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Charles Manson, one of the most infamous1 killers2 in U.S. history, died Sunday at the age of 83. He had spent the last 45 years in prison.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation3 said Manson died of natural causes at a hospital in Kern County.
Manson led a small cult4 group and persuaded his followers5 to carry out murders of powerful people in the Los Angeles area in 1969. Manson and six of his followers were sent to prison in 1971. Three additional followers were later jailed for crimes linked to Manson.
Manson's most well-known victim was the American actor Sharon Tate. She was 26 years old and eight and a half months pregnant when the Manson group stabbed her to death at her home. Her husband, film director Roman Polanski, was not home at the time.
Also killed at their house that night were three of Tate's friends as well as a friend of the caretaker of the house. The attack included stabbing, shooting, and hanging. The murderers also wrote the word "pig" in blood on the front door.
The following night, six members of the Manson gang broke into the home of a wealthy supermarket official. They killed the official, Leno LaBianca, and his wife, Rosemary. The murders there were equally vicious and included messages written in the victims’ blood.
Investigators6 did not connect the two sets of murders until weeks later.
Manson was born to a single mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1934. He never knew the identity of his father. His mother was severely7 neglectful.
Manson spent most of his life in detention8. He started in his teenage years with sentences for armed robbery and other crimes.
As an adult, Manson was usually unemployed9 and only partly literate10. In the mid-1960s he became the leader of a small cult known as the Manson Family, whom he led to commit the murders of August 1969.
Manson claimed to be influenced by the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter." He said he believed the song was about a race war. He said he ordered the murders to cause that race war to start. The Manson family believed blacks would defeat whites in such a war but fail to lead themselves after. The family believed that the victors would ask Charles Manson to lead them.
Law enforcement officials used fingerprints11 to identify the Manson group members as the attackers. Manson and his followers went to trial the following year. When he was not permitted to serve as his own lawyer Manson carved an “X” on his face in protest. His followers did the same soon after.
Manson later changed the "X" on his face to a swastika, the symbol of the Nazi12 Party of Germany.
Manson and his followers were found guilty and sentenced to death in 1971. However, the state of California banned punishment of death the following year.
Most of the Manson family members have remained behind bars through many parole hearings. Manson himself had been denied parole 12 times.
Manson's death leaves five members of the Manson Family still in prison: Robert Beausoleil, Bruce Davis, Charles "Tex" Watson, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel. All are serving life sentences and are in their 60s and 70s. A sixth member, Susan Atkins, died in prison of brain cancer in 2009.
At least three other Manson group members have been paroled after serving time for crimes linked to Manson.
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was paroled in 2009 after serving 33 years for a murder attempt against American President Gerald Ford13.
Sandra Good was paroled in 1985 after serving nine years for sending threatening letters to more than 150 corporate14 executives. And Steve Grogan, convicted for helping15 Manson and Davis kill a ranch16 hand in 1969, also was paroled in 1985. He drew a map that helped investigators find the body of the victim, eight years after the murder.
I'm Caty Weaver17. And I'm Bryan Lynn.
Words in This Story
cult - n. a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous?
gang - n. a group of criminals?
neglectful - adj. not giving enough care or attention to someone or something
literate - adj. able to read and write?
symbol - n. a letter, group of letters, character, or picture that is used instead of a word or group of words?
ranch hand - n. a temporary worker on a farm
1 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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2 killers | |
凶手( killer的名词复数 ); 消灭…者; 致命物; 极难的事 | |
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3 rehabilitation | |
n.康复,悔过自新,修复,复兴,复职,复位 | |
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4 cult | |
n.异教,邪教;时尚,狂热的崇拜 | |
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5 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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6 investigators | |
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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7 severely | |
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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8 detention | |
n.滞留,停留;拘留,扣留;(教育)留下 | |
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9 unemployed | |
adj.失业的,没有工作的;未动用的,闲置的 | |
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10 literate | |
n.学者;adj.精通文学的,受过教育的 | |
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11 fingerprints | |
n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12 Nazi | |
n.纳粹分子,adj.纳粹党的,纳粹的 | |
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13 Ford | |
n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过 | |
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14 corporate | |
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的 | |
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15 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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16 ranch | |
n.大牧场,大农场 | |
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17 weaver | |
n.织布工;编织者 | |
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