Charles Manson was born on November 12, 1934. Above, Manson is pictured at age 14. He committed many petty crimes, including theft, in his youth and was sent away to prison for the first time in 1951.
This photo was taken three days before he ran away from Boy's Town, a juvenile facility he was sent to after he was caught stealing from stores in 1949.
In December 1969, Charles Manson is escorted by public defender Fred Schaefer as they attend preliminary hearings in the trial for the infamous murders of Sharon Tate and others.
Photo:
Vernon Merritt III/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
On June 25, 1970, Manson sneers while traveling on a police van to the Santa Monica Courthouse to appear in court for a hearing regarding the murder of music teacher Gary Hinman.
Manson would end up in a Los Angeles court room yet again, this time for the infamous Sharon Tate murder case. Here he walks into the court room where he acted as his own attorney. Manson was charged with seven counts of murder and one of conspiracy.
Manson didn't always sport his memorable long locks and a beard, though: While on trial in connection with the Tate-LaBianca murders here, he did appear in court clean-shaven and with a haircut on November 10, 1970.
Manson ended up getting a different distinctive feature for court: an X carved into his forehead to represent him "x"-ing himself away from the world. He later changed it to a swastika. Many of his followers followed suit during the trial.
Manson pictured at California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, August 1980. Manson had been sentenced to death in 1971 after being found guilty of seven counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, but in 1972, the death penalty was briefly ruled unconstitutional in California. Manson was re-sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Manson, pictured at California Medical Facility in August 1980. In 1981, Manson would give his first media interview from the facility to NBC's The Tomorrow Show .
Manson playing the piano inside the chapel at the California Medical Facility, Vacaville, US, circa 1984. State correction officials said he committed more than 100 rule violations since he was put behind bars in 1971, according to the Los Angeles Times. These offenses included hiding cell phones and hacksaw in his cell.
Manson pictured on August 14, 2017. He spent the remainder of his life in prison. He would die later that year, on November 19 from cardiac arrest resulting from respiratory failure and colon cancer. He was 83.
