Bobby Beausoleil

Passions

Vocation

Lifestyle

Family

American musician, artist and convicted murderer. A member of the Charles Manson family, he was found guilty of killing Gary Hinman on July 27,1969. The oldest of five children who were raised in a traditional Catholic home, he joined the counter-culture of the 1960s at age 16. A guitarist who was too young to play in bars, he was forced to leave the psychedelic band called Grass Roots which had morphed into a band named Love. By age 18 he had moved to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district where he formed his own band called The Orkustra where he caught the attention of Kenneth Anger. In spring of 1967, Anger cast him in his film "Lucifer Rising." For the movie, Beausoleil wrote and performed the score. By late 1967 he was back in Los Angeles where he met and performed with Charles Manson, an association that would lead to the killing of Gary Hinman. In early August 1969 Beausoleil was arrested for his part in the murder and was put on trial which continued into 1970. Beausoleil was sentenced to death. In 1972 his sentence was changed to life in prison. While imprisoned in Oregon State Penitentiary, he continues to make music and to develop his artistic talents. In 1981 he married an artist Barbara Ellen Baston and the couple has four children. Link to Wikipedia biography