Manson Family also included a small, devoted unit of mostly impressionable young women and girls. According to Susan Atkins, whose initial statements in late 1969 cast the die for the template henceforth applied to the telling of the story in popular media, the Manson family began to believe, without question, Manson's claims that he was a manifestation of Jesus and his prophecies of a race war. They gained national and international notoriety after the murder of actress Sharon Tate and four others on August 9, 1969 by Tex Watson and three other members of the Family, acting under the instructions of Charles
Charles Manson announced that the imprisoned Manson was engaged to 26-year-old Afton Elaine "Star" Burton and had obtained a marriage license on November 7. Manson personally dubbed Burton with the name "Star". She had been visiting Manson in prison for at least nine years, and maintained several websites that proclaimed his innocence. The wedding license expired on February 5, 2015, without a marriage ceremony taking place. It was later reported, according to journalist Daniel Simone, the wedding was cancelled after it was discovered Burton only wanted to marry Manson so she and a friend, Craig "Gray Wolf" Hammond, could use his corpse