How Docuseries Making Manson Complicates the Story Behind the Tate-LaBianca Murders

Charles Manson may have died in 2017, but his story lives on. As one of the most notorious cult leaders and criminals in United States history, Manson was best known for allegedly ordering the “Manson Family Murders” in 1969, where Manson followers Charles “Tex” Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian killed actress Sharon Tate and her unborn child, plus Tate’s visiting friends. The next night, the same group, plus Manson and Family members Leslie van Houten and Steve "Clem" Grogan, drove to the residence of grocery business executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, who were also killed in a similar fashion.

Manson and his “Family” have been the subject of countless books, movies, documentaries, and podcasts that examine various angles of the story: Manson’s proximity to the 1960s music scene and countercultural movement, his supposed fixation on “Helter Skelter” (an apocalyptic manifesto for murder adapted from the Beatles’ White Album), and the murder of Tate, who’d been hailed as Hollywood’s next big thing after her starring role in 1967’s Valley Of The Dolls.

Starting Nov. 19, Peacock will contribute another offering to this collection, a three-part docuseries about Manson directed by Billie Mintz (The Guardians). Titled Making Manson, the program features 20 years’ worth of never-before-heard conversions Manson had with pen pal John Michael Jones, who tells filmmakers, "Anything ever written about Manson is contradicted in these tapes."

Prior to his death, Manson spoke to Jones in-depth about his troubled childhood, growing up abused and a ward of the state of Indiana—with his mother in and out of prison, 9-year-old Manson was sent to the Gibault School for Boys, a Catholic-run school for delinquents in Terre Haute. They discussed various petty crimes and Manson’s early-adulthood prison sentences, and exiting prison during 1967’s Summer of Love at 32. He also spoke to Jones about building his Family (mostly comprising young women whose proper families had disowned them), his aspirations to be a famous musician, and his version of events leading to the Tate-LaBianca murders.

The crux of these recordings, however, is Manson’s own argument that he never technically ordered the murders of Sharon Tate or the LaBiancas and therefore should not have been found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 1971.

In addition to Jones, Making Manson also features interviews with former Family members Dianne Lake, Alan Rose, and Catherine Share, plus journalist Linda Deutsch, Manson’s former cellmate Phil Kaufman, music producer Gregg Jakobson, and forensic psychologist Dr. Tod Roy, among others. 

Below is the true story behind the events Making Manson revisits, and the ways in which the tapes complicate the commonly held narratives around Manson’s life and criminal activities. 

Read more: 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre

What was Charles Manson’s early life like?

Charles Manson was born in 1934 to a teenage mother and spent most of his early life in correctional institutions. His first imprisonment came in 1951 following a series of robberies and other infractions. In 1956, he was imprisoned at Terminal Island in Los Angeles and McNeil Island in Washington. He was released in 1967 when he was 32 and moved to the Haight-Ashbury District in San Francisco, where he became heavily involved in the hippie movement, taking acid and mushrooms and attending Grateful Dead shows.

Emboldened by the movement's free love practices, his interest in becoming a famous musician, psychedelic drug use, Biblical teachings, and Beatles songs (among other influences), Manson started preaching his own philosophies and gained a following, primarily of young women who had left home under trying circumstances.   

Who is John Michael Jones?

John Michael Jones is a longtime pen pal of Manson’s. Describing himself as a “strung-out junkie” who “lost my business, lost my life,” Jones tells filmmakers how he originally wrote to Manson hoping to get a response including a copy of Manson’s signature to sell online. “It wasn’t that simple, because [Manson] never wrote people,” Jones says. “I knew I had a task in front of me.”

Jones also says he knew that the one thing Manson had been “relentless” about was the fact that he was innocent when it came to ordering the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969. “I gotta make him think I believe he’s innocent,” Jones tells filmmakers. “So I just wrote this poem about an innocent man sitting on death row in San Quentin… It worked.”

Manson ended up writing Jones back. “Little did I know that searching for an autograph, I was going to walk into a world that I never, ever would have imagined,” Jones says, going on to discuss how Manson “called me out of the blue.” The pair subsequently stayed in touch via phone conversations for a total of 20 years—calls which Manson asked Jones to record.

Their conversations spanned everything from Manson’s abusive upbringing to his “true feelings about the Family” to his self-proclaimed innocence. To be clear, the phone calls do not portray Manson as a good man—something Manson himself made clear from the jump. "All of the other kids wanted to be college professors, I wanted to be a gangster. I wanted to be an outlaw,” he told Jones. 

When Manson died in 2017, Jones reportedly set up a GoFundMe to pay for Manson's burial expenses. GoFundMe shut the page down.

What was “the Family”?

The members of the Manson Family thought of themselves as a hippie commune, but history would come to describe them as a murderous cult. Led by Manson, the Family started in the late 1960s and at its peak included about 100 people, mostly women from middle-class backgrounds who were drawn to the hippie movement’s countercultural ideas and communal living. 

As the docuseries lays out, Manson apparently gave his followers a lot of LSD, possibly as a way to manipulate them. By that point, Manson had stopped taking acid but continued to hand it out to the women in his circle. "I never lose control, but I take control,” he tells Jones in the tapes.

Near the end of the ‘60s, the Family was based at the Spahn Ranch in Topanga Canyon—a failing movie set for Westerns-turned weekend rental facility for horses. "There was a lot of sex going on, but it wasn't a sex cult," former Family member Catherine Share tells filmmakers. 

Share and fellow Family member Dianne Lake (also interviewed for the series) recall moments of physical abuse from Manson, telling filmmakers about being "hit, beat, and raped." In response, Manson says on tape: "Bunch of kids go around begging and crying about sh-t. I'm protecting my little trip. Doing what any red-blooded American would do."

What was Manson’s relationship to the Beach Boys and Dennis Wilson?

Prior to settling at Spahn Ranch, Manson and his Family stayed for a period of time at Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson’s home on Sunset Boulevard. Manson had learned guitar in prison and had musical aspirations. Wilson developed a close friendship with Manson and introduced him to influential figures in the music industry, such as Columbia Records producer Terry Melcher, who at first expressed interest in signing Manson but quickly changed his mind after witnessing him act out violently. Leaving the Ranch, Melcher told Manson he’d get back to him “real soon” about a record deal, but never did. The fact that Melcher never circled back with Manson was “a real slap in the face,” Catherine Share tells filmmakers. “His code of conduct was that of a convict. And he wore it proudly," adds Phil Kaufman.

In 1968, Wilson bought a song, “Cease To Exist,” from Manson for $500; the tune later became the Beach Boys’ B-side “Never Learn Not To Love.” Manson was furious that Wilson had changed the song and failed to credit him. According to the recordings, he told Wilson, "Don't change it. My songs are religion to me, man. He changed it all around, man." Wilson apparently told Manson not to take it personally, and that this was part of the music industry, which didn’t sway Manson, who felt angry and ripped off.

What was “Helter Skelter”?

“Helter Skelter” was a song from the Beatles’ 1968 self-titled album, also known as the White Album. When Manson heard it, however, he interpreted it as a coded message about an upcoming apocalyptic “race war.” 

As Family member Lake recalls to filmmakers: “Charlie played that album frontwards, backwards, and he made us listen to it. He made me stay in the room until I peed my pants so that I would hear it. I think that he really thought that this Black violence was gonna happen. And he wanted us to protect ourselves.”

Manson contradicts this in his tapes, telling Jones: "’Helter Skelter’ wasn't my trip. That was a f-cking game, man. It was a magical mystery tour.”

What led up to the Tate-LaBianca Murders?

A few Family-related incidents led up to the cult’s most infamous killings. 

In the summer of 1969, Family member Charles "Tex" Watson robbed a drug dealer named Bernard "Lotsapoppa" Crowe, who allegedly threatened to kill everyone at Spahn Ranch. Manson responded by shooting Crowe, whom he believed to be a member of the Black Panthers, in the stomach. Crowe, who was not in fact a member of the Black Panthers, survived the shooting.

Still, a paranoid and delusional Manson expected that the revolutionary organization would retaliate, and he brought in the motorcycle gang Straight Satans to act as security at Spahn Ranch. Around this time, he also asked his followers to conduct “creepy crawlies,” in which they would break into homes and move furniture around but not steal anything. According to Share, the Family would do anything for Manson and each other out of a sense of loyalty.

Once the Straight Satans were on board—“They were willing to protect the Ranch because they were getting lots of sex,” Share explains—things went further south with the murder of Gary Hinman.

Who was Gary Hinman?

Gary Hinman was a Topanga resident, UCLA grad student, and part-time music teacher who had occasionally crossed paths with the Manson Family. Journalist and author Ivor Davis tells filmmakers that Hinman also had a side job cooking and selling drugs to make ends meet. 

The understanding of the motive behind Hinman’s killing has shifted a bit over the decades. It was initially believed that Manson sent Family members Susan Atkins, Bobby Beausoleil, and Mary Brunner to Hinman’s home to convince him to join the Family, because Manson thought Hinman had inherited about $21,000. (Hinman told the Family that he did not actually have any money.)

Manson, however, told Jones in his tapes that Hinman was killed over a drug deal gone bad. “The Straight Satans wanted mescaline, and Bobby said, ‘I know a friend of mine, Gary Hinman, who sells mescaline. I can get you guys a good deal.’ The Straight Satans said, ‘Hey, this stuff’s no good. We want our money back.’ And Bobby’s like, ‘I can’t. And they’re like, you get us our money back or we’re gonna hurt you.’”

Beausoleil, Brunner, and Atkins ultimately held Hinman captive in his home for two days before Beausoleil stabbed him to death out of fear that he would call the police. Manson also showed up and sliced open Hinman’s ear and cheek with a knife. In an attempt to cover his tracks, Beausoleil wrote “Political Piggy” and drew a panther paw on a wall in blood to make it look like the Black Panthers had committed the crime. Beausoleil was arrested on Aug. 6, 1969, after he was found sleeping in Hinman's car. There was a bloody knife in the car’s trunk.

In interviews, former Manson friends characterize what happened to Crowe and Hinman as more of a series of bad decisions, as opposed to planned attacks. "We never intended to be violent in any way, shape or form," Share tells filmmakers. "Charlie was pretty sure that if he didn't watch out, he was gonna go back to prison.”

Share also theorizes: "Charlie reverted back to his gangster, convict self. I think he had some kind of [psychotic] break and reverted to this mode where he had to do something to get Bobby out of prison."

"You know, godfather never gets involved in no killing," Manson says on tape. "I got no blood on my motherf-cking hands, man. I didn't kill nobody." 

What happened to Sharon Tate and the LaBiancas?

On tape, Manson says Watson "owed" him for getting involved in the Crowe situation. Meanwhile, Manson says he "owed" Beausoleil for preventing Hinman from going to the police. “So I just say, 'Hey, pay the brother what you owe me.' I told Tex, 'Get your brother out of jail.'” 

Using “convict’s code,” Manson persuaded Watson and a few other members of the Family to do a copycat murder at the home of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, who had gotten married the year before. Then, they should commit another murder at random to look like the Tate murder. “They were going to do whatever it took to free a brother with this insane copycat theory,” says journalist Linda Deutsch to filmmakers. 

On Aug. 8, 1969, Watson took Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian to 10050 Cielo Drive—a house he and Manson were already familiar with because they’d been to parties hosted by its former tenant, Terry Melcher. Polanski was out of town, but Tate was at home with friends Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Frykowski's girlfriend Abigail Anne Folger. Also on the property were caretaker William Garretson and his friend Steven Earl Parent. All six adults were killed; Tate was eight and a half months pregnant. The trial included Tate’s unborn child as the seventh murder victim.

The next night, those four Family members plus Manson, Leslie Van Houten, and Clem Grogan drove to Los Feliz in Los Angeles and stopped at 3301 Waverly Drive, where Leno LaBianca lived with his wife, Rosemary. The house was next door to one that had been rented by UCLA graduate student Harold True, and Manson and some Family members had attended a party there the previous year. 

In his tapes, Manson claims he walked into 3301 Waverly but left when he realized the LaBiancas were home. "I wasn't a burglar, I wasn't causing no trouble. And I backed on out and apologized. And I left,” he says on tape before indicating that Watson chose to stay. “Tex was there, he decided to do what he was doing... Tex was looking for someone to offer up to get a brother out of prison. It didn’t have a f-cking thing to do with what I was doing.” Ultimately, Krenwinkel, Van Houten, and Watson stabbed Rosemary LaBianca 42 times. Watson also stabbed Leno a total of 12 times and carved the word "WAR" into his abdomen.

“Of course, the principal motive for these murders, the main motive, was Helter Skelter, Manson's fanatical obsession, his mania with Helter Skelter,” lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi later theorized in his final statement to the jury. “Helter Skelter was Charlie's religion, a religion that he lived by. To Manson, Helter Skelter was the Black man rising up against the white man, and then the Black-white war.” 

Read more: The 33 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2024

What happened to Charles Manson?

In October 1969, the police raided the Manson Family's new location, Barker Ranch, and arrested its residents on auto theft charges. While in questioning, one member of the group implicated Susan Atkins in the Hinman murder. Later, while in jail, Atkins bragged to her fellow inmates that she'd participated in the Tate-LaBianca murders, which would connect Manson to the crime. 

After a media-packed trial, Manson went back to prison in 1971 after being convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. He was originally sentenced to the death penalty, which was overturned the following year when the California Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. Manson was re-sentenced in 1977 to life with the possibility of parole. He was denied parole 12 times before his death in 2017 at 83.

What new information do the Manson tapes reveal?

Making Manson attempts to debunk certain infamous theories surrounding the Tate-LaBianca murders, such as “inciting Helter Skelter.” The docuseries also serves up the claim that its namesake had no prior knowledge of the murders themselves. “I’m not saying Manson was an innocent guy,” Jones tells filmmakers. “But Manson was innocent in the sense that he did not order these crimes.”

"I'm not pretending to be good,” Manson says on tape. “They thought that's what I wanted him to do. I didn't tell him to do it, because I know better,” he says of Watson. “I know it was a conspiracy if I'd said something. But I didn't say nothing. I didn't have nothing to do with killing those people... I thought there was a brotherhood, I stood up for the brotherhood all my life. And when I stood up to the brother with Tex, and Tex went off and did what he did, they blamed me for that. I didn't tell Tex anything that a marine drill sergeant wouldn't tell him.

“I don’t go to war with innocent people. I don't murder people in their beds,” Manson continues, speaking to Jones on tape. "I did other things, but I'm just not guilty of this thing.”

Meanwhile, Watson has always claimed that Manson ordered the murders. In a statement to filmmakers, he says: "My story since the beginning remains the same." Watson remains in prison; his next parole hearing will be in January 2026.

In addition to claiming that he never explicitly ordered the Tate-LaBianca murders, in his tapes Manson theorizes that many outside factors such as the trial’s media coverage and a “hippie cult leader” narrative painted by lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi are to blame for his conviction and cultural infamy. For instance, Manson claims he wasn’t permitted to shave while in jail, so the public would have to see him with an intimidating-looking beard.

Despite Manson’s posthumous protests that he was not guilty of murder or conspiracy to commit murder, former members of the Family, including Share, tell filmmakers they were threatened and intimidated into staying at the ranch while Manson was on trial. 

"Charlie threatened me when he was in jail,” Share tells filmmakers. “We went to visit him, then he turned to Clem and he said, 'if Gypsy [Share’s nickname] tries to leave, I want you to tie her to a car and drag her back to the ranch very slowly. Don't kill her, but make her wish she was dead.'"

With so many conflicting accounts, including Manson’s, the motives behind the Tate-LaBianca murders remain murky, even as Making Manson attempts to clear them up. One thing appears certain, however: that Manson was a masterful “chameleon,” as many in the docuseries describe him, whose talents lay in getting anyone who crossed his path to do his bidding. 

"He's still lying through his teeth,” Share says about whether to take Manson at his word regarding malice or forethought in the Tate-LaBianca murders.

Concludes forensic psychologist Dr. Tod Roy: "Anybody who came in contact with him ended up hurt or dead.”