Famed Manson Family Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi Dies at 80

[Hissyspit]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Famed Manson family prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi dies at 80

By TIMES STAFF Charles Manson

Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who gained worldwide fame for his successful prosecutions of Charles Manson and his followers for the brutal 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others, has died. He was 80.

Bugliosi also become a best-selling true crime writer, co-authoring the compelling account “Helter Skelter” about the Manson murders and the sensational trial that followed, as well as other literary works.

But he was always aware of his primary legacy.

Charles Manson and other members of his so-called family were convicted of killing actress Sharon Tate and six other people during a bloody rampage in the Los Angeles area during two August nights in 1969. Prosecutors said Manson and his followers were trying to incite a race war that he believed was prophesized in the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter."

“No matter what I do, I’ll be forever known as the Manson prosecutor,” he told once told The Times.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-vincent-bugliosi-20150609-story.html

[totodeinhere]

1. NBC is running a show on Thursday nights called "Aquarius" which is a fictional account

based upon real events surrounding Charlie Manson before the murders took place. It stars one of my favorite actors David Duchovny. I find it interesting that Manson was actually casual friends with Neil Young who tried to help him get a recording contract. Manson also ran into Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys.

[murielm99]

3. I just can't bring myself to watch that show.

There are some things so evil that I do not want to revisit them.

[rpannier]

4. Watched a Documentary on Manson a few years back

Wilson put him in touch with record producer Terry Melcher who went out and spent the day with Manson.
Listened to their music and promised to get back to him
After waiting several weeks Manson got angry
Sadly, for Tate, Folger, Frykowski, Febring and Parent, Melcher and actress Candice Bergen, who were living there, had broken up and moved out of the rental and Polanski/Tate moved in
They went there to find Melcher, but found the 4 of them instead and Parent in his car.

Sick, sad and twisted group. Sad endings for the 5 of them, the LaBianca's who were killed a few days later and (often forgotten) their first victim Gary Hinman, whom they held hostage and tortured for two days thinking he had money

on edit: the house at 10050 Cielo Drive (torn down in 94). The story behind the various residents and the house itself
http://www.house-crazy.com/10050-cielo-drive-the-last-house-of-sharon-tate/

[Skittles]

8. the LaBiancas were actually killed the very next night

horrific

[totodeinhere]

20. Of course you can't second guess history but it makes you wonder if Melcher had

given him a record contract if any of those tragic events would have happened. Or were those people so crazy that some other evil event would have happened?

[DesertFlower]

6. i like duchovny too, but

the first 2 episodes have been disappointing.

[ananda]

16. Great show! But it's not intended to be Helter Skelter ...

Aquarius might even be a masterpiece in the way
plot and characters are so well developed.

And it manages to avoid the anachronisms of
so many tv dramas. The dress, the attitudes,
the dialogue -- the whole ambience of the time --
is greatly evoked and authentic.

[totodeinhere]

19. Yup. I love shows like that if nothing else just for the music.

n/t

[shenmue]

2. Rest in peace

[deurbano]

5. And he wrote a book about the deliberate theft of the 2000 election.

I saw him when he came to San Francisco on his book tour. All those questions got totally shut down after Sept. 11.

http://archive.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=4018

"He Still Dares Call It Treason"
Monica Friedlander 2001

"What happened here is not the sunlight of democracy, but the dark and ominous shadows of totalitarianism." -- Vincent Bugliosi

What unfolded on August 2 under the elegant, gilded dome of the landmark historic Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California was one of the harshest, no-holds-barred indictments of the U.S. Supreme Court ever made. Famed prosecutor and writer Vincent Bugliosi blasted the Bush v Gore ruling, calling it the "worst crime in U.S. history" - in effect, the "theft of the Presidency."

The talk was part of promotional tour for his book, "The Betrayal of America," in which he charges that (in)Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, O'Connor, and Kennedy betrayed everything they ever believed in to take the election away from the American people and into their own hands based on an inapplicable constitutional principle.

"I will stake my prosecutorial reputation on the fact that within the pages of this book I prove beyond reasonable doubt that these five Justices deliberately set out to hand the election to George Bush," Bugliosi says. "The evidence against them is absolutely overwhelming. Like typical criminals on the run, they left their dirty fingerprints everywhere.>>

[Skittles]

9. and a book proving that OJ Simpson is a MURDERER

Bugliosi was all about JUSTICE

[DiverDave]

14. So, oj will be sending flowers?

Or dancing a jig? My money is on the latter

[Skittles]

28. the murdering bastard is in jail where he belongs

if there was any justice he would be there for the rest of his miserable life

[IDemo]

21. Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder

This book should leave no doubt about OJ's guilt. Possibly the most convincing (and convicting) book on the topic.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

10. and this:

[William Seger]

12. And "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy" (n/t)

[Coventina]

7. I'll always love him for calling out the Felonious Five as traitors

When they overrode the will of the American people and gave George W. Bush the presidency.

The man was a true patriot.

RIP, Vincent, you've earned it.



edit: clarity

[truebluegreen]

26. +a bazillion nt

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

11. I wish he'd been able to outlive Manson

just so he'd get the last word on that scumbag and his idiot fanboys.

[Nitram]

13. Bugliosi's achivement was putting Manson in jail for life...

...even though Manson was not present at either murder scene. He had to make the case that Manson had brainwashed them and controlled them to the point that they would commit murder if he told them to. Of course, Manson didn't help his own case by carving a swastika in his own forehead during the trial.

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. Manson was present at the LaBianca scene and may even have restrained the couple

He was not present for the murder (he took a second group to commit other murders, but failed), but tying people up during a home invasion burglary when they are later murdered by your co-conspirators is not really that high a bar. The convictions for the Tate homicides was certainly more difficult, especially since the main co-conspirator (Watson) did not testify against Manson.

[WilliamPitt]

17. "The Betrayal of America"

changed my life forever.

Rest in peace, counselor. Thank you.

[truebluegreen]

27. +1

Still on my bookshelf.

[City Lights]

18. RIP, Sir.

You will be missed.

[Burma Jones]

22. From everything I know about him, he was an honorable man

In a profession in which it is all too easy to be dishonorable.

[stopbush]

23. An honest man who let the facts take him where they would.

He'll be missed.

[DebbieCDC]

24. I've admired him since I read Helter Skelter in college

His other books were also great reads, particularly "Til Death Us Do Part" - a murder case he prosecuted pre-Manson.

I recall his quote that he could have convicted OJ with a legal pad and a pen, or words to that effect. What a trial that would have been.

I always thought that if I were charged with a crime which I didn't commit, he'd be the first person I'd want to defend me, and if I were charged with a crime of which I was guilty, he'd be the last person I'd want to prosecute me.

His hatred for the BFEE was only one of many reasons he was a great man in my book.

RIP Mr. Bug (the G is silent*) liosi

*I've seen many reports of the times during the Manson trial when he had to remind the other attorneys, press, etc. how to properly pronounce his name. Manson and the girls call him "The Bug".

[Rex]

25. My brains is playing tricks on me, I read that as Vincent Belalugosi.

So much for scanning headlines!