Social media
is abuzz with news stories about Charles Manson being granted parole. Don’t get up to lock your doors just yet, none
of them come from reputable news sources. The story originated from
Empire News, a satirical site that just went live in May.
The story
said Manson, now 79, had been granted parole by the California Parole Board and that
it had been authorized by Governor Jerry Beck.
The article stated that due to overcrowding the parole board was forced
to reevaluate the cases of prisoners who were elderly or severely ill. Hoping
to add credibility to the story, a supposed Manson fanatic said to be camping
outside Corcoran State Prison was quoted as saying, “It’s a great [expletive]
day in America!”
A disclaimer
can be found on the Empire site’s sports section that states, “Empire Sports is a satirical
and entertainment website. Empire Sports uses invented names in all its
stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized.” The article’s author, Aaron Smith, claims to
have graduated from Harvard in 1642, was cryogenically frozen, and brought back
to life in 1981. The fake article got
tens of thousands of shares and likes on Facebook this week.
Manson's last parole hearing was in 2012, when he was denied release again, marking the 12th time. He won't be eligible again until 2027, when he will be 92 years old.
In 1970
Manson and four of his followers were found guilty of murdering actress Sharon
Tate and three others in her home on August 9, 1969. They killed Leo and Rosemary LaBianca the
next night. All were sentenced to death,
but California briefly done away with the death penalty in 1972 and their
sentences were commuted to life in prison.
A string of other murders have been linked to Manson, who convinced many
of his ‘family members’ living at Spahn Ranch that he was Jesus Christ. Manson has spent the last 45 years in prison,
having spent less than 20 years of his life as a free man.
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| Manson girls outside the courthouse, 1969 |
Manson
associate Bruce Davis, convicted of the killings of musician Gary Hinman and
stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea in 1969, was granted parole in May but
hasn’t been released yet. There is a
120-day review period during which the governor can nullify or modify the
decision. Davis has previously been
granted parole twice, in 2010 and 2012, only to have Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger
and then Brown reverse the decision.
Family member
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, sentenced to life in prison for the attempted
assassination of President Gerald Ford in 1975, was granted parole in 2009 after
serving 34 years. Steve “Clem” Grogan
became the first family member convicted of murder to be released from prison
in 1985. He rode with other family
members the night of the LaBianca murder, but after dropping the killers off,
continued on to Venice Beach with Manson, Susan Atkins, and Linda Kasabian to
kill Saladin Nader, but Kasabian took them to the wrong apartment. Clem later helped Manson, Tex Watson, and
Davis kill Shorty Shea.
Manson made headlines last
year when an article in Rolling Stone reported he was to marry his 25 year-old
girlfriend he renamed Star. She had
never heard of Charlie when a friend gave her a paper with some of Manson’s
environmental views on it. She saved up $2,000 and moved from her home in
Missouri to Corcoran. She now runs
several web pages for Manson and visits him every Saturday and Sunday, for up
to five hours. They are allowed to kiss
at the beginning and end of each visit. "I'll
tell you straight up, Charlie and I are going to get married," Star told
Rolling Stone. "I take it very
seriously. Charlie is my husband. Charlie told me to tell you this." However Charlie told the reporter, “That’s a
bunch of garbage…We’re just playing it up for public consumption.”
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| Manson and Star |
Star used to be accompanied on visits by a friend known as Gray Wolf, a Manson believer from the Spahn Ranch days. Gray Wolf was arrested last
year and imprisoned himself for attempting to smuggle a cell phone in to
Manson, who has previously been caught twice with a phone.
Related Links:
Rolling Stone article "Is Charles Manson Getting Married?"
Manson crime scene photos (very graphic)
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