Manson Family Rogue's Gallery - Then and Now, Manson Book, Five To Die

Even convicted killers age. In the case of Charles Manson and his devotees the change has been dramatic particularly for those who first saw them in court, on television and in newspapers and magazines 40 years ago. The years wreak havoc, and in the case of the Manson gang we now see a group of barely recognizable people.
		The cunning Charlie of old looks totally different from those early photos that made him look like a cross between Rasputin and Ivan the Terrible. His hair is nearly all gone and what remains are his staring brown eyes: He’s just an old guy with a swastika scar still visible on his forehead.

		Charles “Tex” Watson, trim, with a silver moustache who paints pictures of cuddly puppy dogs in his cell, poses in front of a Star Spangled banner looking for all the world like your favorite high school coach.

		The women have aged even worse. Could that middle-aged, soft-voiced woman, who says her name is Susan Atkins really be the same “Sadie” who confessed to stabbing the very pregnant Sharon Tate 16 times? Can this really be the witchy young woman with the jet-black hair and forced smile who sang as she marched into the courtroom and seemed to relish the trial publicity like a pig in mud? Susan Atkins dies in prison September 24, 2009 Susan Atkins was denied parole on September 2, 2009.

		And as for Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, they look like a couple of stalwart ladies who might be on the board of your local music festival.


		Robert Beausoleil, convicted for the murder of musician Gary Hinman, has a neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard, even a sun tan. He could be mistaken for a college professor.

		Lynn “Squeaky” Fromme, jailed for trying to kill President Gerald Ford, has also not aged well. The button-nosed, one-time redhead, with pale freckled skin, is now wrinkled and creased, looking much older than she is. Squeaky was paroled August 14, 2009 from the Federal Medical Center at Carswell, Texas.

Young people perusing this, then and now “rogue’s gallery” may have a hard time realizing that the public enemies of 1969 now look a lot like their parents!