Infamous killer and mastermind Charles Manson was denied parole today for the 12th–and presumably last–time. He did not attend the hearing.

77-year old Manson was originally given the death sentence in 1972 for his role in orchestrating the murders of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, but the sentence was overturned after California declared capital punishment unconstitutional. He won’t be given another chance at parole for 15 years, by which time he’ll be well into this 90’s.

While the details of the murders and the stories of those involved–including Manson–are too numerous and complicated to include here, they have been written about to get effect and at some length by people who are fascinated with the Manson Family. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi’s book, Helter Skelter, is particularly well-written and paints the L.A.P.D. as bearing most of the blame for a bungled investigation, due in part to their failure to connect some of the murders.

Perhaps one of the saddest things about the deaths is that they were random. Manson Family member Susan Atkins, the young woman who ended up spilling the beans on the entire ordeal while she was in a women’s detention center, said she and the three other Family members responsible for the killings chose the Tate house because it was isolated, situated as it was in the hills. Sharon Tate was eight months pregnant with a baby boy when she was stabbed to death.