Woman who discovered Charles Manson was her grandfather reveals 'eerie' ways dad's life mirrored cult leader's

A woman who found out her grandfather was notorious cult leader Charles Manson has opened up about the unsettling parallels between his life and her father's.

Sophia Maddox, 26, learned four years ago through a genealogy website match that her father's biological father was Manson, the man behind the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.

The revelation forms the basis of her Hulu documentary, My Grandfather Charles Manson, in which she says: 'I come from a murderer. Who the f*** would accept me?'

According to an interview with The Guardian, Maddox's father, Daniel Arguelles, was conceived during a one or two-night stand, and Maddox believes his mother suspected who his father really was.

She said her grandmother 'kept the secret to her grave', but that as a mother, she took her 'shame and rage' out on Arguelles.

Sophia Maddox, 26, learned four years ago through a genealogy website match that her father's biological father was Manson, the man behind the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Maddox said she grew up hearing her father talk about never having met his own dad, and that when the truth finally emerged, he could not bring himself to tell her for two months 'because it was so dark'.

She said turning the discovery into a film felt instinctive, having grown up 'pretty isolated and lonely', adding that being a storyteller was simply 'how I was built and raised'.

The documentary draws a series of eerie comparisons between Manson and Arguelles beyond their physical resemblance, including that both men were born to teenage mothers and had absent fathers.

While Manson spent much of his youth in juvenile correctional and reform institutions, Arguelles was sent to a military reformatory school as a child.

Maddox also points to shared traits including childhood trauma, mental health struggles, and a volatility that could surface unpredictably in both men.

Sophia’s dad recalls seeing Charles Manson ‘everywhere’ when he was younger. He also believes that his mother ‘knew’ his dad was the cult leader. (Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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Maddox has said the project ultimately became less about her grandfather and more about untangling the trauma passed through her father, rather than any inherited evil.

Co-director Alexandra Orton said the aim was to resist treating Manson as a 'superhuman' villain, arguing that understanding how atrocities happen means recognising they are carried out by ordinary people.

The film includes a tense, unresolved confrontation between Maddox and her father, and the pair have not spoken since it was filmed.

Arguelles, who is himself a filmmaker, supported his daughter's decision to explore their history on camera but reportedly had reservations about how healthy the process would be for her.

Manson, who led the cult responsible for the murders of Sharon Tate and several others in Los Angeles in August 1969, died in prison in 2017 at the age of 83.

Maddox has said she hopes to reconcile with her father in time, and that watching the documentary might help him understand that alongside the trauma, he also passed down resilience.

"I hope he feels seen," she said.