In unearthed prison phone call, Charles Manson admits involvement in pre-1969 killings

Charles Manson may have killed people even before assembling his notorious “family.”

In an audio recording featured in a new clip from the upcoming docuseries “Making Manson,” the deadly cult leader claims that he lived in Mexico in the 1960s and “got involved in a couple of killings.”

“See there’s a whole part of my life that nobody knows about,” Manson says in a phone call from prison. “I lived in Mexico for awhile. I went to Acapulco, stole some cars. I just got involved in stuff over my head, man. Got involved in a couple of killings. I left my .357 Magnum in Mexico City, and I left some dead people on the beach.”

The revelation arrives as part of a trove of never-before-released conversations unearthed in the three-part documentary series premiering on Peacock on Tuesday. Directed by Billie Mintz, “Making Manson” is a new examination of the notorious criminal in his own words collected through 20 years’ worth of phone calls with a friend.

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The docuseries revisits Manson’s life before he made his way to Berkeley and became the leader of a hippy-like commune comprising mostly young women. In addition to interviewing Manson’s former followers, friends and journalists, the filmmakers have subjects listen and react to these recordings of Manson, who recounts his upbringing, his thoughts about life with his commune and more.

Manson died in 2017 while serving a commuted death sentence for masterminding an infamous spate of murders in Los Angeles in 1969. The leader of the Manson family cult didn’t commit the murders himself — he persuaded his followers to carry them out. Among those Manson and his followers were convicted of killing was actress Sharon Tate, the wife of disgraced director Roman Polanski.

The Mexico killings are among the first that Manson has taken credit for. Manson long maintained that he had not ordered any murders even after his 1971 conviction, with some claiming the 1969 murders were “copycats” masterminded by another.

Manson’s followers and friends in the lead-up to the L.A. murders knew he had spent time in prison but were not all aware of the extent of Manson’s past crimes, which included prior arrests for rape, theft and violating parole. The Acapulco killings would be among the most violent of Manson’s pre-1969 offenses.