CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (Book Review)

I may be a couple of years late in reading this new book on The Manson Family. I remember being mildly enthused when it came out, but I didn’t buy it because the reviews suggested it was just a bunch of conspiracy theories. I’ve had a few books in my time, where the author tries to lump in their subject with every peripheral conspiracy imaginable, or otherwise lace their hot-button issues and numerological musings as if they were facts rather than speculation. My-father-was-the Zodiac Killer-type-stuff, and so forth.

However, in catching up with Quentin Tarantino’s recent interviews, the filmmaker, whose 2019 film (and 2021 novelization) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood included a fun plot-twist with Manson’s underlings, said that Tom O’Neill’s Chaos, in so many words, was an authoritative piece of work, and all books on the subject of Manson that came prior, were only a precursor. Bold words!

The negative complaints that I’d read about O’Neill’s 20-year investigative reporting suggested that the book was inconclusive, and therefore speculative. Others suggested that Chaos was mainly about picking on poor Vincent Bugliosi, the defense attorney who prosecuted the Manson Family, and went on to write the most popular true crime book in history. Another reviewer complained that there were too many “big words”.

I feel obligated to point out that we are talking about a work of NONFICTION. To me, it follows a strain of viable evidence to its rational end, and there are some great revelations based on apparently solid evidence. A number of people were interviewed for the first time shortly before their death, and a number of tidbits are revealed after 50 years without being unearthed. My only complaint is that I wish more of these photo-copies of court transcripts, etc. were reproduced. To crosscheck all of this might take some time, and I’m sure we are not expected to believe it all outright. So far, it looks much more thorough than anything else I’ve read on the subject.

To call this book definitive or authoritative, I would want more proof that the author has said evidence in hand. But, if we are to take what the author says to be true, these findings are monumental, even if they may not be earth-shattering in terms of a guilty or nonguilty verdict; but the underlying motives tied in with the wild and whacky happenings of the time, 1969, transform this already strange story into a bonafide trip into bizarroland. There isn’t a smoking gun here, but there is enough smoke to say there is definitely a fire.

In essence, Chaos is a story of a reporter following a huge train of thought, hurdling through an exhaustive investigation that begins with low expectations, but includes some biographical reporting about many of the dead ends or snags along the way, for humanistic flavor, to give us breaks between the extremely heady concentration of evidence and information given.

Those reviewers who said their reading experience was like a “suspenseful thriller” were not unreasonable. I think the vast wormhole that is the Manson experience is well represented elsewhere, but in short, numerous witnesses claim that Charles Manson, and his “family” of as much as 100 members, were seen on numerous occasions with a member of the CIA. When Manson or his family were ever arrested, despite being on probation, they were free to go, usually within 36 hours. Roger Smith, Manson’s parole officer was able to give him total immunity.

The family frequented a free clinic that not only treated venereal diseases, but also specialized in the advocacy of psychedelics. Love Needs Care, the [research] clinic, happened to be funded and headed by the CIA at a time when one of the key masterminds for Project MKULTRA not only made appearances at the clinic, but also ran covert “crash pads” and things like Operation Midnight Climax.

While violating parole several times, and having a whopping four months before they were caught for the Tate-Labianca murders (with prosecution conveniently ignoring the murder of Gary Hinman), it is suggested, with ample evidence, that more murders were committed. One such murder, which was ruled a suicide, involved a man who was found under a number of strange circumstances, including, but not limited to, a Playboy Magazine between his legs, with his pubic hair freshly shaved less than two hours before his death. At the time, Manson Family member Bill Vance had a “magic vest” that he’d liked to wear, adorned with pubic hair. Fillipo Tenerelli’s family continue to campaign for evidence concealed for nebulous reasons, as they have never believed him to be suicidal.

O’Neill starts with a vague idea for an article, and ends with twenty years of intensive research, having lost his job and clawed his way through a couple of book deals in the process. Personally, I am glad he finished the job. The journey doesn’t end with the writings in O’Neill’s book, but it is bookended with amusing riddles from the late Charles Manson himself, as well as heated arguments about what could possibly be on several hours of taped confessions from Tex Watson.

Before Vincent Bugliosi’s highly questionable Helter Skelter/race war theory, the popular narrative that was strung together and put forth upon the world, Tex Watson recorded several hours of taped confessions. Considering that the district attorney as well as Watson himself didn’t want the tapes to be made available to journalists or lawyers, one can presume that information that could incriminate both parties is contained therein. It is alleged that the recordings may divulge at least a dozen more murders on the part of the family.

I remember the book stating that there had been an unusual amount of murders and/or suicides in Los Angeles County in 1969, and there were some bodies that were dug up and attributed to The Family in the 70s, with some other hearsay from less directly involved family members. I know that it’s possible that Charlie Manson’s first victim, Bernard Crowe, was shot (but not killed) over a botched drug deal. It’s also possible that Manson’s racist tendencies caused him to become paranoid that the Black Panthers were after him. It’s further possible that Manson wanted to start a race war and hide in a hole in the desert while it played out, so he tried to frame the Black Panthers.

It’s possible, according to O’Neill, that mind control was involved — That Manson primed his followers with acid, then set them into motion with speed, in alignment with some agenda that would come with a lot of suspicious cover ups, and an extraordinary amount of media attention. It’s possible that evidence was moved around, things happened after the stated time of the murder, and not unlike what is said about Lee Harvey Oswald, Manson and his minions were just “patsies” for a bigger scheme. Chaos is not as speculative as it is effective in shooting holes into a lot of popular theories about these crimes with staggering amounts of circumstantial evidence, yet no smoking gun. It might be as close to an answer as we’re going to get, but the questions that arose in this process, to me, are worth the journey.