and leslie van houten as key participants in the tate and labianca murders, all under manson s direction. what susan atkins said was so important, that the prosecution at the time made a deal with her to testify. reporter: the leader of the hippie clan, charles manson, is being returned to los angeles today from the desert town where he s been in jail on other charges. when the trial begins, the state will attempt to prove that he gave the orders to his followers to kill. that sent a tremor through this country at the time. my god, how is this possible? has the hippie movement gone that awry that it s starting to murder people? sidner: the los angeles district attorney appoints vincent bugliosi lead prosecutor on the case against manson. the prosecutor considers these murders to be perhaps the most heinous in modern history.