On Monday, cult leader and murderer Charles Manson died at age 83, reportedly of natural causes following a hospitalisation earlier last week. The general reaction to the death of the Manson Family leader, who orchestrated the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate in addition to many others, was "good riddance." In the wake of Manson's death, however, one celebrity has a particularly odd story to share — because he had actually seen Manson in the flesh.
Per People, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston took to social media to share a memory he had of Manson, back when the infamous killer was living on the Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth, California.
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"Hearing Charles Manson is dead, I shuddered. I was within his grasp just one year before he committed brutal murder in 1969. Luck was with me when a cousin and I went horseback riding at the Span Ranch [sic] and saw the little man with crazy eyes whom the other hippies called Charlie."
Hearing Charles Manson is dead, I shuddered. I was within his grasp just one year before he committed brutal murder in 1969. Luck was with me when a cousin and I went horseback riding at the Span Ranch, and saw the little man with crazy eyes whom the other hippies called Charlie.
— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) November 20, 2017
In a 2016 interview with the Hudson Union, Cranston gave more details about the odd encounter, reported People.
"[My cousin and I] were renting the horses and this young guy, bearded guy, came in screaming, 'Charlie’s on the hill!' And about a dozen people galloped away."
We know now that those people on horseback were likely members of the murderous cult known as the Manson Family. They may have even included Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian — the followers who carried out Manson's mission to murder the people staying at the house Tate was renting in Benedict Canyon, as well as supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary in their own home in Los Feliz the following day.
It's all pretty chilling — so no wonder Cranston seemed spooked upon hearing of Manson's well-deserved demise.
Manson's death comes not long after American Horror Story: Cult tackled their own interpretation of the killer. Evan Peters portrayed Manson in the seventh season of the FX series, and even gave Kai (also Peters) instructions to carry out his "Night of 1,000 Tates."
Let's hope, following Manson's death, that Cranston sleeps a little better.