According to History, suspicion didn’t turn to the Manson family until one member who was in prison on completely unrelated charges started bragging about what the family had done at Cielo Drive. Susan Atkins was one of several members arrested at Spahn Ranch in connection with stealing cars, and eventually became suspected of involvement in another murder. While incarcerated she was overheard discussing the Tate-LaBianca murders. Manson was arrested, as were a number of his followers, and their trial began in 1970 and quickly stole front-page attention across the nation and around the world (via Britannica).
Linda Kasabian, who had been stationed at the front of the house as the group’s lookout the night of the murder, was given immunity in exchange for her testimony against the other members. Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Watson, and Leslie Van Houten (who had been involved in murdering the LaBiancas) were found guilty in 1971 and sentenced to death. However, all of those death sentences were commuted to life sentences in 1972 following a California state ban on the death penalty.
According to the Los Angles Times, Manson, who died in 2017, once told a cellmate that he and his followers had been responsible for as many as 35 murders, though this has never been substantiated. Manson was convicted of nine murders in total.
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