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 the Spahn Movie 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.