkillingnov1419.jpg Manson Family Suspect in Killing] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618170246/http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9/suspectinkillingnov1419.jpg |date=June 18, 2012}}, ''The Times Standard'', November 14, 1972.</ref> She had been killed very recently by a gunshot to the head, in what the Family members initially claimed was an accident. It was later suggested that she was killed out of fear that she would reveal who killed her husband. Michael Monfort pleaded guilty to murdering Lauren and Priscilla Cooper, James Craig, and Nancy Pitman pleaded guilty as accessories after the fact. Monfort and William Goucher later pleaded guilty to the murder of James, and James Craig pleaded guilty as an accessory after the fact. The group had been living in the house with the Willetts while committing various robberies. Shortly after killing Willett, Monfort had used Willett's identification papers to pose as Willett after being arrested for an armed robbery of a liquor store. Willett was not involved in the robberies<ref>[http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2748/exconsmanosngirlscharge.jpg "Ex-cons, Manson Girls Charged"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618170315/http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2748/exconsmanosngirlscharge.jpg |date=June 18, 2012}}, ''The Billings Gazette'', November 15, 1972.</ref> and wanted to move away but was presumably killed out of fear that he would talk to police.
* '''[[Laurence Merrick]]''', 50, was an American [[film director]] and [[author]]. He is best known for co-directing the Oscar nominated documentary [[Manson (film)|Manson]] in 1973.  [[Sharon Tate]] was a former student at Merrick's Academy of Dramatic Arts.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eugene Oregon Register-Guard |title=Producer of movie on Manson 'family' slain in Hollywood |url=http://www.thezodiacmansonconnection.com/crockett_merrick.html |access-date=May 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719231830/http://www.thezodiacmansonconnection.com/crockett_merrick.html |archive-date=July 19, 2012 }}</ref> Merrick was killed by a gunman on January 26, 1977. He was shot in the back in the carpark of his acting school. Merrick's murder went unsolved until October 1981 when 35-year-old Dennis Mignano confessed to police. At his subsequent trial, Mignano was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a mental hospital. Mignano was an unemployed would-be actor and singer with a long history of psychiatric problems and a possible prior relationship with the Manson clan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/30388705/|title=Valley News from Van Nuys, California on September 30, 1977 · Page 64|website=Newspapers.com|date=September 30, 1977 |access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref>
* Six months after the murder of Merrick, Mignano's sister '''Michele Mignano''', 21, a topless dancer, was also murdered. Her body was found on June 13, 1977, 350&nbsp;ft into a Western Pacific railroad tunnel in Niles Canyon. Authorities referred to her death as an "execution-style slaying" with her dying from [[exsanguination]] due to multiple gunshot wounds. A number of bullet cartridges were found near her body. She was shoeless yet fully clothed with jewellery so sexual assault and robbery were both ruled out as motives. Her murder has never been solved.<ref>[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPT9cYtggMEPcAr7svJKiEqZYIZ8BHDhLLwOPjTM-9lnjahUZ0jVYBC5voN_G5wTe7gD7AxMx5qLWe7eM1CBWd2dNpSa-wGCrlfav6-ws-DJlsmG_yvDDyQaEesRYPUnyIg8mtHQev-8zP/s1600/Dennis+Mignano+sister+1.png Identity of dead woman a mystery] The Argus Fremont, June 14, 1977</ref><ref>[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAXZnHxJdqPQIPo0g6Q8TtIFlLicYNrBTJGUkCBAHBmt5vVui1Cnr3gQe6mRGV4k31x6RwpLljDmRBBIorQp6xt0wJcXN87z0HCVpxmNwlwoS9Az9zE4-k9_LmA9UZpSh9rNwWCUqJfe2/s1600/Dennis+Mignano+sister+3.png Woman's murder not a sex crime] The Argus Fremont, June 22, 1977</ref>

=== Possible murder motives ===
At trial and in later best-sellers, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi argued that the murders were intended to promote a race war called "Helter Skelter". Others argue the murders were simply an attempt to free family member Bobby Beausoleil, who had been arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman, by creating copycat crimes to convince authorities that Hinman's real murderers were still at large. Others suggest even simpler motives:   that the murders were about drugs or intimidation of Terry Melcher. 

==== Helter Skelter ====
{{Main|Helter Skelter (scenario)}}

In November 1968, the Family had established headquarters in [[Death Valley]]'s environs, at the Myers and [[Barker Ranch|Barker]] ranches.<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="watkins4"/> The former was owned by the grandmother of Family member Catherine Gillies.<ref name="watkins4" />

According to Charles Watson and [[Paul Watkins (Manson Family)|Paul Watkins]], Manson and Watson visited an acquaintance who played [[the Beatles]]' double album, ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'',<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="watkins4"/> and became obsessed with the group.<ref>{{cite interview|last=Reagan|first=Maureen|author-link=Maureen Reagan|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rzpLyB8IE0M|title=Paul Watkins|journal=[[CNN]] [[Larry King Live]]|date=1989|quote=Manson's alleged obsession with the Beatles is discussed at the end|access-date=July 20, 2021|archive-date=August 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809224918/https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rzpLyB8IE0M|url-status=live}}</ref>

Watkins claimed Manson had been saying that racial tensions between Blacks and Whites were about to erupt, predicted that Black Americans would rise up in rebellion,<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="umkc">[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonbeatles.html ''The Influence of the Beatles on Charles Manson''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309154239/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonbeatles.html |date=March 9, 2007 }}. UMKC Law. Retrieved April 7, 2006.</ref> and that The Beatles' songs foretold it all in code.<ref name="watson12"/><ref name="umkc" />

According to Watkins, by February, the Family would create an album whose songs would trigger the predicted chaos. Murders of Whites by Blacks would be met with retaliation. A split between racist and non-racist Whites would result in the Whites' self-annihilation.<ref name="umkc canoga park">[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansontestimony-w.html Testimony of Paul Watkins in the Charles Manson Trial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320085827/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansontestimony-w.html |date=March 20, 2007 }} UMKC Law. Retrieved April 7, 2007.</ref>

==== Copycat ====
According to Family members [[Susan Atkins]], [[Patricia Krenwinkel]], [[Leslie Van Houten]],<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|426–435}} [[Bobby Beausoleil]], and others, the arrest of Beausoleil for the torture and murder of Gary Hinman was the catalyst for the Family's ensuing murder spree. They wanted to convince police that the killer(s) of Hinman were still at large. [[Truman Capote]]'s interviews of Beausoleil, and that by  [[Ann Louise Bardach]] in November 1981, affirmed this account.<ref name="Capote">{{cite book|last=Capote|first=Truman|title=A Capote Reader|publisher=[[Random House]]|year=1987|pages=455–462|isbn=978-0-394-55647-5|url=https://archive.org/details/capotereader00trum}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bardach|first=Ann Louise|url=http://www.bardachreports.com/articles/oa_19811100.htm|title=Jailhouse Interview: Bobby Beausoleil|date=November 1981|access-date=July 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119004534/http://www.bardachreports.com/articles/oa_19811100.htm|archive-date=November 19, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Charlie Guenther, a police detective who investigated the murders, said of Beausoleil, "He called the [Spahn] Ranch after he was arrested. The sole motive for those murders was to get Bobby out of jail."<ref name="O'Neill"/>{{rp|149}} Bugliosi's co-prosecutor Aaron Stovitz said he believed the motive for the Tate–LaBianca murders was as copycat murders after Hinman.<ref name="O'Neill"/>{{rp|151–152}}

==== Drugs ====
Other people suggested the motive was related to the drug dealing by [[Jay Sebring]] and Voytek Frykowski, and their connection with [[Tex Watson|Charles Watson]] and Manson, and a bad drug deal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schreck |first=Nikolas |author-link=Nikolas Schreck |title=The Manson File |title-link=The Manson File |publisher=[[Amok Press]] |year=1988 |isbn=0-941693-04-X |location=New York City |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Markham">{{cite news |last=Siegel |first=Tatiana |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manson-family-murder-victims-friend-posits-alternative-motive-1227729 |title=Manson Victim's Friend Posits Alternative Motive: 'I Never Bought into the Race War Theory' |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=July 18, 2021 |date=July 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731034053/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manson-family-murder-victims-friend-posits-alternative-motive-1227729 |archive-date=July 31, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="O'Neill">{{cite book|last=O'Neill|first=Tom|title=Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ|year=2019|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=978-0-316-47757-4|access-date=July 18, 2021|archive-date=June 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606182949/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> For instance, Sebring's protégé [[Jim Markham]] believes the murders were in response to a bad drug deal the day before, in which Manson went to Tate's house to sell [[marijuana]] and [[cocaine]] to Sebring and Frykowski. Instead, the two men attacked and beat Manson.<ref name="Markham"/> In an interview with police, Frykowski's friend Witold Kaczanowski said that Frykowski had been involved with many criminals and the drug trade.<ref name="O'Neill"/>{{rp|56–57}} In his later interview with Truman Capote, Bobby Beausoleil said, "They burned people on dope deals. [[Sharon Tate]] and that gang."<ref name="Capote"/>{{rp|460}}

[[Ed Sanders]] and [[Paul Krassner]] uncovered information that Joel Rostau, the boyfriend of Sebring's receptionist, had delivered [[mescaline]] and cocaine to Sebring and Frykowski at Tate's house a few hours before the murders. During the Manson trial, Rostau and other associates <!-- who? how many? -->of Sebring were murdered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Krassner|first=Paul|title=Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counterculture|publisher=[[Soft Skull Press]]|location=[[New York City]]|url=https://archive.org/details/confessionsofrav0000kras|isbn=1593765037|date=1994|access-date=July 19, 2021|page=198}}</ref>

==== Terry Melcher ====
In 1968, musician [[Dennis Wilson]] introduced record producer [[Terry Melcher]] to Manson.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dowd |first=Katie |date=November 20, 2017 |title=How the Beach Boys ended up recording a song written by Charles Manson |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/beach-boys-song-written-by-charles-manson-12371418.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809121613/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/beach-boys-song-written-by-charles-manson-12371418.php |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |access-date=August 17, 2020 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref> For a time, Melcher was interested in recording Manson's music, as well as making a film about the family and their hippie commune existence. Manson met Melcher at 10050 Cielo Drive, a house that Melcher shared with his girlfriend, actress [[Candice Bergen]], and musician [[Mark Lindsay]].<ref name="Nancy Adamson">{{cite news |last=Adamson |first=Nancy |date=June 8, 2013 |title=Mark Lindsay talks about new music, cats and Charlie Manson |url=http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703040017/http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html |archive-date=July 3, 2013 |access-date=June 12, 2013 |newspaper=[[Midland Reporter-Telegram]]}}</ref>

Manson eventually auditioned for Melcher, but Melcher declined to sign him. There was still talk of a documentary being made about Manson's music, but Melcher abandoned the project after witnessing Manson fighting with a drunken stuntman at [[Spahn Ranch]].<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |date=November 23, 2004 |title=Obituaries: Terry Melcher |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1477227/Terry-Melcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605000106/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1477227/Terry-Melcher.html |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |access-date=August 23, 2011 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> Wilson and Melcher severed their ties with Manson, a move that angered Manson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Manson |url=http://www.cielodrive.com/family/manson/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030050/http://www.cielodrive.com/family/manson/index.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=March 17, 2017 |website=CieloDrive.com}}</ref> Soon after, Melcher and Bergen moved out of the Cielo Drive home. The house's owner, Rudi Altobelli, then leased it to film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Manson was reported to have visited the house on more than one occasion asking for Melcher, but was told that Melcher had moved.<ref name="telegraph" />

Some authors and law enforcement personnel{{Who|date=October 2020}} have theorized that the Cielo Drive house was targeted by Manson as revenge for Melcher's rejection and that Manson was unaware that he and Bergen had moved out. However, family member Charles "Tex" Watson stated that Manson and company did, in fact, know that Melcher was no longer living there,<ref>{{cite book |author=Watson, Charles D. |url=http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |title=Will You Die For Me? |date=April 24, 1978 |publisher=Cross Roads Publications, Inc. |editor=Hoekstra, Chaplain Ray |chapter=Chapter 14: Helter Skelter I (August 8–9) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329161133/http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |archive-date=March 29, 2010}}</ref> and Melcher's former roommate Mark Lindsay stated, "Terry and I talked about it later and Terry said Manson knew (Melcher had moved) because Manson or someone from his organization left a note on Terry's porch in Malibu."<ref name="Nancy Adamson" />

The Manson murders reportedly prompted Melcher to go into seclusion. When Manson was arrested, it was widely reported that he had sent his followers to the house to kill Melcher and Bergen. Manson family member Susan Atkins, who admitted her part in the murders, stated to police and before a [[grand jury]] that the house was chosen as the scene for the murders "to instill fear into Terry Melcher because Terry had given us his word on a few things and never came through with them".<ref name="telegraph" /> Melcher took to employing a bodyguard and told Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi that his fear was so great he had been undergoing psychiatric treatment. Melcher was described as the most frightened of the witnesses at the trial, even though Bugliosi assured him that "Manson knew you were no longer living [on Cielo Drive]".<ref name="telegraph" />

In his 2019 book ''[[CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties]]'', Tom O'Neil reexamined the Manson case and found evidence Melcher may have been more closely involved with the Manson family than he admitted at trial.<ref>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Steven |date=July 12, 2019 |title=What Really Happened in the Manson murders? 'Chaos' casts doubt on Helter Skelter theory |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-chaos-charles-manson-dan-piepenbring-20190711-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610115901/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-chaos-charles-manson-dan-piepenbring-20190711-story.html |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |access-date=May 14, 2021 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> In reviewing police files and other data, O'Neill found evidence Melcher was associating with Manson in the four month period after the Tate-Labianca murders but before Manson's arrest. These documents, seemingly hidden by Bugliosi, undermined claims the Tate murders were intended to frighten Melcher in revenge for his refusal to record Manson's music. O'Neill also found documents indicating Melcher was having sex with 15-year-old Manson family member Ruth Ann Moorehouse.<ref name="O'Neill2">{{cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ |title=Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties |publisher=Little, Brown |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-316-47757-4 |pages=119–139 |access-date=July 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606182949/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dean Moorehouse, Ruth Ann's father and a Manson Family member, also had resided at 10050 Cielo Drive with Melcher. Tex Watson would also frequently visit the residence.{{r|O'Neill2|pp=117–119}}