Shanna V. (shanna71) -
Helpful Score: 2
I don't like Mr. Bugliosi's books normally. I have found other Manson Family accounts , such as "The Family" , to be much more informative and unbiased. You must remember that Mr. Bugliosi's account is biased as he was the prosecuting attorney. If you want a factual , unbiased account, I highly encourage you to read "The Family" as well. Not that I believe this was a peaceful group, lol, quite the contrary. If you are interested in Mason Family accounts, you have way more options other than Mr. Bugliosi's.
Janis K. (scrapbooklady) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 472 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wrote this tale of true crime back in 1974 and even after 33 years, "Helter Skelter" remains a true crime classic. The book is over 700 pages and dissects not only the crimes, but also Charles Manson's background and the Family's various travels and journeys, including run-ins with the law prior to the infamous nights in question. The trial is also covered, which could be in excruciating detail for some.
Even with the glorification of violence today, "Helter Skelter" remains a true story that is so frightening because it could have happened anywhere, to anyone.
Even with the glorification of violence today, "Helter Skelter" remains a true story that is so frightening because it could have happened anywhere, to anyone.
Jo M. (millerbug) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 122 more book reviews
This was a pretty good true crime book. Made me realize that Manson was truely a scary person and still is.
Heather D. (daylily77) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 236 more book reviews
Manson was seriously twisted. I had to stop reading to listen to The White Album. Revolution 9 messes with your head when you listen to it with headphones on. Never a dull moment in the novel. Well written.
Lorilea G. (lgrigsby17) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 4 more book reviews
This is a great book. Possibly the best true crime/trial book ive ever read, and I am a picky reader. Vincent Bugliosi is a wonderful writer. Not one part did I feel like I wanted to skim over or skip. He gives you so much information, but in a way thats easy to understand. Alot of books that have numerous key people are confusing, not this one. If you like true crime or trial books, (even more so if you have a Manson fascination), this is a MUST read.
Sandy B. (blaine-o) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 2 more book reviews
Mind blowing.
Shannon F. (deviouseyes) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 33 more book reviews
I learned a lot about the Manson Murders from reading this book. It really tells a lot about what happened.
A great description of the tragic events that occured to Sharon Tate and her unborn child. Pictures and an in depth look at the murders by the crazed Manson family. Very interesting.
Krista (berries674) -
Bugliosi is a great prosecutor and a great author. His writing brought this case alive for me, as I wasn't around when it happened. I've always wondered about Manson's appeal to "The Family" and although I still don't quite see it, Bugloisi's fact-loaded count made it all come back to life for me. Surely there are other true crimes out there with a more modern appeal for this generation, but this classic should be read by anyone that is interested in them. It is, after all, the #1 BestSelling True Crime book ever!
T.E. W. (terez93) reviewed Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders on + 273 more book reviews
This controversial book has become a legend in and of itself, having been written by Vincent Bugliosi, Jr. (1934-2015), the deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County during the Manson killings and subsequent trials (1964-1972). Bugliosi moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and attended the famous Hollywood High School, which has been attended by a lengthy list of celebrities over the last century (but not just entertainers), including actors Lon Chaney, Jr., Fay Wray (original King Kong actress, in 1924), Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Carole Lombard, Mickey Rooney, Ricky Nelson, Mitzi Gaynor, Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Sarah Jessica Parker and Brandy Norwood, but also Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Michael Vickers, US Under Secretary of Defense, Lawrence Johnson, a renowned physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, William Shockley, the inventor of the transistor and a Nobel laureate, and, in a great twist of irony, Catherine Share, a Manson Family member. Famous TV judge Joseph Wapner of "The People's Court" fame also attended Hollywood High School, and there briefly dated Lana Turner; in retrospect, it's probably a good thing that didn't last - Lana Turner's mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato was stabbed to death by her daughter Cheryl during a domestic dispute at their Beverly Hills home in 1958!
After his prosecutorial days were over, in 1972, Bugliosi embarked upon a successful writing career, largely examining notorious criminal cases, but without question, his biggest claim to fame in a town rife with it was the Manson murders and their aftermath. During his tenure as deputy DA, Charles Manson and murderers Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie van Houten were all convicted and sentenced to death for the killings of Sharon Tate, her unborn son, her ex-fiance and still-close-friend Jay Sebring, a famous men's hairstylist and salon owner, eighteen-year-old student Steven Parent, a friend of the caretaker who lived in the guesthouse, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and friends of Sharon's husband, screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski and his girlfriend Abigail Folger social worker and heiress to the Folger's Coffee fortune, as well as businessman Leno and his wife and shop owner Rosemary La Bianca, who were killed at their residence in the early morning hours of August 10, the following night. After he left the DA's office, Bugliosi ran for LA County District Attorney twice, but lost both times. He then turned to private practice and became a defense attorney, and also began writing about the Manson killings, which culminated in this book, which he co-authored with Curt Gentry, publishing "Helter Skelter" in 1974.
The book is not without controversy, which I'll get to below. In short, it describes in excruciating detail the murders of eight people in August, 1969 (counting Sharon's unborn son), and the subsequent investigation, indictment and trials which led to their killers' convictions, as well as an expose on the inner workings of the so-called "Manson Family," which was responsible for the deaths of no less than THREE DOZEN PEOPLE. It's doubtful that you aren't at least somewhat familiar with the events surrounding this book, but in a nutshell: in the early morning hours of August 9, 1969, eight-months-pregnant Sharon Tate, actress and wife of famed (and likewise controversial) director Roman Polanski, and friends Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger, along with guest Steven Parent, were mercilessly slaughtered by four members of a group of criminal, vagrant, dope-addled "hippies" who were collectively responsible for an untold number of crimes, including homicides. Polanski himself was working on a film in London, and had asked his friend Wojciech, along with Abigail, to stay with Sharon at the secluded house in the hills, atop Cielo Drive, due to her advanced pregnancy, in case she went into labor and needed assistance.
With lots of twists and turns, although the exact reasons are still obscure, Manson ordered a rag-tag group of his most ardent and hardcore followers to go to a house where one of his acquaintances had formerly resided, and kill everyone they found, reportedly, but somewhat dubiously, to spark a race war he called Helter Skelter, hence the title of the book (which Bugliosi claims was inspired by a song from the Beatles "White Album"). The real reason was likely far more mundane: revenge. Enraged over not being signed to a record deal he thought he was entitled to after having auditioned for several music industry moguls, including record producer Terry Melcher (the son of Doris Day), the former occupant of the Cielo Drive house (along with then-partner Candice Bergen), wannabe-rock-star-cum-narcissist Manson, a five-foot-three, hundred-pound bum with at best a grade-school education, dispatched murderous lemmings Tex Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel, along with a fourth "member," who apparently didn't actually take part in the killings herself, Linda Kasabian (although she was present and certainly participated, then turned squealer/informant and testified against her compadres to save her own skin), to 10050 Cielo Drive, in Beverly Hills.
What followed was one of the most infamous crimes in American history. The official story, at least, goes that on a sweltering August night, at around midnight, the three killers and their lookout walked up the long drive, in the dark, from where they had parked their car at the bottom of the hill. Upon reaching a gate the end of the road, Watson climbed a telephone pole and cut the phone line. They then entered the property, where they saw a car coming out of the driveway. Watson emerged from the bushes where they had been cowering, ordered the driver to stop, then pulled a knife on him, slashed him repeatedly, and shot him dead. Strangely, no one appeared to have heard the shots. They pushed the car further back up the driveway and approached the house. Watson cut a window screen, removed it and entered the dining room to the right of the door, then unlocked it and let the other three into the house.
The killers found Wojciech sleeping on the sofa. Watson reportedly kicked him in the head to wake him, and ordered Atkins to search the house to see who else was there. She found Abigail reading a book in the guest bedroom, and Jay and Sharon sitting on the bed in her bedroom. The two girls pulled their knives and forced them all into the living room where Watson had Wojciech covered with a pistol. Leaving Kasabian to keep watch, Watson started to tie Sharon and Jay by their necks with a rope he had brought with him, which he slung over one of the beams in the ceiling. Watson apparently first shot Sharon's beloved friend Jay, in front of her, when he complained about her rough treatment, as she was heavily pregnant, then stabbed him repeatedly. Jay died trying to defend the woman he still dearly loved, who was pregnant with a child fathered by another man... which kicked off the slaughter.
When Watson snarled at the three remaining captives that "you're all going to die," panic ensued. Wojciech apparently attempted to bolt out the front door to escape. Abigail likewise ran back down the hall toward the bedroom. Susan Atkins began to stab Wojciech as he made for the front door, whereupon Watkins repeatedly shot him and beat him in the head with the butt end of his pistol at least 13 times, until the wood grip broke. Krenwinkel gave chase after Abigail, as she ran out the door of the bedroom by the pool, finally tackling her on the lawn and stabbing her repeatedly, at which point Abigail reportedly said as she lay dying, "I give up... I'm already dead." After he had shot and then stabbed Wojciech 51 times in a rage, Watson strode over and finished her off.
What happened next is somewhat unclear... but the killers re-entered the house, where defenseless, pregnant, terrified Sharon remained, guarded by Atkins. Sharon pleaded to be taken hostage long enough to have her baby - then they could kill her; the response was that some, if not all of them, began pummeling her with a knife, as she cried out repeatedly for her mother, until she was unconscious or dead. Watson claimed in his book that he alone had done the stabbing, but Atkins first claimed that she had as well, which she later recanted. It's almost certain that at least those two stabbed Sharon, who died from 16 wounds, five of which were reportedly fatal. Her son suffocated in her womb - it may have taken up to a half-hour for him to die. As they left, Watson ordered Atkins to "write something... witchy," so she returned, dipped a towel in Sharon's blood (who may have still been alive at that point, as Atkins later described the sound of "gurgling" coming from her), wrote "PIG" on the door in her blood, and tossed the towel back into the house, which landed on Jay's face.
The following day, apparently unsatisfied with the group's performance the previous night, Manson himself wanted to show his underlings how it was done. The next night, he drove Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Kasabian and a new killer, Leslie van Houten, along with another member, Clem Grogan, to yet another location with which he was familiar. The Spanish-style house at 3301 Waverly Drive in Los Feliz, located next door to one where Manson had attended a party the previous year, belonged to grocery store executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, who owned a boutique dress shop. When they arrived at the house, Manson himself went up the driveway, then returned shortly and told everyone that he had tied up the occupants, although accounts differ. What is clear is that Manson left his minions to do his dirty work for him, then drove the other three to another intended victim's home, leaving the LaBianca's killers to hitchhike back to the ranch. According to Kasabian, Manson's intent was for them to murder Lebanese actor Saladin Nader, at the third location, but she had intentionally knocked on the wrong door, so the group abandoned their murder plot and fled.
It was apparently Watson, Krenwinkel and van Houten who did the killing this time: Watson tied and then stabbed Leno with a bayonet, while the women struggled with Rosemary in her bedroom, as they attempted to tie her up with a lamp cord. Watson then assisted when they were unable to subdue her, stabbing Rosemary several times with the bayonet. He then returned to Leno, finally carving the word "WAR" into his abdomen. Krenwinkel and van Houten stabbed Rosemary 41 times, then wrote on the walls in her blood. Krenwinkel then stabbed Leno repeatedly with an ivory-handled carving fork, which she left protruding from his abdomen, and left a steak knife in his throat for good measure. After all that work, the group showered, helped themselves to food in the refrigerator, and apparently played with the murdered couple's dogs, who remained unharmed. The bodies were discovered the following day by the couple's adult children.
So, who was this miscreant who was responsible for all this death and destruction? Charles Manson (1934-2017) was, in short, a POS criminal all his life, who had been institutionalized for more than half of it even by the time of the killings. He probably never knew his biological father, taking the surname of one of his mother's intermittent husbands instead. He bragged during a oft-televised prison interview with Diane Sawyer (so it's likely a lie) that he set fire to his elementary school at age nine, but he was definitively sent to a home for juvenile delinquents, run by Catholic priests, in Terre Haute, IN, at age 13. That turned out about as expected: Manson ran away, first back to his mother and then to other relatives - all of whom wisely returned him - until he absconded for good in 1948, at age fourteen, when he robbed a grocery store and used the money to rent a room on Indianapolis's version of Skid Row.
Despite his incorrigible criminal leanings, it's obvious that he was, frankly, never very good at it. Manson continued with a life of petty theft until he was caught, again, and sent to Boys Town, another juvenile facility in Omaha. He broke out after four days, stole a gun and a car, and with another escapee, robbed his way to his accomplice's uncle's place in Illinois, who was himself a professional thief. Subsequent crimes (and arrests) followed, as well as additional stints in multiple institutions, until he hit the big time and was sent to prison at Terminal Island in Los Angeles in 1956. Upon release, Manson embarked upon a new career enterprise, pimping a 16-year-old girl, cashing a forged US Treasury check and violating the Mann Act ("White Slave Traffic Act") for pimping more women and taking them across state lines (also kicking off his siring of a string of bastard kids). He was apprehended again, of course, and sent to federal prison in Washington, where he apparently took guitar lessons from a founding member of the Barker-Karpis gang (one of Ma Barker's brood).
This, ladies and gents, is what you call a "career criminal," one the "three strikes" law was supposed to protect us from: an unsalvageable scumbag who should have been locked up for the rest of his wretched life to protect the public after his prior conviction, which involved trafficking women and sex slavery; instead, he was scheduled for early release (!) from federal prison in 1967... which resulted in the subsequent murders of at least THREE DOZEN PEOPLE, whose lives would have been spared had this animal been caged for the rest of his worthless life. Instead, three months later, he moved to Berkeley, CA, and away we go. I'll spare you all the atrocities involved in building his doomsday-cult, but he and about thirty "family" members, many Haight-Ashbury graduates, moved to the Los Angeles area, eventually to the Spahn Movie Ranch in the San Fernando valley, where they all resided at the time of the killings.
This astonishing book is exhaustive, but controversial, for a number of reasons, not least of which for being admittedly riddled with inaccuracies and contradictions. However, much of the above synopsis of Manson's misdeeds wasn't common knowledge or even accessible before the publication of this 700-plus-page book. It does omit some of the conflicting information and evidence, but it's at its best when describing the insanity surrounding the ensuing trial, which involved lying witnesses and defendants, recantations, and Manson's insane antics, which included shaving his head and telling the media that the Devil always has a bald head... an action which was subsequently copied by his four female co-defendants. All had also carved an X into their own foreheads earlier in the trial. It also did an admirable job of highlighting at least some of the mistakes, including grotesque incompetence from the braggarts at the LAPD. In some ways, it's a miracle there was even a trial, let alone convictions.
The Manson murder trial was the longest in American history at the time, lasting an unprecedented nine months, resulting in 209 volumes of trial transcripts (31,716 pages, according to Bugliosi), much of which were used in the preparation of this book. The jury was sequestered for 225 days. The good news: ALL FIVE of these heartless, unrepentant killers were sentenced to death (after which the lovely Susan Atkins reportedly shouted to the jury who condemned her, "better lock your doors and watch your kids!" which was a credible threat, especially after yet another of Manson's nut jobs, "Squeaky" Fromme, came a hair's breadth from assassinating the President of the United States), but the state of CA declared death sentences unconstitutional, so ALL the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment... which meant that they now come up for parole, putting the survivors' families through additional periodic hell: see below. Unbelievably (or, considering Manson's escapades, perhaps not), Patricia Krenwinkel was recently granted parole, in June, 2022, but, fortunately, so far, the governor has put the kibosh on that.
Never one to quit on a career of crime, since he had enjoyed so much success, Manson was convicted of drug trafficking in prison in 1997 and moved from Corcoran to Pelican Bay State Prison. The death penalty would have prevented that, too. He died in prison, in 2017, as did Susan Atkins, of brain cancer, in 2009, but fellow defendants Krenwinkel, van Houten, now age 73, and Watson, now aged 76, are still locked up. This is the one that's the most blood-boiling: Tex sure seemed to make the most of "life," even marrying, and with conjugal visits, HAS HAD FOUR CHILDREN with his now-ex-wife. That's justice for you. Never mind the life of the infant he snuffed out, who never even had the chance to breathe air. Tex also earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (2009) on the taxpayer's dime - no doubt he'll find a convenient use for that, confined to a cage, ostensibly for life.
Watson reportedly became a "born-again Christian" in 1975 (something ole' Sadie Atkins claimed to have done as well - looks good at parole hearings) and an ordained minister in the 80s, but he still has the audacity to try to get out of jail, which entailed squaring off with Doris Tate, Sharon's MOTHER (there's a YouTube video of her interaction with him at one of his parole hearings, where he won't even look at her, the coward), and SISTERS, who have fought for decades to keep this monster locked in a cage where he belongs until he dies, irrespective of how many college degrees he earns or prisoners he baptizes. Watson has been denied parole EIGHTEEN TIMES, the last in 2021 ... and, to my knowledge, one of Sharon's relatives has appeared at EVERY ONE of those parole hearings... FOR A HALF-CENTURY. Sharon's mother died in 1992 and one of her sisters, Patricia, in 2000. All are buried together at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA... but the fight goes on; he ain't dead yet.
Regarding the book: many note that Bugliosi's account is far from settled fact. For example, some sources claim that the pools of blood found at the front door of the Cielo Drive house were Sharon and Jay's, so the accounts from the killers, which are already contradictory and full of holes, don't tell the real story of what happened. Some even claim that the bodies were moved: that they may have all been killed outside, and then dragged back into the house for some reason. Some claim that the killers left, but then for reasons unknown returned to the scene of the crime hours later. In short, we'll never know what really happened that night, but Bugliosi's is a good tale of the efforts it took to bring the killers to justice.
After his prosecutorial days were over, in 1972, Bugliosi embarked upon a successful writing career, largely examining notorious criminal cases, but without question, his biggest claim to fame in a town rife with it was the Manson murders and their aftermath. During his tenure as deputy DA, Charles Manson and murderers Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie van Houten were all convicted and sentenced to death for the killings of Sharon Tate, her unborn son, her ex-fiance and still-close-friend Jay Sebring, a famous men's hairstylist and salon owner, eighteen-year-old student Steven Parent, a friend of the caretaker who lived in the guesthouse, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and friends of Sharon's husband, screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski and his girlfriend Abigail Folger social worker and heiress to the Folger's Coffee fortune, as well as businessman Leno and his wife and shop owner Rosemary La Bianca, who were killed at their residence in the early morning hours of August 10, the following night. After he left the DA's office, Bugliosi ran for LA County District Attorney twice, but lost both times. He then turned to private practice and became a defense attorney, and also began writing about the Manson killings, which culminated in this book, which he co-authored with Curt Gentry, publishing "Helter Skelter" in 1974.
The book is not without controversy, which I'll get to below. In short, it describes in excruciating detail the murders of eight people in August, 1969 (counting Sharon's unborn son), and the subsequent investigation, indictment and trials which led to their killers' convictions, as well as an expose on the inner workings of the so-called "Manson Family," which was responsible for the deaths of no less than THREE DOZEN PEOPLE. It's doubtful that you aren't at least somewhat familiar with the events surrounding this book, but in a nutshell: in the early morning hours of August 9, 1969, eight-months-pregnant Sharon Tate, actress and wife of famed (and likewise controversial) director Roman Polanski, and friends Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger, along with guest Steven Parent, were mercilessly slaughtered by four members of a group of criminal, vagrant, dope-addled "hippies" who were collectively responsible for an untold number of crimes, including homicides. Polanski himself was working on a film in London, and had asked his friend Wojciech, along with Abigail, to stay with Sharon at the secluded house in the hills, atop Cielo Drive, due to her advanced pregnancy, in case she went into labor and needed assistance.
With lots of twists and turns, although the exact reasons are still obscure, Manson ordered a rag-tag group of his most ardent and hardcore followers to go to a house where one of his acquaintances had formerly resided, and kill everyone they found, reportedly, but somewhat dubiously, to spark a race war he called Helter Skelter, hence the title of the book (which Bugliosi claims was inspired by a song from the Beatles "White Album"). The real reason was likely far more mundane: revenge. Enraged over not being signed to a record deal he thought he was entitled to after having auditioned for several music industry moguls, including record producer Terry Melcher (the son of Doris Day), the former occupant of the Cielo Drive house (along with then-partner Candice Bergen), wannabe-rock-star-cum-narcissist Manson, a five-foot-three, hundred-pound bum with at best a grade-school education, dispatched murderous lemmings Tex Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel, along with a fourth "member," who apparently didn't actually take part in the killings herself, Linda Kasabian (although she was present and certainly participated, then turned squealer/informant and testified against her compadres to save her own skin), to 10050 Cielo Drive, in Beverly Hills.
What followed was one of the most infamous crimes in American history. The official story, at least, goes that on a sweltering August night, at around midnight, the three killers and their lookout walked up the long drive, in the dark, from where they had parked their car at the bottom of the hill. Upon reaching a gate the end of the road, Watson climbed a telephone pole and cut the phone line. They then entered the property, where they saw a car coming out of the driveway. Watson emerged from the bushes where they had been cowering, ordered the driver to stop, then pulled a knife on him, slashed him repeatedly, and shot him dead. Strangely, no one appeared to have heard the shots. They pushed the car further back up the driveway and approached the house. Watson cut a window screen, removed it and entered the dining room to the right of the door, then unlocked it and let the other three into the house.
The killers found Wojciech sleeping on the sofa. Watson reportedly kicked him in the head to wake him, and ordered Atkins to search the house to see who else was there. She found Abigail reading a book in the guest bedroom, and Jay and Sharon sitting on the bed in her bedroom. The two girls pulled their knives and forced them all into the living room where Watson had Wojciech covered with a pistol. Leaving Kasabian to keep watch, Watson started to tie Sharon and Jay by their necks with a rope he had brought with him, which he slung over one of the beams in the ceiling. Watson apparently first shot Sharon's beloved friend Jay, in front of her, when he complained about her rough treatment, as she was heavily pregnant, then stabbed him repeatedly. Jay died trying to defend the woman he still dearly loved, who was pregnant with a child fathered by another man... which kicked off the slaughter.
When Watson snarled at the three remaining captives that "you're all going to die," panic ensued. Wojciech apparently attempted to bolt out the front door to escape. Abigail likewise ran back down the hall toward the bedroom. Susan Atkins began to stab Wojciech as he made for the front door, whereupon Watkins repeatedly shot him and beat him in the head with the butt end of his pistol at least 13 times, until the wood grip broke. Krenwinkel gave chase after Abigail, as she ran out the door of the bedroom by the pool, finally tackling her on the lawn and stabbing her repeatedly, at which point Abigail reportedly said as she lay dying, "I give up... I'm already dead." After he had shot and then stabbed Wojciech 51 times in a rage, Watson strode over and finished her off.
What happened next is somewhat unclear... but the killers re-entered the house, where defenseless, pregnant, terrified Sharon remained, guarded by Atkins. Sharon pleaded to be taken hostage long enough to have her baby - then they could kill her; the response was that some, if not all of them, began pummeling her with a knife, as she cried out repeatedly for her mother, until she was unconscious or dead. Watson claimed in his book that he alone had done the stabbing, but Atkins first claimed that she had as well, which she later recanted. It's almost certain that at least those two stabbed Sharon, who died from 16 wounds, five of which were reportedly fatal. Her son suffocated in her womb - it may have taken up to a half-hour for him to die. As they left, Watson ordered Atkins to "write something... witchy," so she returned, dipped a towel in Sharon's blood (who may have still been alive at that point, as Atkins later described the sound of "gurgling" coming from her), wrote "PIG" on the door in her blood, and tossed the towel back into the house, which landed on Jay's face.
The following day, apparently unsatisfied with the group's performance the previous night, Manson himself wanted to show his underlings how it was done. The next night, he drove Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Kasabian and a new killer, Leslie van Houten, along with another member, Clem Grogan, to yet another location with which he was familiar. The Spanish-style house at 3301 Waverly Drive in Los Feliz, located next door to one where Manson had attended a party the previous year, belonged to grocery store executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary, who owned a boutique dress shop. When they arrived at the house, Manson himself went up the driveway, then returned shortly and told everyone that he had tied up the occupants, although accounts differ. What is clear is that Manson left his minions to do his dirty work for him, then drove the other three to another intended victim's home, leaving the LaBianca's killers to hitchhike back to the ranch. According to Kasabian, Manson's intent was for them to murder Lebanese actor Saladin Nader, at the third location, but she had intentionally knocked on the wrong door, so the group abandoned their murder plot and fled.
It was apparently Watson, Krenwinkel and van Houten who did the killing this time: Watson tied and then stabbed Leno with a bayonet, while the women struggled with Rosemary in her bedroom, as they attempted to tie her up with a lamp cord. Watson then assisted when they were unable to subdue her, stabbing Rosemary several times with the bayonet. He then returned to Leno, finally carving the word "WAR" into his abdomen. Krenwinkel and van Houten stabbed Rosemary 41 times, then wrote on the walls in her blood. Krenwinkel then stabbed Leno repeatedly with an ivory-handled carving fork, which she left protruding from his abdomen, and left a steak knife in his throat for good measure. After all that work, the group showered, helped themselves to food in the refrigerator, and apparently played with the murdered couple's dogs, who remained unharmed. The bodies were discovered the following day by the couple's adult children.
So, who was this miscreant who was responsible for all this death and destruction? Charles Manson (1934-2017) was, in short, a POS criminal all his life, who had been institutionalized for more than half of it even by the time of the killings. He probably never knew his biological father, taking the surname of one of his mother's intermittent husbands instead. He bragged during a oft-televised prison interview with Diane Sawyer (so it's likely a lie) that he set fire to his elementary school at age nine, but he was definitively sent to a home for juvenile delinquents, run by Catholic priests, in Terre Haute, IN, at age 13. That turned out about as expected: Manson ran away, first back to his mother and then to other relatives - all of whom wisely returned him - until he absconded for good in 1948, at age fourteen, when he robbed a grocery store and used the money to rent a room on Indianapolis's version of Skid Row.
Despite his incorrigible criminal leanings, it's obvious that he was, frankly, never very good at it. Manson continued with a life of petty theft until he was caught, again, and sent to Boys Town, another juvenile facility in Omaha. He broke out after four days, stole a gun and a car, and with another escapee, robbed his way to his accomplice's uncle's place in Illinois, who was himself a professional thief. Subsequent crimes (and arrests) followed, as well as additional stints in multiple institutions, until he hit the big time and was sent to prison at Terminal Island in Los Angeles in 1956. Upon release, Manson embarked upon a new career enterprise, pimping a 16-year-old girl, cashing a forged US Treasury check and violating the Mann Act ("White Slave Traffic Act") for pimping more women and taking them across state lines (also kicking off his siring of a string of bastard kids). He was apprehended again, of course, and sent to federal prison in Washington, where he apparently took guitar lessons from a founding member of the Barker-Karpis gang (one of Ma Barker's brood).
This, ladies and gents, is what you call a "career criminal," one the "three strikes" law was supposed to protect us from: an unsalvageable scumbag who should have been locked up for the rest of his wretched life to protect the public after his prior conviction, which involved trafficking women and sex slavery; instead, he was scheduled for early release (!) from federal prison in 1967... which resulted in the subsequent murders of at least THREE DOZEN PEOPLE, whose lives would have been spared had this animal been caged for the rest of his worthless life. Instead, three months later, he moved to Berkeley, CA, and away we go. I'll spare you all the atrocities involved in building his doomsday-cult, but he and about thirty "family" members, many Haight-Ashbury graduates, moved to the Los Angeles area, eventually to the Spahn Movie Ranch in the San Fernando valley, where they all resided at the time of the killings.
This astonishing book is exhaustive, but controversial, for a number of reasons, not least of which for being admittedly riddled with inaccuracies and contradictions. However, much of the above synopsis of Manson's misdeeds wasn't common knowledge or even accessible before the publication of this 700-plus-page book. It does omit some of the conflicting information and evidence, but it's at its best when describing the insanity surrounding the ensuing trial, which involved lying witnesses and defendants, recantations, and Manson's insane antics, which included shaving his head and telling the media that the Devil always has a bald head... an action which was subsequently copied by his four female co-defendants. All had also carved an X into their own foreheads earlier in the trial. It also did an admirable job of highlighting at least some of the mistakes, including grotesque incompetence from the braggarts at the LAPD. In some ways, it's a miracle there was even a trial, let alone convictions.
The Manson murder trial was the longest in American history at the time, lasting an unprecedented nine months, resulting in 209 volumes of trial transcripts (31,716 pages, according to Bugliosi), much of which were used in the preparation of this book. The jury was sequestered for 225 days. The good news: ALL FIVE of these heartless, unrepentant killers were sentenced to death (after which the lovely Susan Atkins reportedly shouted to the jury who condemned her, "better lock your doors and watch your kids!" which was a credible threat, especially after yet another of Manson's nut jobs, "Squeaky" Fromme, came a hair's breadth from assassinating the President of the United States), but the state of CA declared death sentences unconstitutional, so ALL the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment... which meant that they now come up for parole, putting the survivors' families through additional periodic hell: see below. Unbelievably (or, considering Manson's escapades, perhaps not), Patricia Krenwinkel was recently granted parole, in June, 2022, but, fortunately, so far, the governor has put the kibosh on that.
Never one to quit on a career of crime, since he had enjoyed so much success, Manson was convicted of drug trafficking in prison in 1997 and moved from Corcoran to Pelican Bay State Prison. The death penalty would have prevented that, too. He died in prison, in 2017, as did Susan Atkins, of brain cancer, in 2009, but fellow defendants Krenwinkel, van Houten, now age 73, and Watson, now aged 76, are still locked up. This is the one that's the most blood-boiling: Tex sure seemed to make the most of "life," even marrying, and with conjugal visits, HAS HAD FOUR CHILDREN with his now-ex-wife. That's justice for you. Never mind the life of the infant he snuffed out, who never even had the chance to breathe air. Tex also earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (2009) on the taxpayer's dime - no doubt he'll find a convenient use for that, confined to a cage, ostensibly for life.
Watson reportedly became a "born-again Christian" in 1975 (something ole' Sadie Atkins claimed to have done as well - looks good at parole hearings) and an ordained minister in the 80s, but he still has the audacity to try to get out of jail, which entailed squaring off with Doris Tate, Sharon's MOTHER (there's a YouTube video of her interaction with him at one of his parole hearings, where he won't even look at her, the coward), and SISTERS, who have fought for decades to keep this monster locked in a cage where he belongs until he dies, irrespective of how many college degrees he earns or prisoners he baptizes. Watson has been denied parole EIGHTEEN TIMES, the last in 2021 ... and, to my knowledge, one of Sharon's relatives has appeared at EVERY ONE of those parole hearings... FOR A HALF-CENTURY. Sharon's mother died in 1992 and one of her sisters, Patricia, in 2000. All are buried together at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA... but the fight goes on; he ain't dead yet.
Regarding the book: many note that Bugliosi's account is far from settled fact. For example, some sources claim that the pools of blood found at the front door of the Cielo Drive house were Sharon and Jay's, so the accounts from the killers, which are already contradictory and full of holes, don't tell the real story of what happened. Some even claim that the bodies were moved: that they may have all been killed outside, and then dragged back into the house for some reason. Some claim that the killers left, but then for reasons unknown returned to the scene of the crime hours later. In short, we'll never know what really happened that night, but Bugliosi's is a good tale of the efforts it took to bring the killers to justice.
Leslie W. (kyyadifan) -
I am enthralled with true crime, trying to understand how people can do the things they do, how they are eventually caught, etc. This is the absolute best true crime book I have ever read. It made my skin crawl to read about the actions of the Manson Family and made my heart break for the victims. There are no words to describe just how psychotic "the family" was as is evident not only in their crimes but in their actions at trial. A definite must-read for any true crime fan, even if you think you know all there is to know about the Manson Family.
