Notorious Cult Leader, Charles Manson, Denied Parole for the Twelfth Time

Charles Manson, one of the world’s most notorious cult leaders, sporting a Swastika on his forehead, and now 77 years old, asked for parole again, and the parole board of California denied it for the twelfth time.  According to the parole board, Manson is still a threat and a danger to anyone he comes in contact.

The parole board was expected to make a decision on Wednesday concerning Manson request for parole, but the two-member panel made the decision sooner, stating that he is a danger to society, despite his attorney arguing that Manson needed placement into a psychiatric hospital during this point of his life.

Currently, authorities feel other inmates endanger Manson, so they isolated him in Corcoran State Prison in a special unit for inmates endangered by other inmates, separate from the general prison population.  Regardless of his isolation, Manson managed to acquire two different cell phones within the last few of years and called people between California, New Jersey, and Florida.  Officials, who found the cell phones under his bunk, added 30 days to his sentence for the first cell phone offense.  While there is no law in California against prisoners possessing phones, authorities charged Manson with violating prison rules, but not a crime.  An investigation is still underway as to how Manson acquired the phones.

Originally, the judge, in 1972, gave Manson the death penalty for several counts of murder committed in 1969, which included the ritualistic murders of actress Sharon Tate, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant and coffee heiress Abigail Folger, as well as others, believing that the Beetle’s song Helter Skelter was a prophetic message.  The words PIG, a misspelled Helter Skelter, death to pigs, and WAR were written on the walls of Tate’s house in blood.  Police believed Manson and his “family” were attempting to incite a race riot.

Prosecutors said Manson and his followers were trying to incite a race war that he believed was prophesied in the Beatles song "Helter Skelter."

Authorities found Tate’s body with several stab wounds to her chest and back.  The stab wounds caused massive hemorrhaging.  They also found her son dead with her.

Sharon's life was ended by five stab wounds in her chest and back, which penetrated her heart, lungs and liver and caused massive internal hemorrhaging. The remaining eleven wounds simply added insult to her savaged body.

Her little boy, Paul Richard Polanski, died with her.

Folger, also found dead during the “Manson Family Killing Spree”, tried to become a social worker, helping the poor before she died.

In 1977, California Supreme Court changed his sentence to life in prison, saying the State’s death penalty law was unconstitutional.

Tate’s sister, Debra, hopes she never sees Manson again after this parole hearing.  His next parole hearing is 15 years away, in which Manson, if still alive, will be 92.

For decades, Debra Tate has been an outspoken opponent of Manson's release from prison. Her sister, actress Sharon Tate, was one of the Manson family's victims.

Tate spoke out against Manson at the parole hearing Wednesday and told reporters afterward that she hoped she had made her last trip to theCentral California's Corcoran State Prison.

"I was very pleased that we will never hear from Charlie Manson again," Tate said, according to CNN. "I don't have to see him again. For this one, it's over."

Manson won't be eligible for another parole hearing for 15 years, when he would be 92.

As for her activism against Manson, Tate told the Associated Press: "I've been doing it for Sharon and the other victims of him for the last 40 years."

CNN also quoted Debra Tate saying that the “Manson Family” are a cult icon, in which young people appear to worship Manson and his cult, idolizing ritualistic murder, which she cannot understand.

"There is a unique social icon kind of a thing that goes along with the Manson family," Tate said. "They have made murder popular. They have more followers than they have ever had. There have been murders done in their name. Quite frankly, I do not understand it. I understand there are a lot of young people that are looking for something to believe in, but I don't see how you could possibly think this man is leadership material. I don't get it."

Manson told psychologists recently that he believes he is special because he spent his life in prison and killed many people, adding that he is a very dangerous man.  The psychologist and parole board do not view him as rehabilitated and do not see him getting out prison before he dies, but did suggest that he get counseling for drugs and his mental health.

Peck quoted Manson, from the statements provided by the psychologists. " 'I'm special. I'm not like the average inmate,' " Peck said, according to the Associated Press. " 'I have spent my life in prison. I have put five people in the grave. I am a very dangerous man.' "

Manson’s attorney believes he needs to be committed to a mental health facility during the last years of his life.

"Charles Manson does not need incarceration at this point in his life," Lewis said. "He needs hospitalization.

"I mean the issues in regard to his psychiatric makeup and the health concerns that a 76- or 77-year-old man would need," he explained. "What he did was heinous from what he said. How many years has he been in prison? I was just a little boy, but after all these years, has there been any rehabilitation? I don't know. He probably needs more hospitalization than incarceration."

Manson has never been a model prisoner while incarcerated.  Authorities of the prison cited him with several violations of prison rules, as well as other violations, including a homemade weapon.

A prosecutor who handled his parole hearings told CNN in 2009 that Manson had a "laundry list of violations in prison." In the past five years, he was punished for threatening a peace officer and for having a weapon, the latter happening in October when he had a sharpened pen, a corrections department spokeswoman said.

Manson considers himself a political prisoner and refuses to participate in a psychological evaluation, which is part of the parole hearing process.  He also did not show for his attorney or the hearing.

In 2007 at his last parole hearing, the board concluded that Manson "continues to pose an unreasonable danger to others and may still bring harm to anyone he would come in contact with."

"He refused to cooperate, so the conclusion they drew from the reports is he still remains a danger to the public," Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick Sequeira said at the time. "He was convicted of nine horrible murders. He has expressed no remorse or empathy for any of the victims."

Former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, who co-authered the book Helter Skelter, does not believe Manson will ever be released.  In the video below, Bugliosi stated that he believes Manson enjoys his notoriety and does not mind institutionalization.  In 1969, Manson told Bugliosi, “You know Mr Bugliosi, you haven’t achieved anything at all.  All you’ve done is sent me back to where I came from.”  Bugliosi replied, “Yes Charlie, but as far as I know, you haven’t been to the Green Room before.”  The Green Room is the gas chamber, where California carries out death sentences, which the State has not used in years.

Mriana

Mriana is a humanist and the author of "A Source of Misery". She has two grown sons and raises cats. She enjoys writing, reading, science, philosophy, psychology, and other subjects. Mriana is also an animal lover, who cares for their welfare as living beings, who are part of the earth. She is a huge Star Trek fan in a little body.

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