Passion, greed, insanity ...

There are many reasons that crimes are committed, and while most crimes are quickly forgotten, except by the people directly involved, some are still remembered and talked about decades later.

In "The Most Notorious Crimes in American History," Life magazine rounds up some of the most mysterious, gruesome, and shocking crimes in American history.

Business Insider rounded up 13 of the most notorious crimes highlighted in the book.

SEE ALSO: Happy Friday the 13th — here are some of the creepiest places on earth

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln — April 14, 1865

Fresh off his second inauguration and the salvation of the Union, Lincoln went to see the popular comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.

One of the most notorious assassinations in American history took place there, as the actor turned Confederate radical John Wilkes Booth sneaked up behind the president, drew a pistol, and fired a single shot at the back of Lincoln's head. Lincoln died the next morning.

Booth, who had previously performed in Ford's theater, knew the scene of the crime well. He had also been stalking Lincoln for some time. He held a fanatically pro-slavery position and desperately wanted to see the South freed from the rule of Lincoln.

It is rumored that Booth belonged to the clandestine Knights of the Golden Circle, whose members were fierce opponents of the Union. At one point he planned to kidnap the president in exchange for thousands of Confederate soldiers, but he was foiled by a last-minute itinerary change.

On March 4, 1865, at Lincoln's second inauguration, Booth stood on a balcony behind the president. The Civil War ended a month later, and days later Booth killed one of the greatest US presidents of all time.

Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"

Sacco and Vanzetti — April 15, 1920

"Long live anarchy." Those were the last words spoken by Nicola Sacco before he was electrocuted on August 23, 1927.

Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two anarchist Italian immigrants who were found guilty of killing a paymaster and a guard of a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts, in April 1920 and of stealing $16,000 in payroll money.

The two were brought together by their support of anarchist Luigi Galleani's militant activities and fled to Mexico in 1917 to avoid being drafted to fight in World War I. Their trial received worldwide attention.

Both were arrested in connection to the shoe factory robbery even though they had never been convicted of a crime before, and they were found guilty by a jury despite "contradictions in eyewitness testimonies and questionable ballistics evidence."

The trial was largely perceived as being unfair and sparked protests that eventually forced the Massachusetts governor to order an investigatory commission, which agreed with the jury.

The countless books and legal reviews written on the trial have now mostly confirmed Sacco's guilt, but Vanzetti's remains questioned.

Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"

The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre — February 14, 1929

Prohibition was a windfall for organized crime in America, and for gangsters Alphonse "Scarface Al" Capone and George "Bugs" Moran in particular. 

The two gangsters' rivalry led to one of the best-known incidents of organized crime in the US, which led to the killing of six mobsters and one other person on Valentine's Day in 1929. 

One of Capone's top men, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, was sure Moran had tried to kill him twice before he decided to stage a setup designed to kill Moran and some of his men.

He lured Moran into a garage at 2122 North Clark Street in Chicago by pretending there was an opportunity to buy cheap whiskey from a bootlegger. Moran went for it, though he was not one of the seven men killed that day. He was either late or saw the police car in front of the house and hid, according to varying accounts. 

The police car Moran might have seen was a fake one. This was part of McGurn's plot. Four people entered the garage, two men wearing police uniforms and two men dressed in plain clothes.

The plan was to make it look like a regular raid against bootlegging, and the plan worked perfectly. The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, as it would come to be known, also marked a turning point for the fight against gangs in Chicago.

At the time, William Russell, the police commissioner of the city, said, "We're going to make this the knell of gangdom in Chicago."

Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"

Passion, greed, insanity ...

There are many reasons that crimes are committed, and while most crimes are quickly forgotten, except by the people directly involved, some are still remembered and talked about decades later.

In "The Most Notorious Crimes in American History," Life magazine rounds up some of the most mysterious, gruesome, and shocking crimes in American history.

Business Insider rounded up 13 of the most notorious crimes highlighted in the book.

SEE ALSO: Happy Friday the 13th — here are some of the creepiest places on earth

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln — April 14, 1865

Fresh off his second inauguration and the salvation of the Union, Lincoln went to see the popular comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.

One of the most notorious assassinations in American history took place there, as the actor turned Confederate radical John Wilkes Booth sneaked up behind the president, drew a pistol, and fired a single shot at the back of Lincoln's head. Lincoln died the next morning.

Booth, who had previously performed in Ford's theater, knew the scene of the crime well. He had also been stalking Lincoln for some time. He held a fanatically pro-slavery position and desperately wanted to see the South freed from the rule of Lincoln.

It is rumored that Booth belonged to the clandestine Knights of the Golden Circle, whose members were fierce opponents of the Union. At one point he planned to kidnap the president in exchange for thousands of Confederate soldiers, but he was foiled by a last-minute itinerary change.

On March 4, 1865, at Lincoln's second inauguration, Booth stood on a balcony behind the president. The Civil War ended a month later, and days later Booth killed one of the greatest US presidents of all time.

Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"

Sacco and Vanzetti — April 15, 1920

"Long live anarchy." Those were the last words spoken by Nicola Sacco before he was electrocuted on August 23, 1927.

Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two anarchist Italian immigrants who were found guilty of killing a paymaster and a guard of a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts, in April 1920 and of stealing $16,000 in payroll money.

The two were brought together by their support of anarchist Luigi Galleani's militant activities and fled to Mexico in 1917 to avoid being drafted to fight in World War I. Their trial received worldwide attention.

Both were arrested in connection to the shoe factory robbery even though they had never been convicted of a crime before, and they were found guilty by a jury despite "contradictions in eyewitness testimonies and questionable ballistics evidence."

The trial was largely perceived as being unfair and sparked protests that eventually forced the Massachusetts governor to order an investigatory commission, which agreed with the jury.

The countless books and legal reviews written on the trial have now mostly confirmed Sacco's guilt, but Vanzetti's remains questioned.

Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"

The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre — February 14, 1929

Prohibition was a windfall for organized crime in America, and for gangsters Alphonse "Scarface Al" Capone and George "Bugs" Moran in particular. 

The two gangsters' rivalry led to one of the best-known incidents of organized crime in the US, which led to the killing of six mobsters and one other person on Valentine's Day in 1929. 

One of Capone's top men, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, was sure Moran had tried to kill him twice before he decided to stage a setup designed to kill Moran and some of his men.

He lured Moran into a garage at 2122 North Clark Street in Chicago by pretending there was an opportunity to buy cheap whiskey from a bootlegger. Moran went for it, though he was not one of the seven men killed that day. He was either late or saw the police car in front of the house and hid, according to varying accounts. 

The police car Moran might have seen was a fake one. This was part of McGurn's plot. Four people entered the garage, two men wearing police uniforms and two men dressed in plain clothes.

The plan was to make it look like a regular raid against bootlegging, and the plan worked perfectly. The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, as it would come to be known, also marked a turning point for the fight against gangs in Chicago.

At the time, William Russell, the police commissioner of the city, said, "We're going to make this the knell of gangdom in Chicago."

Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"

Quentin Tarantino is developing a movie about the Manson murders, and he's already got an A-list cast in mind.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will focus on the murder of Sharon Tate by Charles Manson's followers. Tarantino is putting finishing touches on the script, and it is set to film in the summer of 2018. 

In the late 1960s in California, Charles Manson led a quasi-commune and ordered members to commit murder, the most notable being the murder of actress and model Sharon Tate in her home in 1969. Tate was married to director Roman Polanski. Manson and certain members of his "Family" were found guilty in 1971, and he's still alive and in prison today. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the untitled project is in the early stages of development, and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence have been approached. Deadline reports that Tarantino has also already approached "Suicide Squad" star Margot Robbie to take on the role of Sharon Tate. 

SEE ALSO: Christopher Nolan explains the biggest challenges in making his latest movie 'Dunkirk' into an 'intimate epic'

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prison officials say it's "undetermined" what will happen with the remains of cult leader Charles Manson.

Manson died Sunday night after nearly a half-century behind bars. He was 83.

Vicky Waters, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Corrections, says there will be an autopsy even though "obviously it's natural causes."

Prison officials previously said he had no known next of kin. State law says that if no relative or legal representative surfaces within 10 days, it's up to the department to determine what happens with the body.

It's unclear if Manson requested services of any sort.

Manson's followers killed actress Sharon Tate and six others in 1969. The killings occurred on successive August nights and terrorized the city of Los Angeles.

SEE ALSO: Mass murderer Charles Manson dead at 83

Join the conversation about this story »

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• The cult leader and notorious murderer Charles Manson has died at 83.
• A statement released by the California prison holding Manson said he died of natural causes.
• Manson had been imprisoned for more than 45 years and was behind some of the most brutal murders in US history.

Charles Manson, the cult leader who was one of the United States' most notorious killers, died Sunday night from natural causes.

A statement released by the California State Prison in Corcoran said the 83-year-old Manson was pronounced dead at 8:13 p.m. PST at a Kern County hospital.

Manson had been serving nine life sentences for nine murders, including the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Manson was hospitalized last week. His condition was unclear at the time, and a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation representative declined to comment.

Manson was also taken to a hospital in January and was described as "seriously ill" at the time.

Manson had been imprisoned for more than 45 years

Starting in the late 1960s, Manson began reinventing himself as a spiritual guru after his third prison stint. He attracted followers and began a cult in California that was later dubbed the "Manson Family."

The group gained national notoriety in 1969 when Manson directed his mostly young, female followers to murder seven people.

One of the victims, the actress Sharon Tate, was the pregnant wife of the filmmaker Roman Polanski and was stabbed in her home 16 times by cult members. Four others were killed in that house, and another couple, the LaBiancas, were killed the next evening.

Prosecutors said the Tate-LaBianca murders were part of a plan to incite a race war. Manson's trial lasted seven months.

Though the courts found that Manson never personally killed someone, the prosecution succeeded in securing murder convictions for Manson because of his role in directing the killings.

On December 13, 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder for the deaths of the Buddhist musician Gary Hinman and the Hollywood stuntman Donald Shea, both in 1969.

Manson was originally sentenced to death, but in 1972, a case in the Superior Court of California in the County of Los Angeles set aside the death penalty. The decision caused all capital sentences in California, including Manson's, to be commuted to life in prison.

Manson was denied parole 12 times from 1978 to 2012.

He had been held in the Protective Housing Unit at the Corcoran prison since 1989. Manson would have next been eligible for parole in 2027.

Authorities say it's "undetermined" what will happen to his remains.

SEE ALSO: Nobody knows what to do with Charles Manson's remains just yet

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When cult leader Charles Manson and his "family" carried out their infamous nine-person killing spree in 1969 Los Angeles, the events sent shockwaves across America.

Born from the the hippie scene of late-60s California, Manson's murders landed him a life sentence in prison. That sentence ended on Sunday, when the cult leader died at age 83 at a hospital in Bakersfield, California.

Here's a rundown of his turbulent life, his violent crimes, and the aftermath of the Manson Family murders:

SEE ALSO: Cult leader and serial killer Charles Manson dead at 83

DON'T MISS: Nobody knows what to do with Charles Manson's remains just yet

Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1934 to a 16-year-old mother who was an alcoholic with a criminal record. He lived a troubled childhood growing up in various boys' schools, and likely never knew his biological father.

Manson bounced around from boarding schools to foster homes starting when he was five years old, soon after his mother was convicted of armed robbery and given a five-year prison sentence.

Sources: Biography, The Guardian

Manson displayed violent and manipulative tendencies even when he was very young. He was known to manipulate his classmates in the first grade into hurting kids he didn't like. As a problem child in the foster care system, he soon fell into a life of petty crime, and starting in 1956, spent years in federal prison for a variety of offenses, including forging government checks.

Manson did his first stint in prison in 1951, and was in and out of jail throughout the '50s and '60s.

A probation report from this period says Manson displayed a "marked degree of rejection, instability and psychic trauma", and was "constantly striving for status and securing some kind of love." Such symptoms were likely the result his largely parent-less and tumultuous childhood.

His crimes during this period largely included stealing cars, pimping young prostitutes, and forgery.

Sources: Biography, The Guardian

After his release from prison in 1967, Manson initially arrived in California to pursue music, and became influenced by LSD, hippie culture, and The Beatles.

Having learned to play guitar in prison, Manson arrived in Los Angeles with hopes of securing a recording contract through some of the big names in the industry at the time.

While he did his best to wow artists like Neil Young and The Mamas and Papas, his idiosyncratic folk music failed to generate enthusiasm until he was introduced to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who saw talent in Manson's playing.

Wilson allowed Manson and several of "his girls"— who had by now begun coalescing around him because they believed he was a guru with prophetic powers — to stay with him at his mansion in June 1968.

Wilson eventually kicked them out after they began causing trouble, but Manson later accused the Beach Boys of reworking one of his songs and including it on their 1969 album "20/20" without crediting him.

Sources: BBC, People

• Charles Manson and his "family" cult formed a strange and brief relationship with The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson during the summer of 1968.
• The Manson "family" moved into Wilson's home that summer, where they all dropped acid and participated in group sex. 
• The Beach Boys even ended up recording a version of one of Manson's songs.
• A year later, Manson would have his cult commit seven brutal murders. 

In the summer of 1968, a year before Charles Manson orchestrated seven brutal murders, he insinuated himself into a strange relationship with an unlikely source: The Beach Boys.

Manson, who died in prison on Sunday at the age of 83, met the band's drummer, Dennis Wilson, after Wilson picked up and drove home two female hitchhikers who happened to be living in Manson's cult, known as his "family."

Dianne Lake, a member of the "family" who wasn't involved in the murders, described in a recent memoir how Manson's ability to "captivate" Wilson, a famous musician, went on to "validate more and more" Manson's status as the leader of their cult.

"Dennis and Charlie hit it off right away, which is not surprising, given Charlie’s skills at ingratiating himself with strangers," Lake wrote. "Dennis, in no rush to leave, hung out for a while, smoked some pot with Charlie, and listened a bit to Charlie's songs."

As The Washington Post notes, days after their first meeting, Manson and the "family" moved into Wilson's home, where they all dropped acid and participated in group sex, before gonorrhea began to spread through the collective.

According to Dianne Lake, Wilson provided for the group and even drove them all to see a doctor after the gonorrhea hit. 

The Manson-Wilson relationship came to an abrupt end as the summer of 1968 came to a close. 

When Wilson took Manson, an aspiring musician, to record at his studio, Manson had a disagreement with Wilson's producers and ended up pulling a knife on them. 

The "family" subsequently moved out of Wilson's house, but according to Lake, Manson and Wilson would occasionally still see each other in the year before Manson was arrested for his cult's infamous murders. 

In September 1968, The Beach Boys even recorded a slightly altered version of Manson's song "Cease to Exist," which they renamed "Never Learn Not to Love." Wilson was the sole songwriting credit on the track.

"As long as I live, I'll never talk about that," Wilson told Rolling Stone in 1976 of his relationship with the Manson family. 

Wilson died in 1983 at the age of 39, after drowning in the waters off of Marina del Rey, California.

SEE ALSO: How cult leader Charles Manson became one of the most notorious criminals of all time, sentenced to 9 life terms for orchestrating 7 gruesome murders in 2 nights

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• Actor Bryan Cranston crossed paths with cult leader and serial killer Charles Manson when he was a kid.
• Manson died on Sunday at age 83.
• Cranston said that he was "within his grasp" about a year before the brutal murders occurred in 1969, while at the Spahn Ranch in California.

Actor Bryan Cranston — who is known for his Emmy-winning role as the school teacher turned super-villain Walter White on AMC's "Breaking Bad" — said that when he was a kid, he crossed paths with Charles Manson.

Manson, a notorious cult leader and serial killer who instigated the murders of nine people in the 1960s including actress Sharon Tate, died on Sunday at the age of 83. He was in prison for more than 45 years. 

In a tweet on Monday, Cranston wrote:

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• The Department of Corrections has not indicated whether Charles Manson identified who his next of kin may be.
• If a family member steps up, then the expense of the funeral and burial or cremation will be paid for by the decedent's estate, if he or she left property.
• When a person dies in California without any assets, the state has the right to send them to be used for scientific or educational purposes.

Charles Manson, the wild-eyed cult leader who claimed inspiration for an apocalyptic race war from the Beatles' "White Album," died in Kern County, California, on Nov. 19 at the age of 83.

Journalist Joan Didion wrote that for many of her friends in Los Angeles, "the 60s ended abruptly on Aug. 9, 1969," the day of the Tate-LaBianca murders, in which Manson and his "family" killed seven people, including pregnant actor Sharon Tate.

While the cultural impact of Charles Manson's life and horrific actions will not soon be forgotten, the pressing concern right now is how we'll choose to acknowledge his death. More specifically, what will happen to his remains?

It's a question that often comes up when a notorious criminal dies. Osama bin Laden, for example, was buried at sea, reportedly in part so that a grave wouldn't become a shrine for terrorists.

It turns out, however, that the answer is more complicated that it would appear at first glance, particularly when the death happens in a prison in California. I study funeral and cemetery law and also happen to be a licensed funeral director in California, yet I'm still surprised by the inconsistency in the state's law governing death.

When a person dies in California

When a person dies in California – regardless of where he or she lived – the state's health and safety code determines who has "the right to control the disposition of the remains of a deceased person, the location and conditions of interment and arrangements for funeral goods and services to be provided."

California law grants that right to the following persons, in order of priority: a person appointed by the decedent, spouse, adult children, parents, adult siblings and other adults in the "next degrees of kinship."

If a family member steps up, then the expense of the funeral and burial or cremation will be paid for by the decedent's estate, if he or she left property. If the decedent died without property, then the family member bears the cost or could apply for an indigent assistance program like the one offered in Kern County, where Manson died.

Calling all cadavers

When a person dies in the state without any assets, which is almost certainly true of Manson, another law kicks in.

In those cases, the state has the right to send them to a medical school, chiropractic school or a mortuary science program to be used for scientific or educational purposes.

The majority of states have statutes similar to this one. When medical schools began using cadavers to teach future doctors in the 1700s, they had difficulty obtaining a sufficient supply of dead bodies from willing donors. As a result, grave robbery became a significant problemin both the United States and Europe. Medical students were often tasked with obtaining cadavers on their own and would dig up fresh graves.

In response, the states began creating statutes in the mid-1800s that gave bodies that would otherwise be buried at public expense to medical schools. The idea was that supplying cadavers legally would destroy the incentive to commit grave robbery. That turned out to be correct, but as a result most states still have laws like the one in California, which can come as a shock.

When inmates die

Manson died in a hospital while in the custody of the California Department of Corrections. A couple of specific laws apply to inmate deaths, and surprisingly those laws contradict each other and the general rules.

A Department of Corrections regulation states that every inmate must annually identify his or her next of kin on a form called "Notification in Case of Inmate Death."

Assuming that Manson had one or more living family members and identified them on the notification form, then the department must attempt to notify the listed individual(s) in person, if practical, and, if not, by telephone and offer "consolation." After 10 days, a body is deemed "unclaimed."

The rule, however, is inconsistent with the law regarding the rights of the next of kin to make decisions about disposition because it suggests that only the kin named on the notification form has rights.

The Department of Corrections has not indicated whether Manson actually completed this form or who his next of kin may be.

According to The New York Times, Manson was married twice. Both marriages ended in divorce. He was believed to have fathered at least two children, but The New York Times describes the subject of his descendants as one "which rumor and urban legend have long coalesced."

The New York Daily News reported that the only self-identified descendant of Manson is 41-year-old Jason Freeman, the son of Charles Manson Jr., who committed suicide in 1993. Freeman told the newspaper that he was "going to move towards having a proper burial."

It's not clear, however, whether Manson, who had never met Freeman in person, listed him on his notification form. They reportedly had some telephone contact.

If Manson's remains are not claimed by Freeman or another family member, then what will happen to his body? Although California law and the Department of Corrections regulation state that it should be made available for scientific study, a different California statute requires unclaimed inmate remains to be buried or cremated.

Because of all this inconsistency, it's unclear whether the law intended to give the family members of deceased inmates fewer rights than everyone else.

Anonymous grave or anatomy lab

Manson's remains were last known to be in the possession of the Kern County coroner, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Even if Freeman was named in Manson's notification form and claims him in a timely manner, he may still encounter some difficulty in obtaining a typical funeral and burial for his notorious grandfather.

After Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers believed to have committed the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, was killed by police, his uncle managed to locate a funeral home willing to handle the remains – amid picketing by the families of his victims – but had a very difficult time finding a cemetery willing to bury the remains. Eventually, Tsarnaev's remains were removed from Massachusetts in the middle of the night and interred in a Muslim cemetery in Virginia.

So what does this all mean for Charles Manson? If Freeman can claim possession of the body, it'll be up to him to find a funeral home willing to handle the mass murderer's remains and potentially a graveyard or crematory willing to take them. If no other kin comes to light, an anonymous box of Manson's remains may find a home at the communal crypt at Union Cemetery in Bakersfield.

Alternatively, it's very possible that medical students in California may find a familiar-looking cadaver in gross anatomy lab next semester.

SEE ALSO: Most mass killers are men who also attacked their families

DON'T MISS: Charles Manson was sentenced to 9 life sentences for orchestrating 7 gruesome murders with his cult 'family' — here's his life story

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In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate, a cult started in the early '70s, put on matching dark clothes, swallowed barbiturates, and placed plastic bags around their heads. It was one of the largest mass suicides in the history of the United States.

Although you may have heard of that incident, when it comes to the world's most infamous cults, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

INSIDER looked back on some of the most dangerous and infamous cults throughout history and the charismatic leaders who founded them.

The Manson Family famously murdered seven people over the course of two nights to start a race war.

In the late '60s, Charles Manson brought together a group of displaced young people and called them his "family." They settled in Spahn Ranch, a sprawling former movie studio near Los Angeles, where drugs were free-flowing, mandatory orgies were enforced, and Manson pushed his ideas about an imminent race war.

The cult leader told his followers he wanted them to go on a killing spree. On August 8, 1969, a few members of the cult headed to a Beverly Hills home and murdered five people, including actress Sharon Tate. They wrote the word "PIG" in Tate's blood on the door. The violence continued the next night when Rosemary and Leno LaBianca were murdered in their Los Feliz home by Manson's followers on his orders. Rosemary was stabbed 14 times.

Manson was convicted of first-degree murder in 1971. He served out his prison sentence until he died on November 19, 2017, at age 83.

Members of Heaven’s Gate were told that God was an alien. 39 members died by suicide.

In the early '70s, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles went on a road trip across America and found a group of people they dubbed "the crew."

Applewhite told his followers many things, including that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ, the end of the world was upon them, and that God was an alien. He encouraged them to give away all their money and cut off contact with their families. Cult members were also put on a Master Cleanse diet of lemonade, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup, in order to get rid of sexual thoughts. Eight men volunteered to be surgically castrated.

In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven's Gate donned dark outfits and matching Nike shoes. They drank vodka and ate applesauce and pudding that contained barbiturates and put plastic bags over their heads to suffocate themselves. When police officers entered the home, they found a line of bodies, each covered with purple fabric. It was one of the largest mass suicides in the history of the United States.

Members of Aum Shinrikyo left five bags filled with a toxic nerve agent on three Tokyo train lines during rush hour.

The cult Aum Shinrikyo was founded in the '80s by Shoko Asahara. He claimed to be Christ and — at one point — garnered tens of thousands of followers across the world. His teachings started out spiritual and then became increasingly violent. Cult members even paid money to drink Asahara's blood. 

On March 20, 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo left five bags filled with a toxic nerve agent on three Tokyo train lines during rush hour. Passengers began choking and throwing up. 13 people died because of the attack and 5,800 were injured. As months went by, the cult tried — and failed — to attack other subway stations with a deathly cyanide.

Asahara was sentenced to death, along with 12 other members of Aum Shinrikyo. Seven members were executed in July of 2018, including Asahara himself. The other six members are still on death row in Japan.

• Despite years of theorizing and research, the mental health field continues to hotly debate what the defining features of a psychopath are.
• Most agree that psychopaths are remorseless people who lack empathy for others. But in recent years, much of this debate has centered on the relevance of one particular personality trait: boldness.
• According to John Edens, professor of psychology at Texas A&M University, someone who is simply disinhibited and mean — but not bold — would not be able to pull off the spectacular level of manipulation that a psychopath is capable of.
• To be sure, being mean and disinhibited is a bad combination, argues Edens. But absent boldness, the chances that you'll successfully charm unsuspecting victim after unsuspecting victim seem pretty slim.

What makes a criminal a psychopath?

Their grisly deeds and commanding presence attract our attention — look no further than Ted Bundy, the subject of a recent Netflix documentary, and cult leaders like Charles Manson.

But despite years of theorizing and research, the mental health field continues to hotly debate what are the defining features of this diagnosis. It might come as a surprise that the most widely used psychiatric diagnostic system in the US, the DSM-5, doesn't include psychopathy as a formal disorder.

As a personality researcher and forensic psychologist, I've spent the last quarter-century studying psychopaths inside and outside of prisons. I've also debated what, exactly, are the defining features of psychopathy.

Most agree that psychopaths are remorseless people who lack empathy for others. But in recent years, much of this debate has centered on the relevance of one particular personality trait: boldness.

I'm in the camp that believes boldness is critical to separating out psychopaths from the more mundane law-breakers. It's the trait that creates the veneer of normalcy, giving those who prey on others the mask to successfully blend in with the rest of society. To lack boldness, on the other hand, is to be what one might call a "shy-chopath."

The boldness factor

About 10 years ago, psychologist Christopher Patrick and some of his colleagues published an extensive literature review in which they argued that psychopaths were people who expressed elevated levels of three basic traits: meanness, disinhibition, and boldness.

Most experts in the mental health field generally agree that the prototypical psychopath is someone who is both mean and, at least to some extent, disinhibited — though there's even some debate about exactly how impulsive and hot-headed the prototypical psychopath truly is.

In a psychological context, people who are mean tend to lack empathy and have little interest in close emotional relationships. They're also happy to use and exploit others for their own personal gain.

Read more:A Ted Bundy survivor says it makes sense for a heartthrob like Zac Efron to play the part of the serial killer because 'that's what Bundy wanted you to see'

Highly disinhibited people have very poor impulse control, are prone to boredom and have difficulty managing emotions — particularly negative ones, like frustration and hostility.

In adding boldness to the mix, Patrick and his colleagues argued that genuine psychopaths are not just mean and disinhibited, they're also individuals who are poised, fearless, emotionally resilient, and socially dominant.

Although it had not been the focus of extensive research for the past few decades, the concept of the bold psychopath isn't actually new. Famed psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley described it in his seminal 1941 book, "The Mask of Sanity," in which he described numerous case examples of psychopaths who were brazen, fearless, and emotionally unflappable.

Ted Bundy is an excellent example of such a person. He was far from unassuming and timid. He never appeared wracked with anxiety or emotional distress. He charmed scores of victims, confidently served as his own attorney, and even proposed to his girlfriend while in court.

"It's probably just being willing to take risk," Bundy said, in the Netflix documentary, of what motivated his crimes. "Or perhaps not even seeing risk. Just overcome by that boldness and desire to accomplish a particular thing."

Seeds planted in the DSM

In the current DSM, the closest current diagnosis to psychopathy is antisocial personality disorder. Although the manual suggests that it historically has been referred to as psychopathy, the current seven diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder mostly fall under the umbrella of disinhibition — qualities like "recklessness,""impulsiveness," and, to a lesser extent, meanness, which are evident in only two criteria: "lack of remorse" and "deceitfulness."

There's no mention of boldness. In other words, you don't have to be bold to have antisocial personality disorder. In fact, because you only need to meet three of the seven criteria to be diagnosed with the disorder, it means you don't even need to be all that mean, either.

However, the most recent revision to the DSM, the fifth edition, did include a supplemental section for proposed diagnoses in need of further study.

In this supplemental section, a new specifier was offered for those who meet the diagnosis for antisocial personality disorder. If you have a bold and fearless interpersonal style that seems to serve as a mask for your otherwise mean and disinhibited personality, you might also be diagnosable as a psychopath.

Can a psychopath be meek?

Whether this new model, which seems to put boldness center stage in the diagnosis of psychopathy, ultimately will be adopted into subsequent iterations of the DSM system remains to be seen.

Several researchers have criticized the concept. They see meanness and disinhibition as much more important than boldness when deciding whether someone is a psychopath.

Read more:From troubled childhood to electric chair: The full timeline of Ted Bundy's life and murder spree

Their main issue seems to be that people who are bold — but not mean or disinhibited — actually seem to be well-adjusted and not particularly violent. In fact, compared with being overly introverted or prone to emotional distress, it seems to be an asset in everyday life.

Other researchers, myself included, tend to view those criticisms as not particularly compelling. In our view, someone who is simply disinhibited and mean — but not bold — would not be able to pull off the spectacular level of manipulation that a psychopath is capable of.

To be sure, being mean and disinhibited is a bad combination. But absent boldness, you're probably not going to show up on the evening news for having schemed scores of investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The chances that you'll successfully charm unsuspecting victim after unsuspecting victim into coming back to your apartment to sexually assault them seem pretty slim.

That being said, timid but mean people — the "shycho-paths"— almost certainly do exist, and it's probably best to stay away from them, too.

But you're unlikely to confuse them with the Ted Bundys and Charles Mansons of the world.

John Edens Professor of Psychology, Texas A&M University

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• It's been about 50 years since the Manson Family Murders. 
• Tons of movies have been and are being made about it. 
• Hilary Duff stars in "The Haunting of Sharon Tate."
• "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" tells the story of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate's fictional neighbors.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

This summer marks 50 years since the 1969 murders that would later be known as the "Manson Family murders." This refers to the murders of actress Sharon Tate and her friends Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent by Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel, as well as the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca by Watson, Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten.

Watson, Krenwinkel, Atkins, and Van Houten were all followers of cult leader Charles Manson. Though Manson did not commit the crimes himself, he was found guilty of first-degree murder for orchestrating them and spent the rest of his life in prison before dying in 2017.

To coincide with the anniversary of the murders, there are several high-profile projects in the works that chronicle these crimes. Though timely, these new movies are just a few of the many cinematographic explorations of the murders and the cult surrounding Manson. 

Here is a selection of films about the Manson murders, including movies yet to be released.

"Helter Skelter" (1976) is based on the best-selling true crime book of the same name.

The book 1974 "Helter Skelter" by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry is brought to life in this movie about the Manson crimes and trial. The title refers to a Beatles song of the same name that Manson thought prophesized a coming race war (it actually refers to someone being confused).

During the Tate murders, Manson's followers wrote "'Healter' Skelter" on the refrigerator in the blood of one of their victims.The 1976 film was originally released for television and aired over two nights in the US.

"Charles Manson Superstar" (1989) is a controversial documentary that takes a positive view of Manson.

"Charles Manson Superstar," directed by musician and spiritual teacher Nikolas Schreck, tries to spin Manson's madness as enlightenment. Schreck interviews Manson himself and uses archival footage in an attempt to showcase the infamous cult leader in a positive light.

In the end, the film does more to confirm the perception of Manson as a madman than dispel it.

"The Manson Family" (2003) is a bloody overview of the formation of the Manson cult.

The Manson Family is a gory and violent fictionalized recounting of the formation of Charles Manson's "family" of followers and their exploits leading up to the 1969 murders. Director Jim Van Bebber actually began filming in 1988, compiling footage over the course of 15 years.

The filming technique is intentionally choppy and grainy. In his review of the film, criticRoger Ebert mused: "I'm tempted to say you should see it just because you will never see a film like this again, but then I wonder: What need is there to see a film like this at all?"

"Helter Skelter" (2004) is a TV movie that focuses on Linda Kasabian.

Another take on Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry's true crime book, the 2004 film"Helter Skelter" examines Linda Kasabian's role in the Manson cult and her involvement in their crimes, including the Tate-LaBianca murders. Kasabian later became a key witness in the trial and was granted immunity for her testimony. 

The movie was made for television and directed by John Gray, with Clea DuVall in the role of Kasabian and Jeremy Davis as Charles Manson. The film receivedgenerally positive reviews.

"Manson, My Name Is Evil" (2009) is a fictionalized account of the trial of Leslie Van Houten.

"Manson, My Name is Evil" tells the fictional story of a juror at the trial of Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who participated and was convicted in the murders of Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, one day after the Tate murders.

The film juror falls in love with Van Houten over the course of her trial, believing that deep down, she is still the all-American cheerleader and high school homecoming princess she was before being indoctrinated by Manson. The film receiveda middling critical reception, with movie critic Peter Howell of the Toronto Star remarking that it stretched the truth "beyond any semblance of reality or fairness."

"The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter" (2009) is an in-depth documentary about the Manson cult.

The work of filmmaker Scott Michaels,"The Six Degrees of Helter Skelter" is an exhaustive documentary that picks apart the events surrounding the Manson Murders and the cultural landscape of Hollywood in the 1960s.

The film includes examinations of autopsy reports and footage of over 40 locations, including the former Polanski home, where some of the murders happened and remains of Spahn Ranch, where the "Manson Family" lived. 

"Old Man" (2012) is an animated short film featuring audio interviews with Manson.

"Old Man" uses exclusive phone conversations between Charles Manson and "Charles Manson Now" author Marlin Marynick to paint a portrait of the aging cult leader's experience in prison and thoughts on life.

The conversations are notable for being the first communication between Manson and the public in 20 years. The film was directed and animated by Leah Shore.

The documentary "Life After Manson" (2014) details Manson's relationship with Patricia Krenwinkel.

Featuring an exclusive interview with Manson Family member Patricia Krenwinkel,"Life After Manson" is a documentary that attempts to piece together what led Krenwinkel to commit murder for Charles Manson and how her association with the famous cult leader has affected her life. The film was directed by Olivia Klaus.  

"House of Manson" (2014) is a drama that chronicles the life of Charles Manson.

"House of Manson" is a biographical drama that details the life of Charles Manson, including his planning of the Tate and LaBianca murders and his fate after the crimes. The film gives particulate focus to Manson's childhood and relationship with his mother.

"House of Manson" was both written and directed by Brandon Slagle and stars Ryan Kiser as Charles Manson.

Critics hated "Wolves at the Door" (2016) for its portrayal of the Manson Murders.

"Wolves at the Door" is a horror film inspired by and loosely based on the Manson Family murders. Though the film claims to depict the "true story" of the infamous killings, it received universal panning by critics and has a0% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

The most common criticism of the film was that it was exploitative and disrespectful to the nature of its source material. In his review of the movie for "The Independent," Geoffrey Macnab called "Wolves at the Door" a"repellent, misconceived, and pointless film."

"Manson's Lost Girls" (2016) recounts the experience of one Manson follower.

"Manson's Lost Girls" is a Lifetime original movie that centers on Linda Kasabian and her life with the Manson Family in the weeks preceding the 1969 murders.

Over the course of the movie, Kasabian comes to realize that the sisterhood and acceptance she has found on Manson's Spahn Ranch commune comes at a criminal price. The film stars Mackenzie Mauzy in the lead role as Kasabian and is directed by Leslie Libman.

Sharon Tate has visions of her own death in "The Haunting of Sharon Tate" (2019).

Inthis horror flick, Sharon Tate (Hilary Duff) has premonitions of her own death while awaiting her husband Roman Polanski's return from Europe. The movie's plot hangs ona dubious report in the now-defunct tabloid Fate magazine that claimed Tate prophesied her own violent death a year before the murders.

The film unfolds over the course of the three days preceding the crime. In his review, film critic Roger Ebert called the film"appalling from start to finish" and "the essence of exploitation."

"Charlie Says" (2018) is set three years after the Manson murders.

"Charlie Says" debuted at the Venice Film Festival in September 2018. The movie centers on the post-trial lives of Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel and explores how these three young women were transformed from typical American teenagers to murderous cult followers.

"Charlie Says" is directed by Mary Harron and based on the book by "The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten" by Karlene Faith. The film stars Hannah Murray, Sosie Bacon, and Marianne Rendón as the Family members and Matt Smith as Charles Manson.

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (July 26, 2019) tells the story of the Polanski's fictional neighbors.

Rather than directly focusing on the Manson murders, the black comedy "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" will tell the story of struggling actor Rick Dalton, who happens to live next door to the Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate, and his long-time stunt double, Cliff Booth.

The film is directed by Quentin Tarantino and has a star-studded cast that includes Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, Mike Moh, Lena Dunham, and Austin Butler. The film will also feature Luke Perry, who died in March 2019.

"Tate" (release date TBA) will focus on Sharon Tate's final days.

Starring Kate Bosworth in the titular role and directed by Michael Polish, "Tate" will detail the last days of Sharon Tate's life. The film currently has no trailer or release date, though has Polish revealed that he will not be depicting the actress's death in the film.

"As a father and a filmmaker, I am not interested in portraying violence on screen with this particular project," he said inan Instagram post. "Tate" has also received the approval of Sharon Tate's sister, Debra Tate. "At long last, I have found filmmakers who are interested in the life story of my sister Sharon. Other projects have been a real source of pain in their insensitivity and gross exploitation of my sister,"she told Deadline.

• Charles Manson, the infamous criminal and leader of the "Manson family," has been portrayed numerous times on TV and in movies since he became notorious for the murders of movie star Sharon Tate and others in the late 1960s. 
• Stars like Bob Odenkirk, Evan Peters, and "Game of Thrones" star Gethin Anthony have all played the crazed cult leader onscreen. 
• Damon Herriman, who played Manson on the Netflix show "Mindhunter," will portray the convicted murderer again in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." 
• Manson was convicted of murder in 1971, and spent the rest of his life behind bars until his death in 2017. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories. 

Multiple Hollywood actors have portrayed Charles Manson, one of the most infamous criminals in recent history who was responsible for the murders of movie star Sharon Tate and six others in Southern California in 1969.

He was the leader of the cult-like group called the "Manson family" that garnered national attention after they were linked to the Tate murders and put on trial. Most of the "family" members were young women, including the members who brutally killed Tate and several others. 

Manson was eventually convicted of first degree murder in 1971 and spent the rest of his life in prison.

Here are all of the actors who've played Charles Manson onscreen and what they look like in real life. 

Steve Railsback played Charles Manson in the 1976 television miniseries "Helter Skelter."

Released just five years after Manson was convicted of murder, "Helter Skelter" featured actor Steve Railsback portraying the violent criminal.

The television miniseries was based on a 1974 book of the same name, written by attorney Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted Manson's case. The series depicts the capture and subsequent trial of Manson, who would eventually be sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the 1969 Tate murders, among other crimes. 

"Helter Skelter" was Manson's term for a race war he and his followers believed was imminent. Heavily inspired by the Beatles' White album (and their song of the same name), Manson ordered his followers to kill Tate and the others after the race war failed to materialize. 

Bob Odenkirk took a darkly comedic approach to Manson while portraying him for Ben Stiller's comedy show in the 1990s.

While there are numerous portrayals of Manson, Odenkirk's is one of the few that treats Manson as the butt of a joke — in addition to portraying him as a deranged criminal.

Odenkirk played the convicted killer in sketches for "The Ben Stiller Show," a sketch comedy program that aired on Fox from 1992 to 1993. Manson featured heavily during the show's singular season, with Odenkirk appearing as the character in a variety of sketches. 

In one of the more memorable segments from the show, the writers reimagined the classic show "Lassie" with Odenkirk's Manson as the obedient, if incoherent, companion. 

A remake of "Helter Skelter" in 2004 saw Jeremy Davies play the convicted killer.

Manson was played by actor Jeremy Davies in this 2004 TV movie, which was a remake of the 1976 original. 

"But I'm a Cheerleader" star Clea Duvall and Eric Dane of "Euphoria" and "Grey's Anatomy" also appeared in the film. 

Much like the first film, 2004's version of "Helter Skelter" focused primarily on Manson himself, and was based on Bugliosi's book. 

Ryan Robbins played Charles Manson in the 2008 film "Leslie, My Name Is Evil." It was later renamed "Manson, My Name Is Evil"

The 2008 indie film "Leslie, My Name Is Evil" saw Canadian actor Ryan Robbins play the convicted killer. 

Later renamed "Manson, My Name Is Evil," the film takes a fictionalized look at the trial of Manson followers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten for the Tate and LaBianca murders.

The film follows an imagined young juror on Van Houten's trial who falls in love with the former homecoming queen-turned-murderer. 

"Game of Thrones" actor Gethin Anthony portrayed Manson on the short-lived NBC drama "Aquarius."

Best known for playing Renly Baratheon on HBO's "Game of Thrones," Gethin Anthony played Manson on NBC's "Aquarius," which ran from 2015 to 2016. 

The show starred David Duchovny as a veteran LAPD detective tracking the increasingly high-profile crimes of Manson and his "family," among other criminals. 

Jeff Ward played Manson on the 2016 Lifetime movie "Manson's Lost Girls"

"Manson's Lost Girls" takes a slightly different approach to the Manson narrative by focusing on "family" member Linda Kasabian as she's drawn into Manson's world in 1969. 

Kasabian, who acted as a lookout and driver during the Tate murders, was the star witness for the prosecution during the murder trials, and received immunity for her testimony. 

In "Manson's Lost Girls,""Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." actor Jeff Ward played Manson, and Mackenzie Mauzy played Kasabian. 

"American Horror Story" star Evan Peters portrayed Manson during the show's seventh season.

Evan Peters portrayed the convicted killer on "American Horror Story: Cult" in 2017.

While the entirety of the show's seventh season included references to cults and their leaders (including Jim Jones of Jonestown, David Koresh the infamous Branch Davidians, and Marshall Applewhite of the Heaven's Gate cult), Manson and the Tate murders were portrayed on the season's penultimate episode. 

Peters, a main "American Horror Story" cast member, played Manson, with Sarah Paulson and Billy Eichner playing Manson "family" members Susan Atkins and Charles "Tex" Watson, respectively. 

Matt Smith was unrecognizable as Manson in the 2018 film "Charlie Says."

The 2018 film "Charlie Says" explored the effects of Manson's influence on three of his former followers who were eventually convicted in the Tate and LaBianca murder trials: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten. 

"Doctor Who" actor Matt Smith played Manson, and Suki Waterhouse, Chace Crawford, and "Game of Thrones" actress Hannah Murray also appeared in the film. 

Damon Herriman will play Manson in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and will also reprise the role for the second season of David Fincher's Netflix series "Mindhunter."

Australian actor Damon Herriman is set to play the crazed criminal in two projects this year. 

He'll appear as Manson in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," and will reprise the role on season two of David Fincher's Netflix show "Mindhunter."

Both projects are period pieces, and both will ostensibly touch on the Manson murders. While Tarantino's film will juxtapose the story of an aging Western star in Hollywood with the Manson family's reign of terror in 1969, it appears that Herriman's Manson will appear on "Mindhunter" several years after the murders, when he's behind bars. 

Read more:Leonardo DiCaprio will reportedly star in Quentin Tarantino's next movie, which revolves around the Charles Manson murders

• Many homes connected to famous crimes have been put up for sale.  
• Recently, a Los Angeles home that was the site of a murder committed by Charles Manson's followers was listed for sale at $1.98 million.
• Childhood homes of convicted serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy have also been sold.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Believe it or not, it's not uncommon for people to move into homes that were once crime scenes or residences of notorious criminals.

Some homes with criminal ties have been sold more than once. For example, the Los Angeles condo where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994 was put up for sale twice after the crime, according to the LA Times.

Former drug lord Pablo Escobar's property in Miami Beach has also been listed for sale, and most recently, a Los Angeles home where Charles Manson's followers murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969 was put up for sale with an asking price of $1.98 million.

Read on to find out which other homes connected to notorious criminals have been listed for sale.

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A Los Angeles home where a couple was murdered by the Charles Manson family was put up for sale in July 2019 for $1.98 million.

A Los Angeles home where Charles Manson's followers murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969 is for sale, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The home, in LA's Los Feliz neighborhood, has an asking price of $1.98 million.

This Chicago home once belonged to mobster Al Capone. It was put up for sale in February 2019, and it sold two months later.

Notorious mobster Al Capone and his family moved into this home on Chicago's South Side in the Park Manor neighborhood in 1923, according to the listing on Zillow. 

In an article from USA Today, a real estate agent representing the home said the building, built in 1905, had a secret tunnel of sorts that connected the house to a garage.

Al Capone's Miami Beach mansion is for sale as of July 2019.

Al Capone's former mansion in Miami Beach, Florida, located in the gated Palm Island community, was up for sale for $14.9 million in April 2018, according to Curbed Miami. Capone lived on the 30,000-square-foot property with his immediate family until he died in 1947, according to the FBI.  

The mansion's listing on Zillow shows that the home was taken off the market in April 2019, and in July, it was re-listed for sale at $12.9 million.

Pablo Escobar's Miami Beach property was up for sale in March 2019.

The 30,000-square-foot property, which was once the residence of drug lord Pablo Escobar, was put up for sale by ONE Sotheby's International Realty in March 2019.

The property is near the water and offers a clear view of the Miami skyline. According to previous reporting by INSIDER, Escobar's home on the property was demolished in 2016.

Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home in Akron, Ohio, has been listed for both sale and rental.

The house where serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer grew up in Akron, Ohio, has been listed for sale and rent, according to its Zillow listing.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the home's current owner put the house up for rent in 2016 during the Republican National Convention, which was hosted in nearby Cleveland. People could have rented it for $8,000 a month.

Famed fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered outside his mansion in Miami Beach in 1997. The property has been sold multiple times, and it's now a luxury hotel.

The Miami Beach mansion owned by the late Gianni Versace, who was murdered just outside the home in 1997, was purchased in 2000 by telecommunication entrepreneur Peter Loftin for $19 million. Then, the property was sold in 2013 for $41.5 million, according to CNBC.

The 19,000-square-foot Ocean Drive property is now a luxury hotel called The Villa Casa Casuarina. Guests can book suites starting at $749 per night.

The Los Angeles condo where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered was put up for sale twice.

The home where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered in 1994 was sold two later for $525,000, according to the LA Times. The condo was sold again in 2006 for $1.72 million.

The murders led to the infamous, eight-month-long trial of OJ Simpson. Simpson was acquitted of all criminal charges, though a civil court two years later in 1997 found Simpson liable for wrongful death in the double murder and he was ordered to pay damages to both victims' families. OJ Simpson maintains his innocence.

The Beverly Hills home where brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 has also been listed for sale.

In 1996, brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. According to the home's listing on Realtor.com, the Beverly Hills mansion was listed for $3.9 million in 1997, then $4.1 million in 2001.

In 2016, the Long Island, New York, home that was the site of the 'Amityville Horror' murders was put up for sale.

In 1974, the town of Amityville, New York, was haunted by a series of murders by Ronald DeFeo Jr., who confessed to murdering his parents and four children at a house known as 112 Ocean Ave., according to the History Channel.

The DeFeo's house was sold to a man named George Lutz in 1975, who moved in with his family. The Lutz family claimed the home was haunted and left after 28 days of living there, according to the History Channel.

The story inspired a novel and two films called "The Amityville Horror."

The home where the 1974 murders occurred is now known as 108 Ocean Ave., according to the New York Daily News. In 2016, the supposedly haunted home was listed for sale, and its Zillow listing shows it was purchased in 2017.

This Massachusetts home was the site of the 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. Their daughter, Lizzie Borden, was accused of the murder, which led to her sensational trial. The home has since been up for sale multiple times, and it's now a bed and breakfast and museum.

In 1892, Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her historic trial ended in the jury acquitting her in 1893, according to the History Channel.

The home where the murders took place is now the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and Museum. 

Following the trial, Borden lived in a mansion known as Maplecroft, also in Fall River, according to The Herald News. The Maplecroft mansion has been listed for sale more than once. In 2014, a woman from Texas bought the home with plans to turn it into a bed and breakfast. In 2018, Maplecroft was sold to the owners of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and Museum.

When Ted Bundy's childhood home in Tacoma, Washington, was sold and remodeled in 2017, a contractor reported finding eerie things there.

Serial killer Ted Bundy's childhood home in Tacoma, Washington, was sold and remodeled in 2017, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

According to the article, a contractor who was hired to work on the home claimed to have found "eerie" things there, such as a bird carcass, the words "Help me" written on glass, and drawers that he said opened by themselves.

• Read more:
• 10 abandoned mansions around the world that likely used to be worth millions
• 8 celebrity homes that no one wants to buy
• The 25 largest homes for sale in the United States, ranked
• The most wildly extravagant homes people built around the world

• Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is set in Southern California in 1969, and focuses on an aging Western star, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. 
• The film also notably includes portrayals of Charles Manson and his followers during their killing spree in the summer of 1969. 
• Manson and several of his acolytes brutally murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and several others, part of Manson's "Helter Skelter" vision. 
• Notable celebrities, including Margot Robbie, Austin Butler, and Lena Dunham, portray those involved in Manson's crimes. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories. 

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," the upcoming film from director Quentin Tarantino, portrays key figures from the late 1960s, including actress Sharon Tate and cult leader Charles Manson. 

Tarantino's film, which takes place in 1969, tells the story of an aging Western star, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The Manson family murders — which notably took the lives of actress Sharon Tate and others — also feature in the film. 

Numerous celebrities appear in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," with many playing real-life figures related to the Manson family's crimes. 

Here's how the cast of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" compares to the real-life people involved in the murders. 

Margot Robbie plays murdered actress Sharon Tate in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

The Manson family received national attention for their brutal killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and several of her friends in August 1969. 

Tate, who was staying in a rented Los Angeles home, had spent the evening of August 8 with her friends Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski.

Later in the night, Manson family members Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian entered the property. Kasabian acted as lookout as Watson, Atkins, and Krenwinkel stabbed the inhabitants to death. 

Emile Hirsch plays Jay Sebring, a Hollywood hairstylist and friend of Tate's.

Tate's friend and ex-boyfriend Jay Sebring was also killed by Manson family members on August 8. 

Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress, is played by Samantha Robinson.

Coffee heiress Abigail Folger had spent the evening of August 8, 1969 with Tate, Sebring, and her boyfriend, screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski. Both Frykowski and Folger were reportedly living with Tate in the rented house. 

Folger managed to escape the house once Krenwinkel, Atkins, and Watson started their killing spree, but was caught and stabbed to death on the front lawn. 

Costa Ronin plays Folger's boyfriend, screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski.

Frykowski, like Folger, was murdered by Manson family members on the night of August 8 after he escaped the house where the murders of Tate and Sebring took place. 

He was reportedly stabbed numerous times, and shot twice. 

The role of Charles "Tex" Watson, Manson's right-hand man, is played by Austin Butler.

Charles "Tex" Watson was one of the Manson followers tasked with murdering the inhabitants of the Los Angeles home where Tate was staying — although Manson thought record producer Terry Melcher (who'd turned down Manson for a record deal) was still living there. 

Watson was reportedly Manson's right-hand man, and was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders. 

Patricia Krenwinkel, who helped murder Tate and others, is played by Madisen Beaty.

Krenwinkel, who also went by the name "Katie,"quit her job as a secretary to follow Manson when she met him at a party. 

She later helped murder Tate, Sebring, and others in August 1969, along with fellow Manson followers Susan Atkins and Charles "Tex" Watson. 

Susan Atkins, another Manson follower, is played by Mikey Madison.

Atkins, a former topless dancer, was described as one of Manson's most fervent disciples. 

She eventually confessed to killing the pregnant Tate, who was reportedly stabbed 16 times and pled with the killers to spare the life of her unborn child.

A former prosecutor called Atkins the "scariest of the Manson girls." She was sentenced to life in prison for her role in the murders, and died behind bars in 2009, when she was 61. 

Manson acolyte Leslie Van Houten is played by Victoria Pedretti from Netflix's "The Haunting of Hill House."

While Van Houten had no involvement with the Tate murders, she did take part in the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca on August 10, 1969.

The LaBianca home was chosen by Manson, who tied them up and then left the killing to his followers. 

Van Houten was eventually found guilty of holding down Rosemary LaBianca as she was stabbed to death, and was sentenced to life in prison. 

She was reportedly introduced to Manson by a boyfriend, and came to view Manson as Jesus Christ. 

Dakota Fanning plays Manson follower Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme.

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme wasn't involved in any of the Manson family's grisly 1969 murders, but she would eventually be arrested for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975. 

Fromme remained faithful to the group even after their arrests for the Tate and LaBianca murders. She camped out outside of the courtroom, and even carved an "X" into her forehead during the trials, along with other followers. 

As recently as May 2019, Fromme, who was paroled in 2009, was still expressing her loyalty to Manson. 

"Was I in love with Charlie? Yeah, oh yeah, oh, I still am, still am. I don't think you fall out of love," she said on the ABC special "Manson Girls," which aired at the end of April. 

Lena Dunham plays Catherine Share, a loyal Manson follower in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

Much like Fromme, Catherine Share wasn't directly involved with the 1969 murders, but remained faithful to Manson and the group during the murder trials. 

Author Nikki Meredith called Share "an aggressive recruiter for Manson" whose primary target was "pretty girls who could be used as bait to attract men into the fold and girls who had access to their parents' credit cards." 

"After Manson was in prison, Catherine was a major aider and abettor on the outside, working assiduously and violently under his direction," Meredith wrote.

Share's activities included attempting to kill a witness who was going to testify at the trial, and even planning to hijack a plane and kill passengers until Manson, Watson, Krenwinkel, Van Houten, and Atkins were released from prison. 

Notorious criminal Charles Manson is played by Damon Herriman in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

Charles Manson was responsible for the Tate and LaBianca killings, and was a fixture in Southern California in the late 1960s. 

Manson, who will feature in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," was arrested in October 1969 for his involvement in the Tate and LaBianca murders. 

He was sentenced to life in prison in 1971 (downgraded from the death penalty after it was outlawed in California), and died behind bars in 2017 at the age of 83. 

Damian Lewis plays daredevil actor Steve McQueen in Tarantino's latest film.

"Homeland" actor Damian Lewis portrays Steve McQueen, a prominent 1960s actor and friend of Jay Sebring's who was supposed to spend the evening with Sebring, Tate, and others the night of the murders. 

McQueen's ex-wife, Neile Adams, told the Telegraph that the actor "ran into a chickie and decided to go off with her instead," thereby avoiding being killed by Manson followers at Tate's home. 

"Going off with that girl saved his life. After that, he became more paranoid and wouldn't let me go anywhere without a gun," Adams said. 

Luke Perry's final feature performance is as Wayne Maunder in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

Actor Wayne Maunder is played by "Riverdale" actor Luke Perry, who died in March 2019. 

Maunder costarred on the western TV series "Lancer," which features in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." 

Perry's appearance in the film is his final feature film role. 

Iconic martial artist and actor Bruce Lee is played by Mike Moh in the film.

Lee was a friend of Tate and Sebring's, and was once suspected by Tate's husband, director Roman Polanski, of being responsible for the murders. 

Tate met Lee on the set of the film "The Wrecking Crew," when he taught karate to everyone on the cast. Afterwards, she introduced the martial artist to her husband, who eventually hired him as his personal kung fu instructor. 

Lee was deeply affected by the murders, and eventually became paranoid for his own safety. 

• Many TV shows and movies have portrayed fictionalized versions of the real-life murderous cult leader Charles Manson, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1971.
• Critics gave a perfect score to the miniseries "Helter Skelter" (1976), which is based on a true-crime book of the same name.
• Of the films and TV shows on this list, critics were least impressed by "Charlie Says" (2018) and "Manson, My Name Is Evil" (2009).
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Over the past few decades, there have been many TV shows and movies portraying fictionalized versions of the real-life Charles Manson, the criminal leader of the cult-like group of people referred to as the Manson "family."

Manson was responsible for the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six other individuals that occurred in California in 1969. The infamous criminal was eventually convicted of first-degree murder in 1971 and he spent the rest of his life in prison.

In the 50 years since the murders, many TV shows and films have attempted to tell dramatized and fictionalized accounts based on or inspired by these events. While some of these have been critically successful, others have flopped.

Here's a list of movies and TV shows about Charles Manson, ranked by critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes. 

It's worth noting that the critic scores were up to date as of publication but are subject to change. In addition, there are many films and TV shows about Manson that do not yet have a critic score and were thus excluded from the list. 

"Charlie Says" (2018) received mixed reviews from critics.

Critics' score: 58%

Audience's score: 86%

This film depicts a fictionalized version of the Manson "family" murders and aftermath of them. The story is told through the eyes of some of the women who committed the murders on Manson's behalf: Susan Atkins (played by Marianne Rendón), Patricia Krenwinkel (played by Sosie Bacon), and Leslie Van Houten (played by Hannah Murray). 

Many critics didn't love the film, coming to the general consensus that it treated Manson's story with a "lack of depth." That said, some critics lauded Matt Smith in his role as Manson and complimented the female perspective of the film.

As Chloe Leeson of Screen Queens wrote Matt Smith's portrayal is a "wholly surprising but evidently perfect casting choice." She added, "He blends the role with such charisma and eventual mania that its impossible to not be drawn in in a similar fashion that the women experienced."

Indie film "Leslie, My Name Is Evil" (2009), which was later renamed to "Manson, My Name Is Evil," takes place during the trial of the Manson "family."

Critics' score: 67%

Audience's score: 27%

The film is about a fictional love story that occurs during the trial of Manson's female followers. This telling of Manson and his cult has been called a "campy pseudo-musical," by critics like Shelagh Rowan-Legg of That Shelf.

Although not many critics have scored the film, it has received mixed reviews, with some lauding Ryan Robbins' performance as Manson.

Critic Monika Bartyzel of Collider wrote that Robbins' portrayal of the murderous cult leader was quite impressive. "It's Robbins who really brings to life the chills and wild-eyed charisma of Charlie Manson, offering madman qualities with enough vivaciousness to see why the eerie man could command a cult," she wrote.

"The Manson Family" (1997) is a dramatized re-telling and mockumentary of sorts.

Critics' score: 68%

Audience's score: 50%

The filming of "The Manson Family"began in 1988 but was not released in the US until 2004. This film retells the lives of those in the Mason "family" in a mockumentary style, through the lens of faux interviews and home videos. It stars Marcelo Games as Manson. 

The film has had many mixed reviews. Critic Brent Simon of Now Playing magazine praised it as "an artful and original reconstruction and deconstruction of a series of ghastly events that have taken their place in the annals of American crime history."

But critics like Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe didn't have much positive feedback for the film, writing, "There's no real journalism here, just the sort of appalling revisionism that can turn a bloodbath into a beach party."

NBC's "Aquarius" (2015 -2016) is a crime drama that focuses on Manson and his "family."

Critics' score: 77%

Audience's score: 73%

This show only had two seasons and it wasn't exactly based on the true story of Manson and how he was arrested, but it does depict a loose version of him and some of the crimes he and his followers committed. The show revolves around two cops who initially go into a missing person's case about a teen girl and stumble into Manson (played by Gethin Anthony) and his "family."

As critic Tirdad Derakhshani wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer, "We'll leave it for the experts to decide how much Aquarius fudges the truth. As drama, it's gripping, disturbing, and rewarding." Critic Glenn Garvin of Reason.com also praised the first season of the series for its "epic battles over race, gender, drugs, and the Vietnam war."

The second season of the show depicted the infamous murder of Sharon Tate, which generated criticism from some including Tate's sister, Debra Tate. She later called for a boycott of the series, saying it is "extremely insensitive,"per Variety.

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019) isn't focused on Manson, though it does depict him.

Critics' score: 84%

Audience's score: 71%

Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" utilizes a new angle when depicting a fictionalized version of events that occurred throughout the '60s and '70s — and Manson (played by Damon Herriman) is nearly absent.

The film is set during the time when Manson and his followers were gaining steam, but the character of Manson is more or less unnamed in the movie and he only appears in one scene. 

That said, many critics seemed to enjoy this "unique" angle. As critic Brad Keefe wrote for Columbus Alive,"The fact that 'Once Upon a Time' isn't exactly what you'd expect is a testament to Tarantino's ability to still shock and surprise audiences, even as he's up to his familiar tricks."

"Helter Skelter" (1976) is a miniseries based on the true-crime book of the same name.

Critics' score: 100%

Audience score: 74%

The TV miniseries "Helter Skelter" came out just five years after Manson was convicted of murder and it's based on the 1974 true-crime book of the same name that was penned by Vincent Bugliosi, the attorney who prosecuted Manson's case. 

According to some critics, Steve Railsback is "extraordinarily good"in his role as Manson in "Helter Skelter" and it really adds to the believability of the miniseries. 

As critic Rachel Abramowitz from the Los Angeles Times wrote retrospectively in 2004, "[Railsback gave] the kind of naturalistic performance that threatens to swallow a performer, and the inadvertent documentary nature of the miniseries just heightens the air of realism." 

• Over two frenzied nights in early August 1969, cult leader Charles Manson and his followers took the lives of seven people. 
• One of the victims was the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski. 
• 50 years on, the effect of these murders still haunt the nation. Documentaries, books, television series, and movies have all been made about the brutal event, including Quentin Tarantino's latest film, "Once Upon a Time In Hollywood." 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

The Manson murders closed out one era for the US, and heralded the arrival of another.

No more guaranteed innocence or safety. No more children playing on the streets late at night. From then on a shadow would hang over the counter-cultural movement. It was the end of the "flower-powered" 1960s. 

Over two nights in August 1969, seven people were brutally murdered. The Manson "Family" killers were following orders from their cult leader, Charles Manson. One of the seven victims was pregnant actress Sharon Tate. 

The effect of these murders continues to haunt the nation 50 years on. In 2019, three movies about the killings, including Quentin Tarantino's latest film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," are being released. And Vulture has a guide to all the books, films and television series the story's been a part of. 

But there's also the real story behind the killings, that isn't on the big screen. This is what happened.

Charles Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1934. His father abandoned the family before his birth, and his 16-year-old mother struggled to raise him; at one point, she sold him for a jug of beer. He began committing petty crimes when he was 12, and spent years in and out of reform schools where he was the victim of sexual assault attacks and also victimized others.

Sources: CNN, Vox

In 1954, at the age of 19, Manson was released from reform school and put in the custody of his aunt and uncle. Soon after, he married and moved to Los Angeles with his new wife, seeking fame and fortune. But just a few years later, in 1957, Manson was sent to prison for violating the terms of his probation. Manson would spend the next ten years in and out of prison for petty crimes and probation violations. In 1967, divorced and ready for a change, Manson moved to San Francisco, then the center of the counterculture movement.

Source: CNN

Manson didn't believe in the counterculture, but he had wild eyes and long hair, and so he looked the part. He was able to blend into the burgeoning hippie scene, and began to exercise his ability to manipulate and control people.

Sources: CNN, Vulture, New York Times

In the fall of 1967, he brought together a group of followers, called the "Family," telling them he was a religious leader. Together, they returned to Los Angeles so Manson could chase his Hollywood dreams.

Source: Vox

This group was comprised mostly of young women who would later be called the "Manson girls." Manson, who had previously worked as a pimp, was an expert at controlling the women.

Source: Vox

One of his youngest followers was Dianne Lake, who met Manson when she was 14 years old. Lake's parents were hippies who encouraged their daughter to take drugs and have sex. She didn't participate in the murders but would serve as a key witness in the trial. Lake would later argue that the counterculture movement allowed for widespread abuse of women and girls.

Source: Vox

Manson had aspirations to be a famous singer — though he was apparently a terrible musician — and closely studied the Beatles. In 1967 or 1968, he met a music teacher named Gary Hinman, who introduced him to Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson. It was a fortuitous meeting: Wilson let Manson and the Family live in his house on Sunset Boulevard — and also lent him hundreds of thousands of dollars to record an album — in exchange for sex with the Manson girls.

Sources: CNN, Vox

In August 1968, Wilson finally kicked them out and the Family moved to a gone-to-seed western movie set called Spahn Ranch, near Chatsworth, California. Manson traded sex with his followers to the owner for free rent.

Source: Vox

Before their relationship had soured, Wilson introduced Manson to a record producer named Terry Melcher who at first seemed interested in Manson's music. But after completing some initial recordings, Melcher chose not to sign Manson. At the time, Melcher lived with his girlfriend in a luxury home at 10050 Cielo Drive, in Benedict Canyon. Manson visited him there several times before Melcher moved out.

Source: CNN

Despite his conflicts with Wilson, the Beach Boys did decide to record a track of Manson's. The song, called "Cease to Exist," eventually morphed to the Beach Boys B-side "Never Learn Not To Love." Though Manson had initially been thrilled to have the band record the song, he found the end product markedly different from his initial track, and was miffed that he hadn't been given a songwriting credit.

Source: Vox

By the summer of 1969, after Melcher's rejection, Manson's Hollywood dreams appeared to be crushed. And, although he knew Melcher had moved out, the Cielo Drive house remained in Manson's mind a symbol of Hollywood and the life he'd been denied. In May, the cracks began to appear when Manson shot a drug dealer named Bernard Crowe over a disputed payment.

Source: Vox

The next people move into Hinman's Cielo Drive house were director Roman Polanski and his young wife, the actress Sharon Tate.

Source: CNN

In July 1969, Manson ordered his followers Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner, and Susan Atkins, to force Gary Hinman to give him $20,000. Manson also showed up with a sword and almost cut off Hinman's ear. After two days Hinman was killed by Beausoleil. The family attempted to frame the black power group the Black Panthers for the crime by writing "Political Piggie" in blood on the wall. Manson was an avowed racist, and believed that a coming race war — which he referred to as "Helter Skelter" (from the Beatles song of the same name) — was on the horizon. In framing the Black Panthers for Hinman's murder, he was hoping to move it along.

Sources: CNN, NY Daily News, Vox

On August 6, Beausoleil was arrested for Hinman's murder. Manson panicked, terrified that Beausoleil would implicate him in the crime (and the earlier murder of Crowe), and wanted to deflect attention away from the deaths. So, two days later, Manson ordered four of his most loyal followers — Susan Atkins, Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian — to murder anyone in Polanski's house. On that night, heiress Abigail Folger, hair stylist Jay Sebring, writer Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, and Sharon Tate were killed.

Sources: Vox, Business Insider

Sharon Tate was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. On her last day alive, she ate lunch by the pool with a friend, spoke to her husband on the phone, and napped.

Source: Washington Post

Roman Polanski was in London on the night of the murder, on the back-end of a trip to Europe to scout movie locations. Actor Steve McQueen was also meant to be at the house that night, but ran into a friend and went with her instead.

Sources: People, Washington Post

The murders were meant to look like the Hinman killing, to pull the attention off Beausoleil, who was being held by the police. But Manson wasn't impressed. He complained the murder was "sloppy."

Source: Vox

On August 9, 1969, the following night, he accompanied Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten to ensure the second round of murders weren't as sloppy. They found the house of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, and murdered them. Manson ordered the group to "leave something witchy" at the crime scene, so they wrote "pig" and "healter skelter" [sic] on the house in blood.

Sources: CNN, Vox

In October 1969, Manson and his followers were arrested at Barker Ranch, their outpost in Death Valley National Park. But the arrest wasn't for murder — they were suspected of stealing a car.

Sources: CNN, NY Daily News

A month later, Susan Atkins, who had already been charged with Hinman's murder, told a fellow inmate at the Sybil Brand Institute for Women, where she was incarcerated, that she'd killed Sharon Tate. She said the Manson Family had wanted to commit a crime that would shake the world.

Source: CNN

On December 8, 1969, Manson, along with Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, was indicted for the murders at the Cielo Drive house and the La Bianca house. Six months later, in June 1970, the trial began. Linda Kasabian, who had served as the lookout for the group, became the prosecution's chief witness in exchange for immunity.

Source: Business Insider

During the trial Manson and the women showed no remorse and often giggled during the proceedings. Manson changed his appearance, carving an "x" into his forehead. The girls ended up doing the same. Later, he turned the "x" into a swastika.

Source: Business Insider

A group of Manson's followers who had not participated in the murders publicly supported him during the trial and shaved their heads in solidarity.

Source: Business Insider

On January 25, 1971, after a seven-month trial and ten days of jury deliberation, all of the defendants — Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten — were found guilty. Four of the killers, including Manson, got the death penalty, but the following year California abolished the death penalty. Their sentences were commuted to life in prison.

Source: CNN

In November 2017, Manson died at the age of 83. During the course of his sentence, he was denied parole 12 times, accrued 108 disciplinary violations, and never showed any remorse for the murders. Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009. Currently, Patricia Krenwinkel is in prison and will be up for parole in three years. In June 2019, Leslie Van Houten was denied parole. Charles "Tex" Watson will be eligible for parole in 2022.

Source: CNN

• The Tate Murders of August 8, 1969, represented the apex of the Manson murder spree that marked the end of the 1960s.
• Their investigations were also almost bungled.
• Los Angeles police officers repeatedly made mistakes in their investigation, mucking up the crime scene and ignoring obvious clues.
• The city's law enforcement teams didn't cooperate with each other, slowing down the investigation and almost letting Charles Manson get away with murder.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

On August 8, 1969, five people were slaughtered — along with the sixties and everything for which it stood — at 10500 Cielo Drive.

The Charles Manson story has been told ad nauseam. More than a dozen movies and TV shows have been made about it over the decades. But not everybody knows how the Los Angeles Police Department almost screwed it all up.

Manson's "family" killed nine people in July and August of 1969. The Tate murders, that night, were the most grisly. Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, and Steven Parent were killed with bullets and stabs. Atkins scrawled the word "PIG" in Tate's blood on the front door of the house before leaving.

The 1974 book "Helter Skelter"by Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and writer Curt Gentry shares disturbingly detailed, firsthand accounts of the murders and trials thereafter and is one of the best-selling true crime books in history.

It also divulges the LAPD's incessant misconduct, which almost led to Charles Manson's escape.

The LAPD didn't know how to handle the murders

The murder of Sharon Tate also marked the killing of an era. Flower power wilted into gutter mulch, Altamont claimed four lives, and the phrase 'serial killer' was not yet coined. It was an age of assassinations, civil unrest and unjust wars, but also a time of progression. An eruption of music and art laced with LSD emboldened the counter-culture at Woodstock the same year Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin moonwalked. Times were a-changing, as the song goes, but no decade — especially one known for peace, love and space odysseys — came to as abrupt an end as the 1960s.

It began in Benedict Canyon, when the bodies were discovered by Winifred Chapman, the housekeeper who worked for Tate and her husband Roman Polanski. LAPD officer Jerry Joe DeRosa was first on the scene, and with his arrival came a deluge of disasters. He was joined by Officers William T. Whisenhunt and Robert Burbridge who, shaken by the horrific nature of the crimes, robotically went through the motions: question the hysterical housekeeper, scan the perimeter, search the residence, call for backup. The first faux pas pointed out by Bugliosi was committed by DeRosa.

While escorting a soon-to-be-inconsequential suspect down the driveway (William Garretson, the property's caretaker), DeRosa noticed blood on the button that opened the gate.

"Officer DeRosa, who was charged with securing and protecting the scene until investigating officers arrived, now pressed the button himself," Bugliosi writes, "successfully opening the gate but also creating a superimposure that obliterated any print that may have been there."

When questioned about this slapdash move, his excuse was: "I had to get out of there."

The crime scene wasn't preserved, slowing the case

Within hours, Cielo Drive was flooded with throngs of police officers and eager media personnel.

The more officers visited the property, the more contaminated the crime scene became. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses — which at one point was considered a crucial piece of evidence but was later dismissed as irrelevant— had been picked up from their original place on the floor and set on a desk. And two wooden pieces of a gun grip originally found by the entryway were "apparently kicked under the chair by one of the original officers on the scene," according to the LAPD report.

The missteps continued as several officers tracked the victims' blood from inside to outside, obscuring the crimson footprints left by the killers. This blunder wasted precious time that could have been spent pursuing the murderers instead of interviewing personnel who visited the scene to differentiate their footprints. What's more, an unidentified officer absentmindedly shared erroneous information with on-site reporters, mentioning that "it seemed ritualistic," which unleashed a torrent of preposterous headlines in the following days.

And it gets worse. Much worse.

Forensic science was in its nascency in 1969. Though the implementation of DNA profiling was still 14 years away, forensics did exist and was relied upon by law enforcement and the legal system alike. Blood and fingerprints were crucial in solving crimes. If either of those elements were damaged, an entire investigation could be upended.

With five bodies that were either stabbed, bludgeoned or shot, the crime scene was awash with blood.

But officer Joe Granado, a forensic chemist at the LAPD, took samples from only one area. According to Bugliosi, he presumed all the samples would be the same, and relied on obtaining each victim's blood sample from the coroner's office a few days later, which he would attempt to match with the samples he had collected. He took a total of 45 blood samples but didn't run subtypes on 21 of them. The botched blood testing led to persistent problems throughout the police investigation and trial.

A similar murder wasn't made known to investigators

As the autopsies were underway, another body was found. Two Los Angeles Sheriff's Office homicide detectives, Sergeants Paul Whiteley and Charles Guenther, told Sergeant Jess Buckles, an LAPD detective assigned to the Tate homicides, that they had discovered the body of 34-year-old music teacher Gary Hinman, who had been stabbed in his Malibu home.

What was remarkable about this case was that the words "POLITICAL PIGGY" were written in his blood on the living room wall.

"A little more than twenty-four hours after the discovery of the Tate victims, the Los Angeles Police Department was given a lead by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office, which, if followed, could possibly have broken the case," Bugliosi writes. "Buckles never did call, nor did he think the information important enough to walk across the autopsy room and mention the conversation to his superior, Lieutenant Robert Helder, who was in charge of the Tate investigation."

Even when Whiteley mentioned the oddly specific similarities between the murders — the stabbing, the bloody message, the word "pig"— Buckles, according to Whiteley, "lost interest when he mentioned hippies."

"Naw," Buckles told Whiteley, according to Bugliosi. "We know what's behind these murders. They're part of a big dope transaction."

The Manson Family struck again. The LAPD didn't see the connection.

While the LAPD was still reeling from the so-called Tate murders, the Manson Family struck again less than 48 hours later.

This time, it was at 3301 Waverly Drive near Griffith Park. The victims were Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. It was on the couple's refrigerator that the book's eponymous phrase was written in blood: "HELTER SKELTER" (though it was misspelled as "HEALTER SKELTER"). Despite the staggering number of bizarre similarities between the Tate, Hinman, and LaBianca murders, the police consciously decided there was still no connection.

"I don't see any connection between this murder and the others," inspector K. J. McCauley told reporters, according to Bugliosi. "They're too widely removed. I just don't see any connection."

The reason? After finding hashish, marijuana, MDA, and cocaine at the Tate-Polanski residence, police locked onto the theory that the Tate murders were a drug deal gone awry.

The victims were known for their rollicking hippie bacchanals (it was 1960s Hollywood, after all), and police delved into their backgrounds, interviewing past partygoers, friends, acquaintances, paramours, and colleagues. Those connected to Tate and Polanski's clique became consumed by paranoia. An anonymous film figure reportedly told Life magazine that "toilets are flushing all over Beverly Hills; the entire Los Angeles sewer system is stoned."

The LAPD was blinded by this theory. Death by drug-dealers was much more plausible than death by a far-out cult of brainwashed teenage runaways and the puppet-master who convinced them he was Jesus Christ and thought the Beatles' wrote the "White Album" for him. Even detailed confessions from Manson girl Susan Atkins — AKA Sadie Mae Glutz — were initially disregarded because they were too outlandish to believe.

LA law enforcement was a mess

In the first two months of investigations, there was no collaboration between the Tate and LaBianca detectives nor with the sheriff's department, even though they shared an office. Bugliosi said the groups had a bitter rivalry, the Tate detectives being the "old guard" who were around before formal police training was required, and the LaBianca detectives "young upstarts" who were more savvy and educated.

When the time came to submit the second progress report for the Tate and LaBianca cases on October 5 of that year, the Tate detectives turned in a lengthy document yielding no actual advancements in their investigation. The LaBianca report was shorter but contained a wealth of compelling information.

"The LaBianca detectives had decided — on their own, and without consulting the Tate detectives — to see if they could solve the Tate, as well as the LaBianca, case," Bugliosi wrote. "The second LaBianca report was interesting for still another reason. It listed eleven suspects, the last of whom was one MANSON, CHARLES."

When Bugliosi joined the investigation, he immediately noticed the discord between the Tate and LaBianca detectives. He also noted the difference in competence between the teams, saying the Patchett and Gutierrez of the LaBianca team provided him a detailed report on Manson's activities the week of the murders without much guidance, unlike the Tate detectives.

A childish, jealousy-fueled rivalry between two generations of police almost obstructed justice. Eventually, though, the unshakable hubris and carelessness of the Manson Family transcended the LAPD's sloppiness, and Manson ultimately went to prison.

The litany of the LAPD's oversights enumerated by "Helter Skelter" continued beyond Manson's final capture and into the trial. But it was those first moments following the murders — the crime scene contamination, the laziness, the rivalry, the blind idiocy — that almost let Manson get away with murder.

Yet it also shows how much investigation methods have evolved. Despite their missteps, these officers were pioneers, unraveling a terrifying mystery that was so outrageous and bizarre that it's incredible it was solved at all.

• Read more:
• The horrific true story behind the 1969 Manson Family murders that changed America forever
• It's been nearly 50 years since the Manson Family murders. Here are 15 movies based on the notorious crimes.
• Movies about murderous cult leader Charles Manson, ranked by critics
• A paranormal investigator just bought the infamous Los Angeles home where the Charles Manson murders took place 50 years ago
• Charles Manson was sentenced to 9 life sentences for orchestrating 7 gruesome murders with his cult 'family' — here's his life story

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