Charles Manson’s granddaughter recalls moment DNA test connected her to killer

The relative of one of the most famous killers in US history has come out to reveal how his notoriety has impacted her life since finding out she was his granddaughter.

In 2022, Sophia Maddox's life changed all because of a trip to New York City.

Maddox, now 26, ended up contracting COVID on the plane home. It's a diagnosis many of us have now had ourselves over the years, but incredibly, it was that development that paved the way to Maddox finding out that her biological grandfather was someone who orchestrated the brutal 1969 killings of nine people.

Now, she's sharing what it's like to find out she's related to a criminal mastermind, and with the release of My Grandfather Charles Manson this week on Hulu, airing on Wednesday (July 22).

There's even a Quentin Tarantino flick about it, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, which gives some insight into the shocking murders, including that of actress and model, Sharon Tate.

Sophia Maddox found out about her link in 2022 (Photo by Albert Foster/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

Speaking about how the dark secret came to light, Maddox shared, per People, that one test changed her life.

“I caught COVID on the plane ride home,” she revealed, noting that she had requested her father, Daniel Arguelles, to take her to get a test done.

But it was on the phone about this appointment that her dad revealed a scary truth he'd never known until then.

“It just popped up. He said, ‘I think I found out who my dad is. And if it’s true, it’s really dark,’” Maddox explained.

Because her father had been raised by his stepfather and mother, and didn't know who his biological father was, he had submitted his DNA to a genealogy website in 2015 in the hopes of connecting to the man in question.

In 2016, he even matched with another person who was tied to the same father.

But it wasn't until that phone call that the identity of the man was said out loud.

Charles Manson, the man who planned two nights of hell in Hollywood which saw heavily pregnant Tate, hairdresser Jay Sebring, heiress Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, a friend of Tate’s husband Roman Polanski, Steven Parent and entrepreneurs, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, all slain on the grounds.

“My stomach turned into the most knots I’ve ever felt in my life,” Maddox said of the news. “I just bent over and sobbed.”

The documentary, which can be watched either on Hulu or Disney+ around the world, shows how Maddox began to deal with the news – by chronicling herself, speaking with former members of his 'family' who were part of his spiral into devastating carnage.

As it turns out, Maddonx's grandmother, Darlene, once had a fling with a man named Charlie Dear, after meeting at a bus station when she was 17.

She then kept this information to herself, and took it to the grave in 2020 after realizing who Manson was and his connection to her son.

But two years later, he matched with Michael Brunner, one of Manson’s three other known sons.

Maddox said of the news: “The biggest gift I gave myself was finding my family’s truth, not just inheriting the sensational ones.”