Charles Manson Follower Still ‘Honored’ She Met Him After Prison Release

Charles Manson died more than a year ago, but his followers remain more loyal than ever. Lynette Fromme, a longtime Manson devotee, recently opened up to ABC about meeting the cult leader.

The 70-year-old said she felt “honored” to have met Manson, though the media often described him as the “epitome of evil.” Fromme told ABC she loved Manson, 83 when he died according to CNN, even now.

“I don’t think you fall out of love. I feel very honored to have met him, and I know how that sounds to people who think he’s the epitome of evil,” she said.

Although Fromme was a follow of Manson’s, she never killed for him and was never charged in connection with any of the murders his other followers carried out. She was, however, part of his inner circle after joining the group — known as the Manson Family — at a young age, according to the ABC interview. In 2009, Fromme was released from prison where she had been sentenced to life for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975.

Fromme told the agency she came to the Manson Family after falling out with her real relatives. She recalled a fight with her father, which led to her being kicked out of the family home with nowhere to go. Fromme told ABC she hitchhiked to Venice, California, where she was approached by Manson.

“My father and I, we argued one night and he said, ‘Get out and don’t ever come back,’” she recalled. “I hitchhiked to a place in Venice. … I thought maybe somebody would take me in. It was dark and nobody was there, and I was sitting looking at the ocean — and here comes Charlie.”

Manson offered Fromme a place to stay, but she was hesitant. Eventually, she made up her mind and went. Fromme never looked back.

“He said, ‘I can’t make up your mind for you.’ That’s why I went with him. And he never did make up my mind for me,” she said. “These stories that have come out about his ordering people to do things … [he] never ordered me.”

Members of the Manson Family were found responsible for murdering music teacher Gary Hinman in July 1969. The group attempted to frame the murder on the Black Panthers. They then murdered actress Sharon Tate in her home in August 1969.

Hairstylist Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent were also killed inside the home on Aug. 9, 1969. The following day, the group killed Leno and Rosemary La Bianca in their Los Angeles home. Manson himself isn’t thought to have carried out any of the murders himself.