U.S.! Charles Manson’s cult killings fueled by ‘perfect storm’, Teacher allegedly asked student to kill her husband for $2000, 17-year-old fugitive who killed teenager on bus in Philadelphia arrested, Teen accused of killing New Jersey police officer to be charged as adult, Covenant School trans shooter final report, Justin Soriano was sentenced to 40 years to life for murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Arsonist who set 9 fires gets 13-year sentence, 6-month-old baby dies after being attacked by family’s dog, Naresh Bhatt charged with wife’s murder, Mom charged 55 years later with killing baby 2025.4.1-4.5

Charles Manson’s cult was linked to seven killings in California

The mystery of Charles Manson’s motive in notorious cult killings is getting a fresh look as an FBI criminal profiler reveals a “perfect storm” of factors came together for the infamous murders.

Countless theories about how Manson managed to convince a group of young adults to kill for him have been dissected, but director Errol Morris is offering a new perspective into the mind of the notorious cult leader in his Netflix documentary “CHAOS: The Manson Murders.”

Based on the 2019 book “CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties,” authored by Tom O’Neill and Dan Piepenbring, the documentary delves into the theory Manson may have been influenced by an external force when directing his followers.

“I’ve found myself trapped in a number of different true-crime stories, and the Manson murders are peculiar,” Morris told Netflix’s Tudum. “You could encapsulate the mystery in just one question: How is it that Manson managed to convince the people around him that killing was OK?”

Netflix and Morris did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Morris explores the widely circulated theory suggesting Manson may have been operating under the influence of the CIA’s controversial MK-ULTRA program, leaning into the cultural interest surrounding mind control, a widespread fascination throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

However, experts have expressed skepticism about the idea that Manson was acting under government control.

“[Manson] was influenced by what he wanted to do,” former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole told Fox News Digital. “He was influenced by the fact that he wanted to become a very well-known musician at the time, which is why he made friends with the influential people that he did. But was there this outside force that compelled him to do that? I don’t believe that there was. There was still his personality that was distinct to him [and] was not created by an outside force.”

The CIA has also discredited the theory, first explored by O’Neill, in recent years.

“The author cannot definitively tie Manson to MK-ULTRA or CHAOS; he can only imply it on circumstantial evidence,” the CIA said in a review of O’Neill’s book.

O’Neill did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

In 1969, the Manson family carried out the brutal murders of seven people under his watchful eye. Pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Jay Sebring, Steven Parent, Abigail Folger and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were massacred by the family in a string of killings.

The group carried out five of its murders inside Tate’s home Aug. 9, 1969. One day later, the final victims of the Manson family, the LaBiancas, were fatally stabbed inside their home.

“[Manson] met up with a lot of his later-to-be followers in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, which, at that time in the ’60s, was known for being a gathering place for people in very formative years,” O’Toole told Fox News Digital.

“There was the use of drugs and alcohol, and people came together without a lot of external oversight by a parent or a caregiver, so they were very vulnerable at that point. [Then], here comes Charlie Manson, with his personality and his ability to get people — especially young people — to follow him, and that’s what I’m talking about in regard to the perfect storm.”

After the killings, Manson and his “family” moved to Spahn Ranch, located approximately 30 miles north of Los Angeles, where he subjected his followers to outlandish lectures while providing them with drugs and overseeing orgies.

Authorities arrested Manson three months later as details of the killings rattled Los Angeles and investigators delved into theories about the murders.

During the trial, prosecutors argued Manson was using his status with his all-white followers in an attempt to ignite a race war, citing his supposed misinterpretation of the Beatles’ 1968 song, “Helter Skelter.” Manson never actually carried out the murders himself, relying entirely on his followers to kill for him.

“[Manson] really was someone that knew right from wrong,” O’Toole said. “He knew the repercussions and the end results of his actions. He took no responsibility for his actions or the actions of his group, and he was very deliberate in his thinking.”

In 1971, Manson and three followers — Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel — were convicted for their roles in the murders and subsequently sentenced to death. A fourth “family” member, Charles “Tex” Watson, was convicted several months later.

The four defendants were resentenced to life in prison after a 1972 ruling from the California Supreme Court abolishing the state’s death penalty.

Manson was 83 years old when he died of natural causes Nov. 19, 2017.

In 2023, Van Houten walked free after serving more than 50 years in a California prison for the killings of the LaBiancas, making her the only member of the Manson family to be released from prison.

While Manson never actually carried out the murders he was imprisoned for, Peacock’s 2024 “Making Manson” documentary revealed he may have committed more killings himself.

In a teaser clip, Manson can be heard confessing to additional crimes while on a jailhouse phone call.

“There’s a whole part of my life that nobody knows about,” Manson can be heard saying. “I lived in Mexico for a while. I went to Acapulco, stole some cars.”

Manson goes on to reveal more details about the supposed murders.

“I just got involved in some stuff over my head, man,” he added. “Got involved in a couple of killings. I left my .357 Magnum in Mexico City, and I left some dead people on the beach.”

“I would never draw the line and say Charlie Manson could manipulate people to do his bidding, but he himself would never do it,” O’Toole said. “I would never draw that line. You can’t simply say that because Charlie hurting other people was part of his repertoire. So, whether he had somebody else do it or he did it himself is certainly something that has to be explored.”

A staff member at an Ohio high school is accused of trying to hire a student to kill her husband for $2,000, according to a criminal complaint.

Stephanie Demetrius, 44, was charged with felony conspiracy for allegedly asking a juvenile at the Academy for Urban Scholars High School in Columbus to commit the murder, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Demetrius allegedly approached the student on March 26 and paid $250 cash “as a down payment for the job,” the affidavit stated.

Police obtained a recording of a phone call between the student and Demetrius during which she “confirmed the remaining payment was not a worry,” the affidavit stated.

“She noted when the kids would be out of the ex-husband’s house and that … he worked from home. When asked if neighbors would hear the gunfire, she advised that they don’t care about her neighbors,” the affidavit stated.

During her arraignment on Thursday, her public defender said Demetrius denied the allegations and “says this is being fabricated.” Her attorney added that Demetrius looks forward to her day in court.

The prosecutor, Parker Schwartz, asked for a high bond “given the alarming allegations here.” He said Demetrius is in a “recent or pending divorce or separation” and has a protection order against her.

The defense said Demetrius has four children while asking for a reasonable bond.

The judge set Demetrius’ bond at $150,000 and ordered that she comply with the terms of the protection order filed against her as well as stay away from the juvenile involved in the case as part of her bond conditions.

When asked if she had any questions, Demetrius responded, “Who is the juvenile involved in this case?”

She has not yet entered a plea to the charge.

ABC News has reached out to Demetrius’ public defender for comment and has not yet received a response.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 11.

Demetrius was a literacy enrichment instructor at the school, a spokesperson told ABC News. She was immediately fired, the school said in a statement on Friday.

“The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority,” the Academy for Urban Scholars High School said in the statement. “We remain committed to maintaining a secure, focused learning environment where students can thrive academically and personally.”

The school said it is cooperating with authorities and is “offering counseling and resources to the student directly impacted, his family, and are also making these services available to any other students or families who may need them.”

A Bronx man convicted of gunning down his pregnant ex-girlfriend in front of her kids just hours after her baby shower was sentenced to 40 years to life behind bars on Thursday.

Justice Ann Scherzer slapped the prison term on Justin Soriano, 44, inside Manhattan Supreme Court for the grisly slaying of his eight-month pregnant ex gal pal, Shanice Young, outside her Harlem home in September 2021.

Soriano — who was convicted on murder, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and endangering the welfare of a child charges in November — pulled up to her building on a motorcycle as Young’s family and her new boyfriend unloaded baby shower gifts from a car into the apartment, while the expectant mom sat in the passenger seat, prosecutors said at the trial.

Wearing all black and latex gloves, Soriano stormed into the building and then whipped out a gun and chased her boyfriend outside.

The 31-year-old mom stepped out of the car while her two daughters, 15 and 6, and the new boyfriend’s children — a 7-year-old girl and 1-year-old baby — sat in the vehicle.

Young asked “why he was doing this,” and the enraged ex repeated the question before blasting her three times in the face around 1 a.m. near West 128th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, according to prosecutors.

Medics rushed Young to Harlem Hospital, where she and the unborn baby died.

A friend of Young’s said baby shower gifts were lined up in the hallway before the violence exploded.

“Who the f–k shoots a pregnant woman?” the distraught friend railed to The Post at the time. “You’ve got to be out of your mind.”

Soriano, meanwhile, fled the scene and was caught by cops days later in the Bronx.

He had nine previous arrests, including charges for drugs, resisting arrest and assault, according to police sources.

The tragedy came during a time that “should have been a joyous and memorable occasion and celebration” for Young, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

“Soriano committed this horrific shooting in front of four children, including Ms. Young’s own daughters, who helplessly watched their mother die right before their eyes.”

“I hope the significant sentence imposed today serves as a measure of justice for this tragic and abhorrent act of violence,” he added.

Detective Joseph Azcona was fatally shot while inside his vehicle last month

Interim New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba has announced that a 14-year-old gang member accused of fatally shooting a Newark police detective will be charged as an adult in federal court as she vows to crack down on violent crime in the Garden State.

The teen suspect, who has not yet been publicly identified and is an alleged member of the violent Bloods gang, is accused of shooting and killing Detective Joseph Azcona in Newark last month while he was inside his police vehicle. Another officer was also injured in the shooting.

“We’ll be charging that minor as an adult. We filed the papers yesterday,” Habba told the New York Post on Wednesday as she accompanied a multi-agency law enforcement raid on wanted criminals in Brick City.

Habba, President Donald Trump’s former attorney who was sworn in to her new role on Friday, issued a firm warning to violent underage offenders.

“The message is very clear: If you’re a child, I don’t care. If you shoot a cop, you’re getting tried as an adult. I have no tolerance for violence and we’re gonna clean up New Jersey.”

Offenders under age 15 cannot be tries as adults New Jersey but Habba said her office filed papers to take the case to federal court where the teen will be eligible.

“He’s 14 years old; he’s part of a gang — he shot a cop who came out to get him and the officer is now dead. He was 26 years old,” Habba told the Post.

The teen was initially charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons.

The slain officer was part of a team of Newark police detectives and federal agents that had gone to capture a suspect in an illegal weapons sting when the officer was fired on in his vehicle, authorities said.

The other officer who was struck was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities said. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called the shooting a “heinous, callous disregard for humanity” and that officers had gone to the scene knowing that “grave danger was possible.”

During Wednesday’s raid, law enforcement arrested an 18-year-old alleged Bloods gang member with a history of weapons charges and wanted for aggravated assault after an incident in which he allegedly shot two people, the Post reported.

Audrey Hale kept multiple journals about motive, but no highly anticipated ‘manifesto,’ police say

FIRST ON FOX: Nashville police have released their final report on the Covenant School massacre – a targeted March 2023 attack on a Christian school by a transgender shooter who killed three third-graders and three adults.

Rather than a highly anticipated manifesto, the report found that killer Audrey Hale left behind numerous notebooks, art books and computer documents about her plans to commit the attack and gain notoriety, partly inspired by the Columbine school shooting in 1999.

Hale, the 28-year-old attacker and biological female, began “fantasizing” about and researching mass shootings as far back as 2017, according to investigators. A year later, she wrote “detailed fantasies” about shooting up the Isaac T. Creswell Middle Magnet School for the Arts, killing her father and killing her psychiatrist.

“In this case, a manifesto didn’t exist,” the document reads. “Hale never left behind a single document explaining why she committed the attack, why she specifically targeted The Covenant, and what she hoped to gain, if anything, with the attack.”

Instead, her motivations were scattered across those many notebooks and other writings, investigators found. They included an image showing more than two-dozen notebooks seized from Hale’s car and bedroom. They also said she left a suicide note addressed to her parents.

Read the Nashville police report…

“In short, the motive determined over the course of the investigation was notoriety,” according to investigators. “Even though numerous disappointments in relationships, career aspirations, and independence fueled her depression, and even though this depression made her highly suicidal, this doesn’t explain the attack. As Hale wrote on several occasions, if suicide was her goal then she would have simply killed herself.”

Hale wanted people to remember her after her death, according to the document, and was partly inspired by books and documentaries on the Columbine killers. She wanted similar records of her own life and expected her guns, artwork and journals to be preserved in museums around the world.

“Most disturbingly, she wanted the things she left behind to be shared with the world so she could inspire and teach others who were ‘mentally disordered’ like her to plan and commit an attack of their own,” investigators wrote.

Because of Hale’s consistent diaries over a period of years, police said they were able to collect far more information about her than in a typical investigation. They found no evidence of accomplices and said she wanted to prove her “superiority.”

The Covenant School was attached to a church that Hale once attended, and she chose the target because of her connection to it, because children wouldn’t put up a fight, and because she wanted to obtain infamy, according to police.

She killed three 9-year-olds: the pastor’s daughter Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney. The three adults she killed were 60-year-old Head of School Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak, 61, and Mike Hill, 61.

Her biggest fear in the attack, at 5 feet, 2 inches tall and 120 pounds, was running into a “hero” who could physically overpower her and force her to be captured alive.

So she settled on an elementary school that she described as the setting for her “happiest” childhood memories.

“She never remarked of being bullied and ostracized there; on the contrary, she remarked on a couple of occasions how she established friendships, which included play-dates at the homes of other children and a sense of acceptance,” police revealed. “She gave no examples of how anyone at the school belittled her or harmed her, as she did in other places she attended school. Because of this, Hale felt The Covenant was the perfect place to commit an attack, as it was the perfect setting for her death.”

The killer also had plans for “B” and “C” targets – the Opry Mills Mall and a stretch of Belmont Boulevard near Belmont University campus in Nashville. If her parents discovered her plans, she decided she would kill them and attack the Belmont target, according to investigators.

She spent months practicing at the firing range and painted the phrase “Dark Abyss” on her clothes and guns. That was the name she had given to her depression.

But the attack was delayed multiple times, including once after the death of a close friend in a car crash.

Hale, who began using the name “Aiden Williams” in the years before her death, was killed by responding officers in harrowing bodycam video.

“Hale felt she would be a failure if she killed less than 10 people during the attack. In that respect, she did fail, in no small part due to the actions of the faculty and staff at The Covenant,” police wrote. “But she managed to attain the notoriety she craved simply by self-documenting her life and actions in a way no other mass killer has done before.”

The arson spree began in Jamul, and also included bush fires in Dehesa, Rancho San Diego, La Mesa and San Diego.

Allen Dinoyo, 48, was homeless when he started a series of fires across the county last fall.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 13 years and 4 months in prison for his crimes.

Cal Fire captain Mike Cornette said there are protections for people who accidentally start fires when they’re trying to cook or keep warm, but that was not the case with Dinoyo.

Also on Wednesday, Cornette reflected on the end of the complicated investigation that lead to Dinoyo’s arrest.
“This is a success story for our Cal Fire law enforcement officers,” Cornette said. “To successfully bring an arsonist in, to being held accountable.”

Cal Fire investigators say Dinoyo’s arson spree began on Nov. 10 when he lit a fire in Jamul. Exactly 10 days later, Dinoyo lit six more fires — in Jamul, Dehesa and Rancho San Diego — within two hours. The one in Jamul prompted an evacuation warning and road closures near the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge and burned 11 acres near Miller and Campo roads.

“Anytime we have a concentrated number of fires in one area, that kind of raises some suspicion on our part,” Cornette said.

Ten days after those fires, Dinoyo sparked two more, bringing the total to nine. One was in La Mesa and the other was in San Diego.

“As law enforcement goes through their investigation and they decide that this probably is an arson investigation, then it ramps their side up,” Cornette said. “So, they’re going to start gathering evidence, collecting those interviews and doing surveillance.”

Investigators said Dinoyo got around to start all these fires by car. They also found him with a lighter and arrested him on multiple felony arson charges.

“There’s a fine line between an accidental cooking fire escaping the confines of the ring and a malicious arson start,” Cornette said.

A Louisiana mother has been charged with murdering her baby nearly 55 years after claiming he fell out of his crib — as authorities uncovered old hateful letters detailing how she wished he was dead.

Alice Rollinson Bunch Idlett, now 75, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder in the 1970 death of her 16-month-old baby, Earl Dwayne Bunch III, KPLC-TV reported.

At the time, the then-20-year-old mom claimed that her son fractured his skull falling from his crib — but a cold-case investigation launched in 2022 ruled it a homicide.

Baby Earl was covered in bruises as well as bite and burn marks — and his mom wrote disturbing letters to her then-husband, Earl Bunch Jr, about “hating” and “wanting to kill” their son, according to court documents shared by the outlet.

“I just got through whipping that little basdard (sic). I hate him. That’s the honest truth,” she allegedly wrote her husband, who was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War at the time.

“I can’t stand this life. God had to punish me by letting me have that little brat. I wish I would have died when he was born. I hate myself,” she wrote, according to documents first shared in 1985 as part of a divorce and custody battle over their daughter.

“I’ll kill him before he becomes spoilt,” she allegedly threatened in one letter. “I honestly mean that…”

Idlett frequently wrote of her hatred for the baby, according to the court filing, which quoted her as telling her husband in one letter, “If he starts crying when I put him down to play, I’m going to whip him until his darn seat is red. … I hate your son. I wish he was dead…”

In another letter, she asked what was “wrong” with her because she “should love my own son.”

“I feel as if he would die tomorrow I wouldn’t care. I can’t help it,” she allegedly wrote.

When Idlett took her son to the hospital, he was “limp and gasping for breath,” and the doctor found “bite marks” and a “burn mark on his buttocks” as well as bruising all over his body, according to the court documents.

The doctor noted the injuries were not consistent with a fall from a crib, but Idlett denied doing anything to her son, later telling her husband he “probably fractured his skull when he fell out of bed at his grandmother’s house.”

The boy’s father did not alert authorities to the alarming letters at the time, according to KFDM.

“He testified that he accepted his son’s death as accidental because he could not believe that the woman he loved could have harmed her own son,” according to the court filing.

The case was ultimately closed due to a lack of evidence and remained untouched for years until the 2022 investigation, which resulted in the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office convening a Grand Jury and charging Idlett with second-degree murder.

She was booked into the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center on a $950,000 bond, where she remains behind bars.