The Family was a cult led by Charles Manson that was active in California in the 1960s. Manson’s followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969.
Meet The Family
Ruth Ann Moorehouse
Ruth Ann Moorehouse, also known as Ouisch, is a former member of the Manson family. She met Charles Manson for the first time when her father, Deane Moorehouse, a former minister, picked up three hitchhikers, Charles Manson, Lynette Fromme and Mary Brunner and brought them home.
Susan Atkins
On March 29, 1971, Atkins was sentenced to death for her part in the Manson murders, later the sentence was reduced to life in prison. Atkins died on September 24, 2009 at age 61. At the time of her death, Atkins was California’s longest-serving female inmate.
Catherine Gillies
Catherine Gillies was a member of the Manson Family. Gillies joined the family sometime in 1968. In the summer of ’69 she volunteered to go with the Tate/LaBianca killers on both nights, but Manson ordered Gillies to stay at Spahn Ranch.
Leslie Van Houten
Van Houten, a one-time homecoming princess, participated in the killings of Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary a day after other Manson family members murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others.
Sandra Good
Sandra Good is a long-time member of the Manson Family and a close friend of Lynette Fromme. Unlike many of the Family members, Good professed total allegiance to Manson until the day he died.
Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Krenwinkel is a former member of the Manson Family. Krenwinkel was a participant in the infamous murders on August 9, 1969 at 10050 Cielo Drive, home of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski.
Lynette Fromme
Lynette Fromme, a member of the infamous Manson family, is best known for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination attempt and released on parole after serving 34 years.
Mary Brunner
Mary Brunner is a former member of the Manson Family. Brunner met Charles Manson shortly after moving to California at age 21 in ’67. Brunner has become known as the first member of what would become the Manson family.
Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian was part of the Manson Family, then she became the star witness against them. She was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi’s prosecution of Manson and his followers for the Tate-LaBianca murders.
Bruce Davis
Bruce Davis is a former member of the Manson Family. Davis was involved in the murders of Donald Shea and Gary Hinman. In April 1970, Davis was implicated in the death of Gary Hinman by Family member Mary Brunner. Davis went into hiding, ultimately turning himself in on December 2, 1970.
Danny DeCarlo
Danny Decarlo met Manson through the motorcycle gang “The Straight Satans”. DeCarlo enjoyed the Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll at Spahn’s Ranch, and he became a regular fixture at the ranch. DeCarlo’s main duty was taking care of the family’s weapons. Decarlo was arrested with the Manson Family on the August 16th Spahn Ranch raid.
Bobby Beausoleil
Beausoleil is a former member of the Manson Family who was given the death sentence for killing Manson Family associate Gary Hinman. His death sentence was commuted to life when California briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972.
Nancy Pitman
Nancy Pitman is a former member of the Manson Family. Nancy first met the Manson family through her friend Deirdre Lansbury, the daughter of actress Angela Lansbury.
Steve Grogan
Steve Grogan is a former member of the Manson Family. Grogan dropped out of high school and ended up at Spahn’s ranch. When Manson and the Family moved in to the ranch, Grogan joined the Family. Not the smartest of the bunch, Grogan was nicknamed Scramblehead.
Ella Jo Bailey
Ella Jo Bailey and Patricia Krenwinkel were hitchhiking in Malibu when they were picked up by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson. This encounter eventually led to the murder of Sharon Tate.
Dianne Lake
While the country was still reeling from the news of a two-day murder spree across Los Angeles that left seven people dead, a then-16-year-old girl named Dianne Lake was learning first-hand details about the 1969 slayings that would change her life forever.
Barbara Hoyt
Barbara Hoyt is a former member of the Manson Family. Hoyt was a witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi’s prosecution of Manson and his followers for the Tate-LaBianca murders, one of the highest-profile murder trials in history.
Catherine Share
Catherine Share is a former member of the Manson Family. Of all the members of the Family, Share had the most unconventional background. She was born in France during World War II. Her parents were members of the resistance. Both of her parents committed suicide while she was very young.
Charles Manson
Charles Manson led a commune that became known as the Manson Family. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969.
Kitty Lutesinger
Kathryn Lutesinger is a former member of the Manson Family. Kathryn, also known as Kitty, was introduced to the family in ’69 by boyfriend Bobby Beausoleil. Manson treated Lutesinger badly because Manson felt Kathryn was trying to lure Beausoleil away from the family.
Tex Watson
Charles Denton Watson, also known as Tex Watson, is a former member of the Manson family. On August 9, 1969, Watson and other Manson followers murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people at a house in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles.
TJ Walleman
Thomas Walleman, aka TJ the Terrible, was a Manson Family associate. TJ was attracted by the easy hippie life-style and lived at Spahn Ranch for a couple of years. TJ was with Manson the night Manson shot Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe.
Sherry Cooper
Sherry Cooper, nicknamed Simi Valley Sherri, was the girlfriend of Straight Satan and Manson Family member Danny Decarlo. In 1969 an unidentified body with 150 stab wounds was found on Mulholland Drive. It was rumored that this was possibly the body of Sherry Ann Cooper.
Paul Watkins
Paul Alan Watkins, aka Little Paul, was a member of the Manson Family. According to his own words, he was Manson’s second in command. Watkins testified against The Family during the Tate/LaBianca trial. Watkins died in 1990 of leukemia.
John Haught
John Haught was an associate of the Manson family. On Wednesday, November 5th, 1969, the Venice Police Department responded to a call at 28 Clubhouse Avenue. At the scene, police discovered the body of John Haught.
10050 Cielo Drive
In 1994 the house on Cielo Drive was demolished. But the memory of what happened there in the early morning hours of August 9, 1969, endures. Pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others were brutally murdered by members of the Manson Family.
Manson’s Children
Most relationships in the Manson Family were polygamous. Because most children were born with no physician or midwife present, it is hard to know how many children Manson fathered. Read more and learn about his known children.