‘I come from a murderer’: the woman who found out Charles Manson was her grandfather
Sophia Maddox, a 26-year-old woman, discovered through a genealogy website that she is the granddaughter of notorious cult leader Charles Manson. The discovery is the subject of a new Hulu documentary exploring generational trauma and the legacy of evil.
Why it matters
The story examines the intersection of personal identity, genealogy, and the lasting cultural impact of historical criminal figures.
Charles Manson in 1981. Photograph: AP Charles Manson in 1981. Photograph: AP Documentary films ‘I come from a murderer’: the woman who found out Charles Manson was her grandfather Difficult new Hulu documentary follows a 26-year-old woman’s startling discovery that she’s related to the notorious, murderous cult leader
Prefer the Guardian on Google Sophia Maddox spent her life hearing from her father about how he had never met his father. He would tuck her into bed as a child, she said, and tell her about how much he wanted to know him.
Four years ago, following a match on a genealogy website, they finally learned the shocking truth: her father’s father – her grandfather – was Charles Manson , the notorious cult leader and criminal.
“When my dad found out, he couldn’t bring himself to tell me for two months because it was so dark,” Maddox told the Guardian.
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