Helter Skelter: The True Story Of The Manson Murders

Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry

W. W. Norton & Company, 1974 - Biography & Autobiography - 502 pages

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.

Contents

• THE MURDERS I: 1
• THE KILLERS: 73
• October 15November 17 1969 75: 99
• THE INVESTIGATIONPHASE TWO: 115
• November 18December 31 1969 117: 158
• The Bible the Beatles and Helter: 209
• DONT YOU KNOW WHO YOURE CRUCIFYING?: 255
• THE TRIAL: 301
• June 15November 19 1970 303: 380
• November 19 1970January 25 1971: 387
• FIRES IN YOUR CITIES: 415
• A Shared Madness: 461
• AFTERWORD: 491
• INDEX: 517

About the author

Vincent T. Bugliosi, Jr. (August 18, 1934 - June 6, 2015) was an American attorney and New York Times bestselling author. During his eight years in the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, he was best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the seven Tate-LaBianca murders of August 9-10, 1969. Although Manson did not physically participate in the murders at Sharon Tate's home, Bugliosi used circumstantial evidence to show that he had orchestrated the killings. Bugliosi co-wrote Helter Skelter and later wrote and co-wrote more than a dozen books, including Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder and Divinity of Doubt: The God Question.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Helter Skelter: The True Story Of The Manson Murders
• Authors: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, annotated
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1974
• ISBN: 039308700X, 9780393087000
• Length: 502 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Criminals & Outlaws; Political Science / General; Religion / General; Social Science / Criminology; True Crime / Murder / General; True Crime / Murder / Serial Killers