Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
by Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
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Book Summary Information
Author: Curt Gentry, Vincent BugliosiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-12
ISBN: 0393322238
Number of pages: 689
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Book Reviews of Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
Book Review: The Definitive story by the prosecuting attorney
Summary: 5 Stars
Bugliosi holds nothing back and gets as graphic as the case requires; this is not for delicate dispositions, it is a raw, brutal and monstrous example of what depravities evildoers are capable of when the right (or wrong) mix of degenerates come together.... Manson trolled the streets for the homeless, runaways and neglected disenfranchised youth and made them his own "family" to use a comforting term is a grotesque parody of what family means to all decent people. None of these people on their own would have come together and created this multi-personality Hydra Manson created; he has a special gift for gaining trust and making his worst depravities become reality by virtue of the control he wielded over these lost souls. This is evil, and the right ingredients were concocted to effect one of the worst serial killings of the twentieth century. The background was that Manson was brought up to the house on Cielo by Greg Jakobson who was involved with Manson on some dune buggy deals, and when he found out that Manson fancied himself a country singer he brought him to Cielo to meet Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son and a then record executive who listened to Charli's "music" and promised him, more facetiously than real, a recording contract. This was simply passing the time, and a fatuous, meaningless conversation that Manson took to heart, very seriously. When the contract never transpired, Manson felt betryaed by Melcher and wanted to get back at the pigs/establishment he saw as standing in the way of his success. Although he spent time trying to find Melcher, and when he contacted the Doris Day house in Beverly Hills, he was rebuffed. Melcher wisely ran up to Carmel to hide out with his mother. Manson, however, did know that there were people, Hollywood people, living there, and he made his plans from that information, to send a message. He sent his team, Susan Atkins, Tex Watkins, Leslie Van Houten et al., to kill the pigs...unfortunately, the people were the worse for wear, and Frykowski, a big tough Pole, was no match for the violence he woke up to; being stabbed multiple times he quickly lost blood and then they turned their attentions to Abigail Folger and Sharon Tate. Jay Sebring (black belt in karate) gallantly tried to protect Sharon, but he was no match for the numbers of the group and their sheer bloodlust. Up until tbat night, Manson was viewed with some wariness, as he was obviously rather disturbed, but the full extent of his madness was not discovered until that August night. I lived at the bottom of the hill where the house was, and arrived home around midnight and saw the car parked at the bottom of the steep road that led yup to the house...I thoguht it was kids making out. A Boy Scout leader a few miles away in Beverly Glen heard the screams, but the canyons have tricky acoustics and we heard nothing, right below the house. My brother had lived at the house when Melcher was there and made some offhand references to crazy Charlie, but he was nothing to be feared until that horrific night. The next morning I was awakend by many, amny cars going up the street, which was unusual, since it was a steep street, and we never got traffic; I looked out the window and counted twenty or more police cruisers and ambulances constantly traveling in a grim convoy up the street, and helicopters flying overhead...this went on all day, and after that, the circus started with tourists coming fom all over the United States to see the "murder house." I had met Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski at a small dinner party and never forgot how stunningly beautiful she was; absolutely breathtaking in person, and so sweet. The trial and the frightening lack of remorse was haunting, and we all armed ourselves with guns, not knowing if they would be back; when they were caught in a stolen car raid at the Spahn Ranch, everyone breathed easier....a friend of mine had a cabin in the Sierras and her mother drove up by herself one time and said she saw a schoolbus with hippies in it and they stared at her and as she told me alter "Gave her the chills." The combination of these lost souls came together and created a monster that tortured and murdered many people, inclduing Shorty Shea and the La Biancas. Th trial and the crime itself is recreated in meticulous detail and you must marvel at the tenacity and the will of Bugliosi to endure this several month long trial...and emerge victorious. The Supreme Court, in a questionable decision, rescinded the death penalty; but for that, they would more than likely have been executed by now. So they still come up for parole and they still get denied, and long may that continue, because there is no doubt whatsoever, despite claims of new found Christinaity, they would do harm to others when they could...this is a horrific glimpse into the minds and wills of people who are beyond any help or humanity; they are monsters.
Summary of Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
A national bestseller?over 7 million copies sold. "[A] social document of rare importance."?The New Republic
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Here is the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime.Both Helter Skelter and Vincent Bugliosi's subsequent Till Death Us Do Part won Edgar Allan Poe Awards for best true-crime book of the year. 50 pages of black-and-white photographs
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