As the notorious cult leader who orchestrated the brutal Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969, Charles Manson has remained an enigma. While he was originally sentenced to execution in 1971, it was reduced to life in prison after the Supreme Court invalidated all death sentences prior to 1972.

Manson seemed to lack the ability to conform to any kind of societal laws, and the same could be said for prison rules. By the time he died in prison in 2017, he had faced more than 100 violations — including things like threatening the staff, starting fights, attempting to start a flood, and hiding weapons in his cell.

In one instance, Manson mocked convicted murderer Jan Holstrom for the latter’s Hare Krishna beliefs. Holstrom responded by dousing Manson with paint thinner from the prison’s hobby shop and setting him on fire, causing Manson to sustain burns over 18% of his body.

Despite his behavior and reputation, Manson still received a lot of mail and visitor requests throughout his prison life. Aside from maintaining close pen-pal friendships with two men named Ken Dickerson and Michael Channels, he also attracted the devotion of a young woman named Afton “Star” Burton, who moved near his prison and planned to marry him, although they never went through with it.