The case was hard to solve because of the multiple crime scenes, multiple victims, and multiple perpetrators on the scene at the time. In the beginning of the investigation, seperate teams were investigating the Tate and LaBianca murders and the idea that they were connected hadn't even been brought up. Although the family later committed other crimes, causing the police to be able to find them. A week after the murders, the police raided the ranch but not for the murders. They were arrested for stealing cars and later released on a technicality. The family was arrested for many crimes over the years including thefts, terrorizing the locals, and setting fire to heavy equipment.
Manson still wasn't a suspect in the Tate-LaBianca murders until a member of the "family" confessed to one of the other murders and told others while in jail that she was involved in the two massacres. Suddenly, the evidence all came together because all of the "family" members were already in jail and it was simply the police building the case against them. Atkins agreed to testify against Manson in exchange of avoiding the death penalty. Her testimony led to Manson being arraigned for the murders on Dec. 11, 1969 but Atkins later recanted her testimony and her deal was revoked by the prosecutors.
Manson wanted to represent himself in court but Judge Keene denied his request. Manson requested many things, the only successful request was replacing Judge Keene with Judge Charles. Manson and the "family" did many things in court that were looked at as crazy like: turning his back on the judge, cursing and shouting at the judge, Carving an X into his forehead that he later turned into a swastika, family members showed up with X marked on their forehead, Manson and many family members shaved their head, Manson lunging towards the judge with a pencil screaming threats, and even more.
There is ample evidence against Manson and the family for the members and that they all believe in what they were doing. The murders were meant to be blamed on black people, Manson even attempted to leave one of the victims wallets in a black neighborhood. The court testimonies of Manson followers strongly support the idea that Manson ordered the murders to help fulfill his Helter Skelter theory. His main defense was that he didn't actually kill the people but told people to kill them
In January 1971, Manson was convicted of all counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced to life.
Manson still wasn't a suspect in the Tate-LaBianca murders until a member of the "family" confessed to one of the other murders and told others while in jail that she was involved in the two massacres. Suddenly, the evidence all came together because all of the "family" members were already in jail and it was simply the police building the case against them. Atkins agreed to testify against Manson in exchange of avoiding the death penalty. Her testimony led to Manson being arraigned for the murders on Dec. 11, 1969 but Atkins later recanted her testimony and her deal was revoked by the prosecutors.
Manson wanted to represent himself in court but Judge Keene denied his request. Manson requested many things, the only successful request was replacing Judge Keene with Judge Charles. Manson and the "family" did many things in court that were looked at as crazy like: turning his back on the judge, cursing and shouting at the judge, Carving an X into his forehead that he later turned into a swastika, family members showed up with X marked on their forehead, Manson and many family members shaved their head, Manson lunging towards the judge with a pencil screaming threats, and even more.
There is ample evidence against Manson and the family for the members and that they all believe in what they were doing. The murders were meant to be blamed on black people, Manson even attempted to leave one of the victims wallets in a black neighborhood. The court testimonies of Manson followers strongly support the idea that Manson ordered the murders to help fulfill his Helter Skelter theory. His main defense was that he didn't actually kill the people but told people to kill them
In January 1971, Manson was convicted of all counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced to life.