New Manson Photo

That Kentucky boy Charles Manson from Ashland is in the news again. Much frothing has been going on in the media about a new photograph taken of Manson in prison, and the general tone of the stories has been something along the lines of "Ha ha! Look at Charles Manson now, he's old and gone bald! What a pathetic old schmuck! Ha ha ha!".

It's a bit odd, because I don't recall anything like this sort of mean-spirited petty sensationalism being vented on a prisoner in the news media before. Not even when serial killer Richard Speck was photographed in drag with breast implants in jail. (Then again, I keep forgetting, we do live in a different media era nowadays, where conservative FOX TV hosts and liberal MSNBC TV hosts engage in hurling direct name-calling and personal insults at each other on a daily basis.)

Funny thing is, Manson isn't even really all that bald. Apparently Manson shaved his head recently, and you can even see it clearly growing back on the top of his head. Maybe there's a little male pattern baldness going on in the corners of his hairline, but heck, the guy is, what, going on 75 years old now? Even if he really was naturally bald now, why is that news?

You can read more about ol' Charlie here or on page 103 of your copy of Weird Kentucky.

Charles Manson

Charles Manson's name is often invoked as one of the most horrendous serial killers of all time, right up there with Bundy, Gein, Kemper, Starkweather, Nixon, etc. Problem is, as far as is known, Manson didn't actually kill anybody.

It's been stated that Charlie ordered his acid-addled flunkies to do it, a claim Manson denies. Had Manson presented a cogent defense for himself, he theoretically should have been acquitted. But carving an X on his forehead, declaring himself to be both Christ and Satan incarnate, and yelling in court that the judge's head should be cut off didn't exactly endear him to the jury.


Not many people realize that Charlie was a Kentuckian. Although many biographies list him as being from Cincinnati, Ohio, he was in fact raised by his mother in Ashland, Kentucky and simply happened to have been born in a hospital in nearby Cincinnati.

Trivia: James Willett, another victim of Manson's friends, was also a Kentuckian. In November 1972, three Manson associates - Nancy Pitman, Priscilla Cooper and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, were charged with Willett's murder. His headless body, buried in a shallow grave, was not found for several months. His wife Lauren was found dead soon after Willett's body was discovered.