THE Manson family is still making headlines decades after the infamous murders they committed while led by Charles Manson.
The group was back on peoples' minds on Tuesday, following the death of Linda Kasabian, whose testimony helped jail the infamous cult leader.
Kasabian reportedly died at a hospital in Tacoma, Washington, on January 21. Her cause of death remains unknown.
In the 1960s, she was part of a group of runaways and castaways Manson assembled known as the Manson Family.
Manson was a troubled youth himself and had spent more than half of his life in prison by the time he became the group's leader.
In the summer of 1969, he directed his mostly young, female followers to murder seven people in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war. Manson reportedly intended to frame the murders on the Black Panthers.
On August 8, 1969, Manson ordered four of his disciples –Kasabian, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson – to the Beverly Hills address of movie actress Sharon Tate with the instruction to kill everyone in the house.
As well as Tate, who was married to director Roman Polanski and eight months pregnant, Manson's followers murdered four other people at the property: hairstylist Jay Sebring, Polanski’s friend Wojciech Frykowski and his partner, the coffee heiress Abigail Folger.
Less than 24 hours later, the deadly gang – plus Leslie Van Houten and Steve "Clem" Grogan – savagely tortured, murdered and mutilated wealthy LA couple Rosemary and Leno LaBianca.
They used their blood to write "Rise," "Death to Pigs," and "Helter Skelter," a misplaced reference to the Beatles song "Helter Skelter," on the walls and refrigerator door.
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The cult leader and his followers also killed two others – musician Gary Hinman and Hollywood stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea – in separate, unrelated attacks.
Manson – who died aged 83 in November 2017 – was caught holed up in Barker Ranch, an abandoned gold mine, in the California desert two months after the deaths.
He was found hiding under a bathroom sink by cops and National Park rangers who had been responding to reports of arson, according to the NPCA.
He and his accomplices were all convicted of the murders, apart from Kasabian who testified against them and played no direct part in the killings.
Manson was originally sentenced to death but was spared execution and his sentence was converted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in that state.
Atkins died while serving her term, in 2009. Krenwinkel, Van Houten, and Watson remain in prison.
Grogan was paroled and released in 1985 after serving 15 years. He was released after assisting authorities with finding the body of Donald “Shorty” Shea.
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