Manson Family: Where Murderous Cult Members Are Today

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Manson Family, the followers of Charles Manson, staged a circus of weirdness during the cult leader’s 1971 trial — singing, chanting and exhibiting such odd behavior that the presiding judge banned several of them from the courtroom. When Manson, who died Sunday at age 83, carved an “x” (later changed to a swastika) into his forehead, his followers did the same, proclaiming in solidarity that they had been “x’d out of society.”

Members of the Manson Family committed nine murders at four California locations over about five weeks in 1969, including the murders of Sharon Tate and four guests in her home, and Leo and Rosemary LaBianca.

Manson didn’t participate in the killings, but the shaggy haired cult leader with hypnotic eyes looms large as a symbol of terror for his skill in controlling and manipulating his followers.

Here’s a look at where prominent Manson Family members are today

DEAD

Susan Atkins was 61 when she died of brain cancer prison in 2009. She made a plea for parole after she became ill, but was denied by the California parole board. She was known as “Sadie Mae Glutz,” or “Sexy Sadie,” inside the Manson family, and was convicted in eight of the nine murders, including the Tate murders, where she wrote “Pig” on the wall with the victims’ blood. She was married twice while in prison — as the 35th wife of Donald Lee Laisure in 1981, and in 1987 to Harvard Law School graduate James Whitehouse, who represented her in several of her 18 unsuccessful parole board hearings.

IN PRISON

Charles “Tex” Watson, 71, is in prison in California and has repeatedly been denied parole. He once described himself as Manson’s “right hand man” and was convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. In 1981, he became an ordained minister. He fathered four children while in prison, but his wife left him for another man after California ended conjugal visits in 1996.

Bruce Davis, 75, has also been recommended for parole several times, but Brown has overturned each of the recommendations and he remains in prison at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. Another “right hand man” for Manson, Davis was sentenced to life in prison for two of the less-known Manson Family murders, music teacher Gary Hinman and stunt man Donald “Shorty” Shea. He also became a preacher while in prison.

Robert “Bobby” Beusoleil, 70, is serving a life sentence for Hinman’s murder. His bid for parole was denied last year and he will be eligible to reapply again in 2019. He was known as “Cupid” inside the family because of his good looks. Beusoleil is under Caifornia’s jurisdiction, but he is serving his sentence in the Oregon State Prison.

PAROLE RECOMMENDED

Leslie Van Houton, 68, was granted parole in September, but California Gov. Jerry Brown is likely to make a final decision following a 150-day review process. Last year, Brown stepped in after the parole board granted Van Houton parole, saying she still posed an “unreasonable danger to society.” Like Krenwinkel, she has been described as a model prisoner. The former high school homecoming queen has said she didn’t take part in the Tate murders, but she stabbed both of the LaBiancas, Rosemary at least 14 times. Supporters of her appeal for freedom say Van Houton was a vulnerable teen under Manson’s influence and was also high on LSD the night of the murders.

FREE

Steve “Clem” Grogan, 66, was freed from prison in 1985 after helping investigators find Shea’s dismembered body on the grounds of the Spahn Ranch, where the Manson Family holed up. The judge said he was “too stupid and too hopped on drugs” to have orchestrated the murders, and Grogan was known as “Scramblehead” inside the family. Before the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson became disenchanted with the group, Grogan crashed his uninsured Ferrari.

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, 69, was part of the family and attended the trial, remaining loyal to Manson long after other followers shunned him, continuing to correspond with him in prison. She pointed a gun, but didn’t fire at President Ford in Sacramento in 1975 and was wrestled to the ground by Secret Service agents. She was sentenced to life in prison for attempted assassination, and briefly escaped from federal prison in West Virginia in 1987. She was paroled in 2009 and is believed to be living in upstate New York.

NEVER CHARGED

Linda Kasabian, 68, was the getaway driver. She was horrified by what they had done and left the cult, then cooperated with investigators and testified against Manson and the others. It is believed she lives in New Hampshire.

Watch: Where Are The 'Manson Family' Members Now?

Photo: Feb. 24, 1970, file photo of Patricia Krenwinkel, before her arraignment in superior court in Los Angeles in the tate murders. (AP Photo/George Brich, File)