The New York Times Editorial Staff - Cult Leaders: Charles Manson, Jim Jones and Others

Visitors enter beneath notorious faces of American crime, including Charles Manson, at the Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C.

Jim Jones orchestrated the murder-suicides of more than 900 people in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Under scrutiny for alleged human rights violations, Jones urged the entire population of the socialist town he founded to swallow a cyanide-laced grape drink mix in an act of political protest. They did, and the phrase drinking the Kool-Aid became a popular phrase for blind obedience.

The Texas city of Waco became famous after the annihilation of David Koresh and his Branch Davidians at a compound there in 1993. Armed with weapons and supplies, the group withstood a 51-day siege by the federal authorities. Seventy-nine people were consumed by a fire that started during an attempt to flush out Koresh. No one knows whether Koresh, who died from a gunshot wound to the head, committed suicide or was killed by a member of his devoted group.

In 1997, Heavens Gate leader Marshall Applewhite convinced 38 followers to join him in a mass suicide so their souls could board an extraterrestrial spacecraft they believed followed the Hale-Bopp comet. The reclusive, tech-savvy group posted many of their leaders teachings on the Heavens Gate website, which was used to recruit new members. Applewhite is dead, but the website is still live.

The Executive Success Program offered by Keith Ranieres self-help group Nxivm (pronounced Nex-e-um) appealed to people mostly women who could afford its expensive sessions. Each program led to another, indoctrinating attendees in Mr. Ranieres ideology. A select few women were invited to join a secret sisterhood within Nxivm, where they were branded and forced into what some described as sexual slavery. A series of news stories about the secret society resulted in Mr. Ranieres arrest in 2018, and Nxivm suspended operations shortly afterward.

The morbid fascination with cults and their leaders transcends mere curiosity. How could someone be talked into giving a near-stranger his life savings? Or sleeping with any man she is told to? Killing a child with cyanide? Taking his own life? Cult leaders are masters of manipulation. They know how to tap into the fears, hopes and desires of those looking for something different from the life they have. The fascination with cults stems from the fear that anyone could fall prey to the insatiable, egotistical, power-hungry drives of a cult leader.

CHAPTER 1

Charles Manson: The Manson Family

Once considered the most dangerous man alive, Charles Manson looked the part, with wild eyes and a swastika carved into his forehead. Manson had an intense charisma, and a talent for singing and songwriting. In his early 20s, he hoped to land a recording contract. When that failed to materialize, Manson began to travel around California, talking about the power of music, free love and the problem with the establishment. He attracted a group of young, disenfranchised followers. They called themselves the Manson family. And they murdered nine people.

3 Suspects in Tate Case Tied to Guru and Family

BY STEVEN V. ROBERTS | DEC. 3, 1969

CHATSWORTH, CALIF., DEC. 2 Here in the barren, boulder-strewn Santa Susanna Mountains, the persons accused of killing Sharon Tate, the actress, and at least seven other victims lived a life of indolence, free sex, midnight motorcycle races and apparently blind obedience to a mysterious guru.

This picture emerges from interviews with employees of the Spahn Ranch, a dilapidated riding stable whose Western-style buildings are sometimes used as a movie set.

It was here that Charles Manson and his family of about 18 young people lived for a number of months before the murder of Miss Tate and four others in a lonely hillside home on Aug. 9. They left about a week after the killings when policemen raided their camp looking for stolen automobiles and made several arrests.