Proxy murder Charles Manson and the Manson Family Murders. Manson was the leader of the Manson Family cult that resided in California in the late 1960s. In 1969, the Manson Family committed nine murders across a five-week span. One of the more notable people murdered was actress Sharon Tate. Charles Manson did not commit any of the murders himself, but instructed the members of the Manson family to do it instead. In 1971, Manson was convicted on the charge of conspiracy. The court ruled that Manson had as much guilt tied to him with that of his followers. Manson had been sentenced
Charles Manson April 1960. When one of the women was arrested for prostitution, Manson was arrested in June in Laredo, Texas, and was returned to Los Angeles. For violating his probation on the check-cashing charge, he was ordered to serve his ten year sentence. Manson spent a year trying unsuccessfully to appeal the revocation of his probation. In July 1961, he was transferred from the Los Angeles County Jail to the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island, Washington. There, he took guitar lessons from Barker–Karpis gang leader Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, and obtained a contact name of someone at Universal Studios in Hollywood