The mystery of Charles Manson’s motive in notorious cult killings is getting a fresh look as an FBI criminal profiler reveals a “perfect storm” of factors came together for the infamous murders.
Countless theories about how Manson managed to convince a group of young adults to kill for him have been dissected, but director Errol Morris is offering a new perspective into the mind of the notorious cult leader in his Netflix documentary “CHAOS: The Manson Murders.”
Based on the 2019 book “CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties,” authored by Tom O’Neill and Dan Piepenbring, the documentary delves into the theory Manson may have been influenced by an external force when directing his followers.
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Charles Manson at California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif., in August 1980. (Albert Foster/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
“I’ve found myself trapped in a number of different true-crime stories, and the Manson murders are peculiar,” Morris told Netflix’s Tudum. “You could encapsulate the mystery in just one question: How is it that Manson managed to convince the people around him that killing was OK?”
Netflix and Morris did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Morris explores the widely circulated theory suggesting Manson may have been operating under the influence of the CIA’s controversial MK-ULTRA program, leaning into the cultural interest surrounding mind control, a widespread fascination throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
However, experts have expressed skepticism about the idea that Manson was acting under government control.
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Charles Manson is brought into the Los Angeles city jail under suspicion of having masterminded the Tate-LaBianca murders of August 1969. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
“[Manson] was influenced by what he wanted to do,” former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole told Fox News Digital. “He was influenced by the fact that he wanted to become a very well-known musician at the time, which is why he made friends with the influential people that he did. But was there this outside force that compelled him to do that? I don’t believe that there was. There was still his personality that was distinct to him [and] was not created by an outside force.”
The CIA has also discredited the theory, first explored by O’Neill, in recent years.
“The author cannot definitively tie Manson to MK-ULTRA or CHAOS; he can only imply it on circumstantial evidence,” the CIA said in a review of O’Neill’s book.
O’Neill did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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(L-R) Susan Denise Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten laugh after receiving the death sentence for their part in the Tate-LaBianca killings at the orders of Charles Manson. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
In 1969, the Manson family carried out the brutal murders of seven people under his watchful eye. Pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Jay Sebring, Steven Parent, Abigail Folger and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were massacred by the family in a string of killings.
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The group carried out five of its murders inside Tate’s home Aug. 9, 1969. One day later, the final victims of the Manson family, the LaBiancas, were fatally stabbed inside their home.
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“[Manson] met up with a lot of his later-to-be followers in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, which, at that time in the ’60s, was known for being a gathering place for people in very formative years,” O’Toole told Fox News Digital.
“There was the use of drugs and alcohol, and people came together without a lot of external oversight by a parent or a caregiver, so they were very vulnerable at that point. [Then], here comes Charlie Manson, with his personality and his ability to get people — especially young people — to follow him, and that’s what I’m talking about in regard to the perfect storm.”
A sign at the Spahn Movie Ranch, owned by American rancher George Spahn and the residence of the Manson Family in Los Angeles County, Aug. 28, 1970. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
After the killings, Manson and his “family” moved to Spahn Ranch, located approximately 30 miles north of Los Angeles, where he subjected his followers to outlandish lectures while providing them with drugs and overseeing orgies.
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Authorities arrested Manson three months later as details of the killings rattled Los Angeles and investigators delved into theories about the murders.
During the trial, prosecutors argued Manson was using his status with his all-white followers in an attempt to ignite a race war, citing his supposed misinterpretation of the Beatles’ 1968 song, “Helter Skelter.” Manson never actually carried out the murders himself, relying entirely on his followers to kill for him.
Charles Manson, who led a cult that committed murders in Los Angeles in the 1960s, is clean-shaven in a close-up photo. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
“[Manson] really was someone that knew right from wrong,” O’Toole said. “He knew the repercussions and the end results of his actions. He took no responsibility for his actions or the actions of his group, and he was very deliberate in his thinking.”
In 1971, Manson and three followers — Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel — were convicted for their roles in the murders and subsequently sentenced to death. A fourth “family” member, Charles “Tex” Watson, was convicted several months later.
The four defendants were resentenced to life in prison after a 1972 ruling from the California Supreme Court abolishing the state’s death penalty.
Charles Manson is shown in the custody of Los Angeles police officers. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
Manson was 83 years old when he died of natural causes Nov. 19, 2017.
In 2023, Van Houten walked free after serving more than 50 years in a California prison for the killings of the LaBiancas, making her the only member of the Manson family to be released from prison.
While Manson never actually carried out the murders he was imprisoned for, Peacock’s 2024 “Making Manson” documentary revealed he may have committed more killings himself.
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Charles Manson travels in a police van to the Santa Monica Courthouse to appear in court for a hearing in the murder of music teacher Gary Hinman in Los Angeles June 25, 1970. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
In a teaser clip, Manson can be heard confessing to additional crimes while on a jailhouse phone call.
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“There’s a whole part of my life that nobody knows about,” Manson can be heard saying. “I lived in Mexico for a while. I went to Acapulco, stole some cars.”
Manson goes on to reveal more details about the supposed murders.
“I just got involved in some stuff over my head, man,” he added. “Got involved in a couple of killings. I left my .357 Magnum in Mexico City, and I left some dead people on the beach.”
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“I would never draw the line and say Charlie Manson could manipulate people to do his bidding, but he himself would never do it,” O’Toole said. “I would never draw that line. You can’t simply say that because Charlie hurting other people was part of his repertoire. So, whether he had somebody else do it or he did it himself is certainly something that has to be explored.”
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Papa and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
