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Article snippet: Over two nights in August 1969, Charles Manson’s followers savagely murdered seven people through a frenzied combination of shooting, stabbing, beating and hanging. Their most famous victim was the actress Sharon Tate, the wife of the film director Roman Polanski. She was killed at her house along with four guests. The following night, the gang murdered a wealthy grocer named Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. At their trial, members of the so-called Manson family shamelessly admitted their crimes and flaunted their allegiance to a leader, whom they said they loved and who was portrayed as controlling their minds. Most of his followers were young women who had fled middle-class and upper-class homes to live with Mr. Manson at Spahn Ranch, a mock Old West town near Los Angeles that was once a film set but had fallen into ruin. One sang in her church choir. Another recalled being enchanted by Mr. Manson through what she hoped was a budding romance. Mr. Manson, who died on Sunday, and four members of his gang were sentenced to death. In 1972, their sentences were reduced to life in prison when capital punishment was outlawed in California. (It was reinstated in 1978.) Here is a look at what happened to some of his most ardent followers. Ms. Atkins was a quiet middle-class girl who was born in San Gabriel, Calif., and mostly reared in North Carolina. She has said that her parents were alcoholics and that she was sexually abused by a male relative. She sang in her ... Link to the full article to read more