Fifty-three years ago today, a shrimpy, disheveled career convict with an inordinately manipulative and hypnotic power sent handful of his flunkies to a house in Benedict Canyon, California, where they proceeded to commit one of the most ferocious and shocking crimes of modern times. "After that, we started locking our doors," was a common phrase heard in the aftermath of the bloodbath, and everywhere people gave pause to wonder if something like this could happen in their town . . . or even to them.
With their bloody hands barely dry, two nights later they dispatched with great cruelty Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at their home in Los Feliz.
Even after all these years, the heinous nature of these crimes makes them hard to forget and keeps us wondering about the nature of evil and what human beings are capable of.
This week showcases the REAL CRIME magazine MANSON MURDERS special issue and covers the story, from Manson's childhood to he and his "family's" incarceration and beyond.
More Manson HERE.
Once upon a time I had a hard time really buying the way folks might be moved to do heinous things in the service of a malign personality, but after the last many years of national politics I see it all too clearly.
ReplyDeleteLike a virus, this malady knows no boundaries.
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