Charles Manson has spent a good many years in prison, avoiding a death sentence only because the state of California changed their laws in the ’70s regarding capital punishment. He was initially arrested and sentenced for the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in her home along with a group of his “followers”.
It comes as no surprise that Manson hasn’t become a model citizen in the subsequent 50-odd years; authorities at the prison where he is currently incarcerated say he’s been denied parole eleven times before and committed various infractions, one of which got him back in the news last year–possession of a cell phone, on which he’d made calls to several states.
Manson, now 77, is about to be given another chance at parole, but the odds are pretty slim that it will be granted given his behavior over the past fifteen years, which is the amount of time that’s passed since his last hearing.
Updated photos have been released of Manson which show him looking considerably changed from the last mug shot. The most recognizable thing about him–aside from that wild-eyed stare–is the swastika tattoo on his forehead. The photos can be viewed here.
Here are a series of clips from some of his parole hearings:
There are still people who believe that Manson had nothing to do with the killings and numerous sites are devoted to him.