Primary Sources
More detail about Helter Skelter is found in the following:
- Prosecution's closing argument in trial of Charles Manson and others for the Tate-LaBianca murders. This includes references to and excerpts from testimony of Paul Watkins.
- Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry
- Will You Die for Me? by Charles Watson as told to Ray Hoekstra
- My Life with Charles Manson by Paul Watkins and Guillermo Soledad
As has been noted, Bugliosi led the prosecution in the Tate-LaBianca trials; at the time of the trials, he was a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney. Charles Watson is the above-mentioned Family member who took part in the murders. Watkins was an above-mentioned Family member who was not involved in the murders.
Another source is The Family by Ed Sanders (Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 2002. ISBN 1-56025-396-7). Sanders covered Manson's trial for the Los Angeles Free Press; during the trial and in the period that led up to it, he spent time in the company of Family members. His book avoids much detail of the Beatle and Bible references, but it enables the reader to grasp Manson's vision of the Family as marauders wheeling through Helter Skelter's chaos. (When originally published, in 1971, the book was entitled The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion.)
See also the trial testimony of Gregg Jakobson, who met Manson at the home of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson in May or early summer of 1968 and who arranged a recording session for Manson in August of that year. Jakobson indicated that Manson and he had talked about Manson’s "philosophy on life" in various settings "innumerable times" – "Maybe 100."
Read more about this topic: Helter Skelter (Manson Scenario)
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