‘He was the closest thing to Jesus’: Charles Manson’s former lover opens up about her time with the cult leader – as she pleads for other family members still imprisoned for their crimes to be freed

• Former lover of cult leader Charles Manson has given an Australian TV interview
• Catherine Share says Manson was regarded as God-like figure by followers
• She called for the three surviving Manson Family killers to be released from jail
• Almost 50 years since Manson and followers killed nine people in Los Angeles

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A former lover and devoted member of Charles Manson family has opened up in an Australian television interview about her time with the crazed Californian cult leader. 

This year marks the 50th anniversary since Manson and several followers shocked the world when they went on a deadly rampage in Los Angeles, killing nine people at four locations across the city in July and August 1969, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

While Manson died behind bars in 2017 aged 83, the three surviving Manson Family killers still imprisoned hope to be released, with one set to walk free within weeks.

Crazed cult leader Charles Manson (pictured in 1969) died in prison in 2017 aged 83

Among those who believe the surviving murderers should be released is former follower and Manson’s one time lover, Catherine Share.

She was a vulnerable and lonely 26-year-old woman when she sought solace in the Manson Family in 1969, where their cult leader was regarded as God-like figure.

‘I thought he was the closest thing to Jesus,’ she told 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown.

‘He just seemed like he knew everything. So we listened to everything he said like it was gospel.’

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One time lover and former Manson Family member Catherine Share (pictured) regarded cult leader and killer Charles Manson as a God-like figure when she joined in 1969 aged 26

While she served five years in prison for unrelated crimes, Ms Share insisted she was never asked to take part in the shocking murders and doesn’t believe she would have agreed to participate even if she had been.

‘I probably would have died first. If I had said ‘no’, I might have been killed,’ she said.

When asked what she meant, Ms Share replied: ‘I would have been willing to be killed rather than do it. But that doesn’t make me better than anyone else. It’s just that I was older and more of a human and less susceptible’

She has called for the surviving ‘Manson Family Killers’ who remain incarcerated to be released, including Leslie Van Houten, now 69, who could become the first member of the cult family to walk free within weeks after her bid for parole was recently granted.

Surviving Manson killer Leslie Van Houten (pictured) could be freed within weeks

Charles Manson (pictured) was described by a former lover as a damaged human being

‘They’re just not the same people they were when they were 20 and 18 at all. ‘It’s time,’ Ms Share said.

Involved in the stabbing murder of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary when she was just 19, Van Houten is currently the second longest serving female prisoner in California. 

The couple were murdered a day after other Manson followers killed film director Roman Polanski’s pregnant actress wife Sharon Tate and four others in Los Angeles.  

The state’s longest-serving female prisoner is Patricia Krenwinkel, now 71, another of the surviving Manson Family killers.

Krenwinkel and Charles ‘Tex’ Watson have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009.

Catherine Share (pictured in 1970) says she was never asked to take part in the murders

In 2016, Van Houten, who launched her first parole attempt in 1979 and has applied for parole 20 times, recounted her part in the killing of the La Biancas.

She went into graphic detail about how she held down Rosemary La Bianca and secured a pillow with a lamp cord while another member of the Manson family stabbed her repeatedly.

Her husband, Leno, was also stabbed to death before carving the word ‘WAR’ in his stomach.

Van Houten said: ‘I don’t let myself off the hook. I don’t find parts in any of this that makes me feel the slightest bit good about myself.’ 

Manson Family killers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten in 1971

The Governor of California is yet to decide to approve the parole board’s decision regarding Van Houten. 

She hopes it will be third time lucky, having had the parole board’s decision overturned at the last hurdle twice previously.

Her lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, is confident of her chances and believes she’s no longer a danger to public safety.

Ms Share said she is glad Manson never got another taste of freedom, describing him as a damaged human being.

‘There are just some people who are unsafe to be out.’

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