THE GRIM TRUTH ABOUT CHARLES MANSON'S MOTHER
By BRIAN MYERS
History - Science
Since having an abusive childhood background is extremely common amongst those who grow up and kill, it doesn’t surprise anyone that the mother of Charles Manson, Kathleen Maddox, was less than a stellar parent. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the media tended to use shady sources — often Manson himself — to build Maddox’s character sketch.
One such story — originated by Manson — involves Kathleen selling her young son to a local bar waitress for a pitcher of beer. According to Manson, he was retrieved by an uncle several days later, but no other source has corroborated the details of this story.
When Manson was born to a 16-year-old Kathleen, his birth certificate read “No Name Maddox,” as Kathleen had refused to give her baby a first name, However, she defended her action in a 1971 interview, saying, “I figured I'd already hurt [my mother] pretty had, so I wanted to let her name the baby, you see.”
When Maddox was released from prison after a botched armed robbery, she was unable to control Manson and sent him to a Catholic reform school for boys. From that point on, Manson would spend the majority of his life behind the walls of correctional facilities, with brief stints on the outside in between incarcerations.
When Manson was incarcerated in 1955, Maddox would move to California to live with Manson’s wife and infant son, eventually dying at age 54 in 1973. In an interview two years before her death, Maddox blamed herself for Manson’s behavior, saying, “Everything was just handed to him, I admit.”