How many people did Charles Manson murder?

Answer 1

PCH=0

The Manson Family killed Sharon Tate, her 3 house guests and one other person at one location, and the LaBianca couple at another location. The two crime scenes had 7 victims, and it was these multiple murders for which the Manson Family was charged. Manson was never charged with murder, but was charged and convicted of conspiracy as the head of the "family" that committed the homicides. A link can be found below.

Manson was charged and convicted of 1st degree murder. (7 in fact) California law states that a person that orders a murder is just as guilty as the person that actually commits the murder. He was found guilty of 7 counts of 1st degree murder and was eligible for the death penalty by special circumstances that are built into death penalty cases. You are not eligible for the death penalty on a conspiracy conviction.

Manson, Patricia Krenwinkle, Susan Atkins and Leslie Van Houten all received death penalties but their sentences were commuted to life in 1972 after a Supreme Court desision making the death penalty illegal on the grounds that it was cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court obviously did not visit the Tate, LaBianca crime scenes.

References:Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi.

Answer 2

This is a difficult one to answer. People came and went, and in the 1960's that was very common, especially for young people. At it's peak, there were around 100 'family' members. But there were times it could dip below 10 people.

Answer 3

Many more than most people think. The ones they were convicted of (8 if you count Gary Hinman) but there were many more that they were suspected of but there was not enough evidence, so were never indicted.

Answer 4

They were responsible for the deaths of Sharon Tate, her unborn child whom would have been named Paul, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Voytek Frykowski, Steven Parent, Leno LaBianca, Rosemary LaBinca, Gary Hinman, Shorty Shea.

Keep in mind though, that these are just the murders that could be proven. Decades later police are still digging, hoping to find bodies of people that just 'disappeared' after crossing paths with Manson and/or his family members. Some estimates of been as high as 100 or more victims.

Answer 5

He was convicted for 7 murders, 8 if you count Sharon Tate's unborn baby. Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frokowski, Steven Parent, Leno La Bianca and Rosemary La Bianca. Here's the tricky part. These are the crimes he was convicted of and it is a very different thing than how many they actually killed.

With further research it was discovered that Manson and his 'family' were responsible for far more killings than what they were tried for. In fact, police were digging again near Spaun's Movie Ranch, where the family lived around the time of the above murders, just a few years ago. They found nothing but that means little. Some bodies have never been found and most prosecutors will not try a case without a body. With no body it's hard to prove someone is dead, and even harder to prove the suspect did the crime.

Note of interest:Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski had planned to name their baby Paul if it was a boy.

Answer 6

Manson didn't kill any people. The Manson family did, he told them what to do and they did it. But Charles Manson didn't actually physically kill anyone.

Answer 7

Charles Manson was never convicted of murdering anyone. He was convicted on conspiracy charges in the 7 murders associated with the Tate/LaBianca homicides.