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Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
A journalist's twenty-year obsession with the Manson murders brings shocking revelations about the most infamous crimes in American history: carelessness from police, misconduct by prosecutors, and even potential surveillance by intelligence agents. What really happened in 1969?
In 1999, when Tom O'Neill was assigned a magazine piece about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Weren't the facts indisputable? Charles Manson had ordered his teenage followers to commit seven brutal murders, and in his thrall, they'd gladly complied. But when O'Neill began reporting the story, he kept finding holes in the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's narrative, long enshrined in the best-selling Helter Skelter. Before long, O'Neill had questions about everything from the motive to the manhunt. Though he'd never considered himself a conspiracy theorist, the Manson murders swallowed the next two decades of his career. He was obsessed.
Searching but never speculative, CHAOS follows O'Neill's twenty-year effort to rebut the "official" story behind Manson. Who were his real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties? Why didn't law enforcement act on their many chances to stop him? And how did he turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers? O'Neill's hunt for answers leads him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from the Summer of Love to the shadowy sites of the CIA's mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with cover-ups and coincidences.
Featuring hundreds of new interviews and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, CHAOS mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. In those two dark nights in Los Angeles, O'Neill finds the story of California in the sixties: when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia-or dystopia-was just an acid trip away.
In 1999, when Tom O'Neill was assigned a magazine piece about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Weren't the facts indisputable? Charles Manson had ordered his teenage followers to commit seven brutal murders, and in his thrall, they'd gladly complied. But when O'Neill began reporting the story, he kept finding holes in the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's narrative, long enshrined in the best-selling Helter Skelter. Before long, O'Neill had questions about everything from the motive to the manhunt. Though he'd never considered himself a conspiracy theorist, the Manson murders swallowed the next two decades of his career. He was obsessed.
Searching but never speculative, CHAOS follows O'Neill's twenty-year effort to rebut the "official" story behind Manson. Who were his real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties? Why didn't law enforcement act on their many chances to stop him? And how did he turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers? O'Neill's hunt for answers leads him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from the Summer of Love to the shadowy sites of the CIA's mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with cover-ups and coincidences.
Featuring hundreds of new interviews and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, CHAOS mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. In those two dark nights in Los Angeles, O'Neill finds the story of California in the sixties: when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia-or dystopia-was just an acid trip away.
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First published June 25, 2019
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December 29, 2019
I wasn’t going to write a review for Chaos, but after reading some of the other negative reviews, I realized that people aren’t talking about the things that bothered me about this book, so here we are. This review is going to be long, but I don’t see how it can’t not be. If you don’t want to read the entire review and you just want my overall opinion of the book, skip to the last paragraph.
Chaos had the potential to be a really good book. Helter Skelter is my favorite true crime book, and I was intrigued by the idea that the story Bugliosi presented isn’t the actual story. I was hoping that Tom O’Neill would examine the inconsistencies he found in Bugliosi’s book and present us with a solid alternative for what might have actually happened.
Unfortunately, that’s not what Chaos does. Instead, Chaos is one part a research book about what might have actually happened in August 1969 and one part what happens to a person when an obsession consumes them for twenty years. Either of those stories, on their own, has the potential to be fascinating, but I think O’Neill made a mistake by trying to bring them together.
I had so many problems with all the ideas O’Neill presented as alternatives to Bugliosi’s story, not because I don’t think there might be some truth so certain ideas, but because there were too many theories about what could have happened, and much of the information O’Neill gave us was based on circumstantial evidence (which he does admit to at one point in the book). Additionally, he tells us that he interviews someone who knew Manson and the Family, or who knew people who knew them, and he says they are credible sources, but he never explains what makes them credible sources. A person isn’t a credible source just because they happen to give the same story as another person who you also believe is a credible source. O’Neill should have provided us with solid reasons and credentials that made his sources credible, and he didn’t always do that.
The sections about the CIA, CHAOS, COINTELPRO, etc. could have been interesting, but at times, they strayed too far away from the Manson narrative and became so convoluted that I had trouble following O’Neill’s train of thought.
What I really take issue with in terms of O’Neill’s reporting, however, is this: early on in the book, he misquoted Helter Skelter. On page 116 of Chaos, O’Neill quotes this passage from Helter Skelter:
“After Terry Melcher had moved out of the [Cielo Drive] residence, but before the Polanskis had moved in, Gregg Jakobson had arranged for a Dean Moorehouse to stay there for a brief period. During this time Tex Watson had visited Moorehouse at least three, and possibly as many as six, time.”
O’Neill then goes on to say, “Emphasis mine. Something about that offhand phrasing—‘a Dean Moorehouse’—raised a red flag for me.”
I decided to fact check the Helter Skelter passage O’Neill quoted. This passage is on page 496 of Helter Skelter, and here’s what it actually says: “Some months earlier I’d learned that after Terry Melcher had moved out of the residence, but before the Polanskis had moved in, Gregg Jackobson had arranged for Dean Moorehouse, Ruth Ann Moorehouse’s father, so stay there for a brief period. During this time Tex Watson had visited Moorehouse at least three, and possibly as many as six, times.”
This time, the emphasis is mine, because I want it to be clear that not only did O’Neill add an extra word to the quote, he also left out key information about Dean Moorehouse being Ruth Ann Moorehouse’s father, which is important later on. It’s a small thing, but O’Neill adding an extra word, “a,” to the Helter Skelter passage is important because it’s the reason that phrase comes off as off-handed and raised a red flag for O’Neill—and O’Neill created that phrase, not Bugliosi. (Note: The edition of Helter Skelter that I used for fact-checking is the same edition O’Neill used.)
This was the moment where I began to doubt O’Neill as a credible source. That, coupled with the lack of footnotes, was questionable for me. Yes, there are notes in the back of the book; however, there is nothing in that book that indicates what specific sentence or paragraph those notes tie back to, so readers have to do a little more work to look at the notes and figure out specifically what they reference. Additionally, I found at least one of the notes to be wrong, and this ties into O’Neill not properly quoting things. On page 369, O’Neill writes, “ ‘The most puzzling question of all,’ Bugliosi wrote, was how Manson had turned his docile followers into remorseful killers. Even with the LSD, the sex, the isolation, the sleep deprivation, the social abandonment, there had to be ‘some intangible quality. . .It may be something that he learned from others.’ Something he learned from others. Those had become the six most pivotal words in the book for me.”
The notes in the back of Chaos attribute this information to page 626 of Helter Skelter, which reads, “How Manson gained control remains the most puzzling question of all.” The information that follows is the information O’Neill paraphrases about LSD, sex, isolation. etc.; however, unless I missed it despite reading this section of Helter Skelter three times, nowhere on page 626 does it say “It may have been something that he learned from others.” In fact, I read through page 628 and did not find that phrase at all, which makes me wonder: Where did O’Neill get that phrase? If he actually found it in Helter Skelter, why didn’t he cite the correct page number for it? I find it troubling that O’Neill misquotes Helter Skelter at least once (I couldn’t fact check every Helter Skelter passage that he quoted) and that he doesn’t correctly cite his sources. It makes me wonder what other sources and interviews he might have misquoted throughout his book; without access to O’Neill’s sources, O’Neill’s inability to use good footnotes, or the time, I am unable to do the fact checking this book requires.
I want it be clear that I am not doubting Bugliosi might have intentionally presented misinformation in Helter Skelter, or that there is more the story than we will ever know. What I am doubting is O’Neill’s ability to be a credible, objective investigative reporter; throughout Chaos, he makes his dislike of Bugliosi abundantly clear, and it makes Chaos feel like a vendetta against Bugliosi as opposed to a careful and thoughtful investigative report of what might really have happened in 1969.
TL;DR: Chaos had potential to be either a good examination of what really happened in 1969 or to be a study in what happens when someone is consumed by something for twenty years; instead, it’s a convoluted narrative that seems to be largely based on speculation and circumstantial evidence which may or may not come from credible sources, it feels like a vendetta against Bugliosi, and it is in dire need of editing (for length as well as grammatical errors and typos) as well as fact-checking, as I’m not convinced that O’Neill himself is a credible source. Only recommended for those who, like me, are fascinated with the Manson case and are willing to read anything and everything on it, but be aware that it’s a lengthy, tedious read that doesn’t deliver.
Note: edited because I noticed a typo in my review.
Chaos had the potential to be a really good book. Helter Skelter is my favorite true crime book, and I was intrigued by the idea that the story Bugliosi presented isn’t the actual story. I was hoping that Tom O’Neill would examine the inconsistencies he found in Bugliosi’s book and present us with a solid alternative for what might have actually happened.
Unfortunately, that’s not what Chaos does. Instead, Chaos is one part a research book about what might have actually happened in August 1969 and one part what happens to a person when an obsession consumes them for twenty years. Either of those stories, on their own, has the potential to be fascinating, but I think O’Neill made a mistake by trying to bring them together.
I had so many problems with all the ideas O’Neill presented as alternatives to Bugliosi’s story, not because I don’t think there might be some truth so certain ideas, but because there were too many theories about what could have happened, and much of the information O’Neill gave us was based on circumstantial evidence (which he does admit to at one point in the book). Additionally, he tells us that he interviews someone who knew Manson and the Family, or who knew people who knew them, and he says they are credible sources, but he never explains what makes them credible sources. A person isn’t a credible source just because they happen to give the same story as another person who you also believe is a credible source. O’Neill should have provided us with solid reasons and credentials that made his sources credible, and he didn’t always do that.
The sections about the CIA, CHAOS, COINTELPRO, etc. could have been interesting, but at times, they strayed too far away from the Manson narrative and became so convoluted that I had trouble following O’Neill’s train of thought.
What I really take issue with in terms of O’Neill’s reporting, however, is this: early on in the book, he misquoted Helter Skelter. On page 116 of Chaos, O’Neill quotes this passage from Helter Skelter:
“After Terry Melcher had moved out of the [Cielo Drive] residence, but before the Polanskis had moved in, Gregg Jakobson had arranged for a Dean Moorehouse to stay there for a brief period. During this time Tex Watson had visited Moorehouse at least three, and possibly as many as six, time.”
O’Neill then goes on to say, “Emphasis mine. Something about that offhand phrasing—‘a Dean Moorehouse’—raised a red flag for me.”
I decided to fact check the Helter Skelter passage O’Neill quoted. This passage is on page 496 of Helter Skelter, and here’s what it actually says: “Some months earlier I’d learned that after Terry Melcher had moved out of the residence, but before the Polanskis had moved in, Gregg Jackobson had arranged for Dean Moorehouse, Ruth Ann Moorehouse’s father, so stay there for a brief period. During this time Tex Watson had visited Moorehouse at least three, and possibly as many as six, times.”
This time, the emphasis is mine, because I want it to be clear that not only did O’Neill add an extra word to the quote, he also left out key information about Dean Moorehouse being Ruth Ann Moorehouse’s father, which is important later on. It’s a small thing, but O’Neill adding an extra word, “a,” to the Helter Skelter passage is important because it’s the reason that phrase comes off as off-handed and raised a red flag for O’Neill—and O’Neill created that phrase, not Bugliosi. (Note: The edition of Helter Skelter that I used for fact-checking is the same edition O’Neill used.)
This was the moment where I began to doubt O’Neill as a credible source. That, coupled with the lack of footnotes, was questionable for me. Yes, there are notes in the back of the book; however, there is nothing in that book that indicates what specific sentence or paragraph those notes tie back to, so readers have to do a little more work to look at the notes and figure out specifically what they reference. Additionally, I found at least one of the notes to be wrong, and this ties into O’Neill not properly quoting things. On page 369, O’Neill writes, “ ‘The most puzzling question of all,’ Bugliosi wrote, was how Manson had turned his docile followers into remorseful killers. Even with the LSD, the sex, the isolation, the sleep deprivation, the social abandonment, there had to be ‘some intangible quality. . .It may be something that he learned from others.’ Something he learned from others. Those had become the six most pivotal words in the book for me.”
The notes in the back of Chaos attribute this information to page 626 of Helter Skelter, which reads, “How Manson gained control remains the most puzzling question of all.” The information that follows is the information O’Neill paraphrases about LSD, sex, isolation. etc.; however, unless I missed it despite reading this section of Helter Skelter three times, nowhere on page 626 does it say “It may have been something that he learned from others.” In fact, I read through page 628 and did not find that phrase at all, which makes me wonder: Where did O’Neill get that phrase? If he actually found it in Helter Skelter, why didn’t he cite the correct page number for it? I find it troubling that O’Neill misquotes Helter Skelter at least once (I couldn’t fact check every Helter Skelter passage that he quoted) and that he doesn’t correctly cite his sources. It makes me wonder what other sources and interviews he might have misquoted throughout his book; without access to O’Neill’s sources, O’Neill’s inability to use good footnotes, or the time, I am unable to do the fact checking this book requires.
I want it be clear that I am not doubting Bugliosi might have intentionally presented misinformation in Helter Skelter, or that there is more the story than we will ever know. What I am doubting is O’Neill’s ability to be a credible, objective investigative reporter; throughout Chaos, he makes his dislike of Bugliosi abundantly clear, and it makes Chaos feel like a vendetta against Bugliosi as opposed to a careful and thoughtful investigative report of what might really have happened in 1969.
TL;DR: Chaos had potential to be either a good examination of what really happened in 1969 or to be a study in what happens when someone is consumed by something for twenty years; instead, it’s a convoluted narrative that seems to be largely based on speculation and circumstantial evidence which may or may not come from credible sources, it feels like a vendetta against Bugliosi, and it is in dire need of editing (for length as well as grammatical errors and typos) as well as fact-checking, as I’m not convinced that O’Neill himself is a credible source. Only recommended for those who, like me, are fascinated with the Manson case and are willing to read anything and everything on it, but be aware that it’s a lengthy, tedious read that doesn’t deliver.
Note: edited because I noticed a typo in my review.
July 27, 2020
”Manson himself had a fondness for the same phrase: ‘I am the man in the mirror,’ he said. ‘Anything you see in me is in you, I am you, and when you can admit that you will be free.”
Who is Charles Manson?
This book began as a 5000 word piece for Premiere Magazine with the subject expected to be Manson and Hollywood. Tom O’Neill did not make that magazine deadline or even the deadline after that. His concept of the narrative and the research had grown well beyond the parameters of the original story idea. The deeper he delved into Manson the more lines for further enquiry he discovered. What was supposed to be an assignment that would take a few weeks took two decades. It became an all consuming obsession.
And here we are.
Manson was famous for his ability to manipulate people into doing what he wanted. I still feel like he is doing that to us now. Every time I hear or see anything regarding Manson, my ears perk up. I know I’m not alone. A whole nation was rivetted to the events of the Tate-LaBianc murder trial. Even people who were born long after the events in 1969 are enthralled with the need to know why.
Tom O’Neill became so caught up in researching Manson that he lost two decades of his life to the pursuit of the real truth.
I definitely benefited from reading Helter Skelter before reading O’Neill’s book because of the time spent discussing the actual trial that is not covered as thoroughly in Chaos. O’Neill broke down what Vincent Bugliosi got right, uncovered some of what he suppressed, and dug into the vital information that Bugliosi never bothered to pursue. The truth proved elusive after so many years. Witnesses had died, memories had become faulty, and key people refused to talk about their role in what is looking like a much bigger conspiracy that goes well beyond murder.
Now how could the CIA possibly be involved with Manson? I asked myself, was this on par with the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination? There were two secret missions one launched by the CIA, called Chaos, and the other by the FBI, called COINTELPRO. They had the same objective to infiltrate groups like the Black Panthers and actually incite violence to discredit the organization. If you remember, that was part of Manson’s supposed objective as well with the murders, to try and convince law enforcement that they were committed by the Black Panthers.
There was another program launched by the CIA called MKULTRA which was exploring the effects of LSD and how it could lead to the creation of malleable assassins. They even had an operation called Midnight Climax which was bordellos set up in San Francisco for the explicit purpose of drugging johns with LSD to see how it affected them. So if you visited a brothel in San Francisco in the 1960s and had an experience unlike anything you’d ever encountered before, you very well might have been drugged by the CIA. I hope you had a good time anyway, but really, with all seriousness...what the frill? It isn’t even legal for the CIA to operate on American soil.
There were a lot of government/private programs in San Francisco exploring the potential uses of LSD, and it was during that year that Manson spent in San Francisco that he became Manson the Guru, the grand manipulator. He dropped LSD for the first time and emerged from the experience a prophet. So how could he be so good at manipulating people, especially young women, into becoming mindless, murderous followers? Bugliosi notated.”It might be something he learned from others.” Could it even be conceivable that Manson was trained by the CIA as part of what should have been illegal programs?
So why were Manson and many of his followers arrested many times over the months before the murder and simply turned loose?
Was there a phone call?
I just want to warn you that the revelations in this book are going to blow your mind without dropping LSD.
There are peripheral, shadowy characters all around the events of the Manson murders. Terry Melcher, Doris Day’s son, had promised Manson a record deal and then reneged on it, or rather Doris said...hell, no. Melcher, fearing for his life, moved out of 10050 Cielo Drive rather abruptly but then visited Manson three times...wait for it...after the murders. He testified in court that he had not seen Manson after such and such a date, way before the murders.
Okay, so let's just say there are holes in what we know about what really happened, large enough to drive a semi trailer through. How do we know what we know? Helter Skelter. Why are so many people still lying or unwilling to talk about what they know?
Tom O’Neill dug up so many odd inconsistencies that it was only by Bugliosi keeping a firm control over what could and could not be discussed in the trial that all or some of the clandestine operations surrounding the murders did not come to light. They had their boogeyman, and he was a legitimate menace to society, and now all they needed to do was put him behind bars. All of America was now terrified of the hippy movement and of the potential for a race war.
Ultimately at the end of the day no one wanted anything coming to light that would jeopardize prosecuting Manson. I don’t disagree with that being the primary objective because he was a true menace to society. It makes me nervous to think about the crimes behind the crimes.
So yeah, O’Neill, with a preponderance of evidence has made me rethink everything I thought I knew about Manson, the murders, and the real motives behind everything. As if the Manson murders were not sensational enough, it was even more disturbing to discover the criminal behavior by our government that just happened to intersect with Charles Manson. It was simply unconscionable what the government was doing in the 1960s under the guise of insuring the well being of the American people. Through misinformation and misdirection, they created hate and misunderstanding that we are still dealing with today. Manson wasn’t the grand manipulator. The US government was the grand manipulator.
”’The sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969...The tension broke that day. The paranoia was fulfilled.’”---Joan Didion The White Album
I want to thank Little, Brown for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Who is Charles Manson?
This book began as a 5000 word piece for Premiere Magazine with the subject expected to be Manson and Hollywood. Tom O’Neill did not make that magazine deadline or even the deadline after that. His concept of the narrative and the research had grown well beyond the parameters of the original story idea. The deeper he delved into Manson the more lines for further enquiry he discovered. What was supposed to be an assignment that would take a few weeks took two decades. It became an all consuming obsession.
And here we are.
Manson was famous for his ability to manipulate people into doing what he wanted. I still feel like he is doing that to us now. Every time I hear or see anything regarding Manson, my ears perk up. I know I’m not alone. A whole nation was rivetted to the events of the Tate-LaBianc murder trial. Even people who were born long after the events in 1969 are enthralled with the need to know why.
Tom O’Neill became so caught up in researching Manson that he lost two decades of his life to the pursuit of the real truth.
I definitely benefited from reading Helter Skelter before reading O’Neill’s book because of the time spent discussing the actual trial that is not covered as thoroughly in Chaos. O’Neill broke down what Vincent Bugliosi got right, uncovered some of what he suppressed, and dug into the vital information that Bugliosi never bothered to pursue. The truth proved elusive after so many years. Witnesses had died, memories had become faulty, and key people refused to talk about their role in what is looking like a much bigger conspiracy that goes well beyond murder.
Now how could the CIA possibly be involved with Manson? I asked myself, was this on par with the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination? There were two secret missions one launched by the CIA, called Chaos, and the other by the FBI, called COINTELPRO. They had the same objective to infiltrate groups like the Black Panthers and actually incite violence to discredit the organization. If you remember, that was part of Manson’s supposed objective as well with the murders, to try and convince law enforcement that they were committed by the Black Panthers.
There was another program launched by the CIA called MKULTRA which was exploring the effects of LSD and how it could lead to the creation of malleable assassins. They even had an operation called Midnight Climax which was bordellos set up in San Francisco for the explicit purpose of drugging johns with LSD to see how it affected them. So if you visited a brothel in San Francisco in the 1960s and had an experience unlike anything you’d ever encountered before, you very well might have been drugged by the CIA. I hope you had a good time anyway, but really, with all seriousness...what the frill? It isn’t even legal for the CIA to operate on American soil.
There were a lot of government/private programs in San Francisco exploring the potential uses of LSD, and it was during that year that Manson spent in San Francisco that he became Manson the Guru, the grand manipulator. He dropped LSD for the first time and emerged from the experience a prophet. So how could he be so good at manipulating people, especially young women, into becoming mindless, murderous followers? Bugliosi notated.”It might be something he learned from others.” Could it even be conceivable that Manson was trained by the CIA as part of what should have been illegal programs?
So why were Manson and many of his followers arrested many times over the months before the murder and simply turned loose?
Was there a phone call?
I just want to warn you that the revelations in this book are going to blow your mind without dropping LSD.
There are peripheral, shadowy characters all around the events of the Manson murders. Terry Melcher, Doris Day’s son, had promised Manson a record deal and then reneged on it, or rather Doris said...hell, no. Melcher, fearing for his life, moved out of 10050 Cielo Drive rather abruptly but then visited Manson three times...wait for it...after the murders. He testified in court that he had not seen Manson after such and such a date, way before the murders.
Okay, so let's just say there are holes in what we know about what really happened, large enough to drive a semi trailer through. How do we know what we know? Helter Skelter. Why are so many people still lying or unwilling to talk about what they know?
Tom O’Neill dug up so many odd inconsistencies that it was only by Bugliosi keeping a firm control over what could and could not be discussed in the trial that all or some of the clandestine operations surrounding the murders did not come to light. They had their boogeyman, and he was a legitimate menace to society, and now all they needed to do was put him behind bars. All of America was now terrified of the hippy movement and of the potential for a race war.
Ultimately at the end of the day no one wanted anything coming to light that would jeopardize prosecuting Manson. I don’t disagree with that being the primary objective because he was a true menace to society. It makes me nervous to think about the crimes behind the crimes.
So yeah, O’Neill, with a preponderance of evidence has made me rethink everything I thought I knew about Manson, the murders, and the real motives behind everything. As if the Manson murders were not sensational enough, it was even more disturbing to discover the criminal behavior by our government that just happened to intersect with Charles Manson. It was simply unconscionable what the government was doing in the 1960s under the guise of insuring the well being of the American people. Through misinformation and misdirection, they created hate and misunderstanding that we are still dealing with today. Manson wasn’t the grand manipulator. The US government was the grand manipulator.
”’The sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969...The tension broke that day. The paranoia was fulfilled.’”---Joan Didion The White Album
I want to thank Little, Brown for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
June 23, 2021
“My goal isn’t to say what did happen - it’s to prove that the official story didn’t.”
How dare Tom O’Neill waltz in here with his 20 years of extensive research into the Manson Family murders and make me question everything about one of my favourite true crime books?! Although I’m glad he brought to my attention the fact that Vincent Bugliosi was a grade-A asshole.
Around 20 years ago O’Neill was given an assignment to offer a fresh perspective on the Manson Family in anticipation of the 30 year anniversary of the murders for a magazine. What followed was a 20 year obsession where O’Neill tried to pick apart a seemingly vast network of lies involving the LAPD, CIA and FBI.
This book was wild. WILD. First and foremost I’m in awe of how much work it took to write this book. O’Neill lived and breathed this case. And what he uncovered just blew my fucking mind! O’Neill accuses Bugliosi of tampering with witnesses and moulding the case to fit the “Helter Skelter” theory, the only narrative that we are given pertaining to the Manson Family murders, knowing that it would give him fame and money (as demonstrated by Bulgiolsi writing the best-selling true crime book)!
Throw in the CIA and the mind-control experiments of Project MKULTRA, the potential collusion of FBI agents with the district attorney, the fact that Manson’s parole officer was pretty fucking lax with letting him do whatever the hell he wanted, breaking his parole continually, yet never going back to jail. There was A LOT going on here, but O’Neill does an incredible job of unravelling all the different strands in a coherent manner without overwhelming you with theories and names.
Incase it isn’t obvious, I loved reading this! I wouldn’t say I am on board with all of O’Neill’s theories and discoveries - even O’Neill himself isn’t certain - but he has opened my eyes to the fact that these murders weren’t as cut and dry as they appear to be.
It’s a book that requires patience and serious brainpower, so I would recommend it to true crime fans that love reading about the Manson family and murders in particular. It might be a bit much for a casual true crime fan. 4.5 stars.
How dare Tom O’Neill waltz in here with his 20 years of extensive research into the Manson Family murders and make me question everything about one of my favourite true crime books?! Although I’m glad he brought to my attention the fact that Vincent Bugliosi was a grade-A asshole.
Around 20 years ago O’Neill was given an assignment to offer a fresh perspective on the Manson Family in anticipation of the 30 year anniversary of the murders for a magazine. What followed was a 20 year obsession where O’Neill tried to pick apart a seemingly vast network of lies involving the LAPD, CIA and FBI.
This book was wild. WILD. First and foremost I’m in awe of how much work it took to write this book. O’Neill lived and breathed this case. And what he uncovered just blew my fucking mind! O’Neill accuses Bugliosi of tampering with witnesses and moulding the case to fit the “Helter Skelter” theory, the only narrative that we are given pertaining to the Manson Family murders, knowing that it would give him fame and money (as demonstrated by Bulgiolsi writing the best-selling true crime book)!
Throw in the CIA and the mind-control experiments of Project MKULTRA, the potential collusion of FBI agents with the district attorney, the fact that Manson’s parole officer was pretty fucking lax with letting him do whatever the hell he wanted, breaking his parole continually, yet never going back to jail. There was A LOT going on here, but O’Neill does an incredible job of unravelling all the different strands in a coherent manner without overwhelming you with theories and names.
Incase it isn’t obvious, I loved reading this! I wouldn’t say I am on board with all of O’Neill’s theories and discoveries - even O’Neill himself isn’t certain - but he has opened my eyes to the fact that these murders weren’t as cut and dry as they appear to be.
It’s a book that requires patience and serious brainpower, so I would recommend it to true crime fans that love reading about the Manson family and murders in particular. It might be a bit much for a casual true crime fan. 4.5 stars.
March 26, 2019
This was a wild ride. The author was assigned to write an article for Premier magazine about the effects the Manson murders had on the community for the upcoming thirtieth anniversary of the savagery. He spent the next two decades consumed by his investigations. This book is the result of his fixation. What he learned contradicted many things in Bugliosi’s bestselling Helter Skelter. On top of that, a lot of events and people were simply omitted from Helter Skelter and certainly weren’t included in the courtroom. So he went in search of what actually occurred. To use the vernacular of the time, what he found was mind-blowing. From judicial carelessness to CIA infiltration to FBI smear campaigns to LSD mind-control experiments; O’Neill found it all and then some. Is he a conspiracy theorist? I don’t think so but did he find out what really happened?
June 30, 2019
Stayed up all night reading this one. Without a doubt the most mind blowing book I've read in a while. I'm not sure what to believe now, but if this guy's even half sane the Charles Manson story is a much different story than we've all been led to believe. My mind is BLOWN.
June 4, 2019
This book is nothing but bonkers conspiracy theories AND I LOVED EVERY MOMENT OF IT!
October 24, 2022
A completely messy, laborious, thought-provoking journey that shakes up the conventional consensus about one of the most-covered crimes in American history.
In a sense, I felt like I wasn't reading nonfiction, but rather a Thomas Pynchon tale about an investigative journalist sucked into an underworld of hucksters, narcissists, and shifty lawyers. Almost no one in this book can be trusted, although (perhaps out of self-preservation) they justify their past actions well.
It's frustrating, because clear answers remain elusive, and they may forever stay elusive. The most popular conspiracy theories need a clean narrative to grasp, and this book does us no such favors. It is much more realistic--motivations don't align with actions, memories warp over time, and not a single soul wants to claim a close connection to Charles Manson.
In a sense, I felt like I wasn't reading nonfiction, but rather a Thomas Pynchon tale about an investigative journalist sucked into an underworld of hucksters, narcissists, and shifty lawyers. Almost no one in this book can be trusted, although (perhaps out of self-preservation) they justify their past actions well.
It's frustrating, because clear answers remain elusive, and they may forever stay elusive. The most popular conspiracy theories need a clean narrative to grasp, and this book does us no such favors. It is much more realistic--motivations don't align with actions, memories warp over time, and not a single soul wants to claim a close connection to Charles Manson.
June 27, 2019
A tedious read, full of speculation and discoveries that reveal not much of anything. For a book about Manson there is surprisingly little about Manson or the Manson Family. Tom O’Neil writes that he interviewed 1000 people for the book, which is a shocking number considering no one who was actually a part of the Manson Family appears in the book! I don’t know if they wouldn’t talk to him, or he couldn’t find them, but O’Neil spends a lot of time describing his search for primary sources (lawyers and cops) yet he doesn’t seem interested in the Family
themselves.
O’Neil makes big claims based on poor evidence and seems fond of unreliable sources. As a reader it was hard I stay with his enthusiasm for his own process. I found the character assassination of the victims to be unnecessary and exploitive, and ultimately added nothing to O’Neil’s search for the truth (which he never finds).
themselves.
O’Neil makes big claims based on poor evidence and seems fond of unreliable sources. As a reader it was hard I stay with his enthusiasm for his own process. I found the character assassination of the victims to be unnecessary and exploitive, and ultimately added nothing to O’Neil’s search for the truth (which he never finds).
August 26, 2019
Reading this book made me feel like a legit conspiracy theorist
It is by nature kind of a frustrating book to read because so much of it is investigating dead leads or pieces of evidence that were ultimately destroyed? It gives you a real sense of how the 20 years of research involved made Tom O'Neill feel like he was losing it...
Reading this definitely convinced me that the CIA in the 60s was WACK (as it probably is now...) but O'Neill doesn't have enough information to make any clear conclusions. Which, I respect him for not exaggerating or drawing any false conclusions but it's also kind of unsatisfying to read a book whose conclusion is kind of just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I guess I'd really only recommend this if you're really into like the grunt work of true crime investigations and/or Charles Manson?
It is by nature kind of a frustrating book to read because so much of it is investigating dead leads or pieces of evidence that were ultimately destroyed? It gives you a real sense of how the 20 years of research involved made Tom O'Neill feel like he was losing it...
Reading this definitely convinced me that the CIA in the 60s was WACK (as it probably is now...) but O'Neill doesn't have enough information to make any clear conclusions. Which, I respect him for not exaggerating or drawing any false conclusions but it's also kind of unsatisfying to read a book whose conclusion is kind of just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I guess I'd really only recommend this if you're really into like the grunt work of true crime investigations and/or Charles Manson?
July 20, 2022
Where does it all go?
Recalling the stylistic practices of Geoff Dyer and Karl Ove Knausgård, the author wrote a book essentially about writing a book. Chaos is a 440-page book about an exploration into investigative discrepancies in the infamous Sharon Tate murders associated with Charles Manson and his Family. Unlike the two examples (Knausgård and Dyer), this author lacks all poetic sensibility and instead whinges interminably about his inconclusive efforts. The result is beyond parody, he complains and complains. Periodically he dumps a ton of information about the CIA's Phoenix Program in Vietnam (which practiced psy-ops and assassination) or the CIA's Chaos Program which illegally practiced similar operations on US soil against both anti-war and civil rights activists. After this cumbersome explication, alas, there's no link with the crimes. There are overtures and insinuations. Metaphysically it begs the question; why should we care? If this the fruit of a twenty year endeavor, I have questions about the skills of the author as researcher and stylist.
Recalling the stylistic practices of Geoff Dyer and Karl Ove Knausgård, the author wrote a book essentially about writing a book. Chaos is a 440-page book about an exploration into investigative discrepancies in the infamous Sharon Tate murders associated with Charles Manson and his Family. Unlike the two examples (Knausgård and Dyer), this author lacks all poetic sensibility and instead whinges interminably about his inconclusive efforts. The result is beyond parody, he complains and complains. Periodically he dumps a ton of information about the CIA's Phoenix Program in Vietnam (which practiced psy-ops and assassination) or the CIA's Chaos Program which illegally practiced similar operations on US soil against both anti-war and civil rights activists. After this cumbersome explication, alas, there's no link with the crimes. There are overtures and insinuations. Metaphysically it begs the question; why should we care? If this the fruit of a twenty year endeavor, I have questions about the skills of the author as researcher and stylist.
June 6, 2025
Holy crap, where do I start with this? First off, I’ll say that Tom O’Neill’s 2019 book “CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties” is so fascinating of a read that there were times that I was tempted to call off work just to finish it. I didn’t, of course, because I’ve used up all my sick time already, and I actually like my job.
There is literally too much to unpack about this book, so I won’t do it, mainly for my mental health. I could gush for pages and pages about this, which is basically what O’Neill does, for 436 pages. Just read what he wrote.
This book is basically what happens when an intelligent journalist falls into a rabbit hole of investigative journalism about the Manson murders and uncovers 30-year-old conspiracy theories that flip on its head nearly everything we think we know about the Manson murders. Through hundreds of interviews and countless uncovered documents, O’Neill has pieced together a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle that’s unfortunately missing a couple thousand pieces, but it still shows us a pretty clear picture.
Consider this a companion piece to Vincent Bugliosi’s 1974 “Helter Skelter”, which is still considered the definitive account of the Manson murders. O’Neill’s book is, however, more than just a companion piece. He literally excoriates and destroys Bugliosi’s account by more than implying that Bugliosi (prosecuting attorney for the Manson trial) suppressed vital information, lied under oath, and created a completely horse-shit motive for the murders. That, and he was an allegedly pretty horrible human being, and O’Neill has police reports to prove it.
That’s not even close to the tip of the batshit crazy iceberg, though, as O’Neill somehow (plausibly) connects the Beach Boys; J.Edgar Hoover’s illegal COINTELPRO (counter intelligence program) of the late ‘60s; the CIA’s campaign to discredit and dismantle the anti-war movement via an operation called CHAOS; and rogue free-clinic doctors conducting LSD experiments on unwitting patients, especially a certain group of hippies living out in the desert led by a charismatic ex-con who may or may not have been an LA county sheriff’s or federal informant.
This book is wild. I’d almost write this book off as nutso conspiracy theory nonsense, except I’ve just lived through the past 10 years in which some asshole New York real estate douchebag who once did a cameo in “Home Alone” actually became president and contributed to the untimely death of millions of Americans because he thought injecting bleach into the bloodstream was a good idea and then fomented a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol because of a bullshit lie that the 2020 elections were stolen and that a couple million Americans still think this idiot should run in 2024. So, yeah, the idea that Charles Manson may have been a federal informant and/or a pawn in some illegal CIA experiment trying to make hippies into violent psychopathic killing machines using LSD and methamphetamines honestly isn’t that hard to believe.
There is literally too much to unpack about this book, so I won’t do it, mainly for my mental health. I could gush for pages and pages about this, which is basically what O’Neill does, for 436 pages. Just read what he wrote.
This book is basically what happens when an intelligent journalist falls into a rabbit hole of investigative journalism about the Manson murders and uncovers 30-year-old conspiracy theories that flip on its head nearly everything we think we know about the Manson murders. Through hundreds of interviews and countless uncovered documents, O’Neill has pieced together a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle that’s unfortunately missing a couple thousand pieces, but it still shows us a pretty clear picture.
Consider this a companion piece to Vincent Bugliosi’s 1974 “Helter Skelter”, which is still considered the definitive account of the Manson murders. O’Neill’s book is, however, more than just a companion piece. He literally excoriates and destroys Bugliosi’s account by more than implying that Bugliosi (prosecuting attorney for the Manson trial) suppressed vital information, lied under oath, and created a completely horse-shit motive for the murders. That, and he was an allegedly pretty horrible human being, and O’Neill has police reports to prove it.
That’s not even close to the tip of the batshit crazy iceberg, though, as O’Neill somehow (plausibly) connects the Beach Boys; J.Edgar Hoover’s illegal COINTELPRO (counter intelligence program) of the late ‘60s; the CIA’s campaign to discredit and dismantle the anti-war movement via an operation called CHAOS; and rogue free-clinic doctors conducting LSD experiments on unwitting patients, especially a certain group of hippies living out in the desert led by a charismatic ex-con who may or may not have been an LA county sheriff’s or federal informant.
This book is wild. I’d almost write this book off as nutso conspiracy theory nonsense, except I’ve just lived through the past 10 years in which some asshole New York real estate douchebag who once did a cameo in “Home Alone” actually became president and contributed to the untimely death of millions of Americans because he thought injecting bleach into the bloodstream was a good idea and then fomented a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol because of a bullshit lie that the 2020 elections were stolen and that a couple million Americans still think this idiot should run in 2024. So, yeah, the idea that Charles Manson may have been a federal informant and/or a pawn in some illegal CIA experiment trying to make hippies into violent psychopathic killing machines using LSD and methamphetamines honestly isn’t that hard to believe.
August 3, 2020
Take a deep breath. Consider everything you think you know about the Manson Family. Breathe out.
This book is one man's journey (one that absolutely consumed his life) to find the truth in the hazy pockets of the Manson trial. O'Neill takes his readers down plenty of rabbit holes based in his own suspicions and questions. Why is it that some major witnesses were not called to testify? How did a known convict slip through every possibly crack until it resulted in some of America's most famous and graphic murders? How is it that stories that are forever changing and evolving not questioned by higher courts?
Does Chaos dabble in conspiracy? A little bit. At times O'Neill walks the line between deep research and conjecture/pure speculation. That said, I don't think that he ever gives up his credibility.
It is easy to read Chaos as a memoir of an obsession. O'Neill is candid about the way he lived his life while researching and the many hits he took along the way. That candor might be one of the most powerful parts of the book. In Manson we have a controlling and dangerous psychopath. In O'Neill we find someone under his spell but outside of his influence. If anything, this book is worth reading to experience the rich and often times scary lengths that O'Neill will go to find the answers he feels the world deserves.
This book is one man's journey (one that absolutely consumed his life) to find the truth in the hazy pockets of the Manson trial. O'Neill takes his readers down plenty of rabbit holes based in his own suspicions and questions. Why is it that some major witnesses were not called to testify? How did a known convict slip through every possibly crack until it resulted in some of America's most famous and graphic murders? How is it that stories that are forever changing and evolving not questioned by higher courts?
Does Chaos dabble in conspiracy? A little bit. At times O'Neill walks the line between deep research and conjecture/pure speculation. That said, I don't think that he ever gives up his credibility.
It is easy to read Chaos as a memoir of an obsession. O'Neill is candid about the way he lived his life while researching and the many hits he took along the way. That candor might be one of the most powerful parts of the book. In Manson we have a controlling and dangerous psychopath. In O'Neill we find someone under his spell but outside of his influence. If anything, this book is worth reading to experience the rich and often times scary lengths that O'Neill will go to find the answers he feels the world deserves.
January 22, 2022
Author Tom O'Neill was tasked with writing an article for his employer to coincide with the 30 anniversary of the Tate and LaBianca murders. Given 3 months to submit the work turned into a 20-year obsession for this investigating journalist,
After 30 years, many of the people involved with Manson and his hippy family have passed away and even more in the following 20.
What more could be written that hasn't already? More importantly, what new evidence can be shown to be plausible? Plenty! O'Neill has provided over 60 pages of foot notes to support his claims.
One character of prominence Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West, who was heavily involved with the CIA MK-Ultra mind control program, seeing the links between West and Manson, is quite perturbing. Reading about West, images from Anthony Burgess novel "A Clock Work Orange " appear in my mind.
Overall, it's a ripping good yarn. Highly recommended .
After 30 years, many of the people involved with Manson and his hippy family have passed away and even more in the following 20.
What more could be written that hasn't already? More importantly, what new evidence can be shown to be plausible? Plenty! O'Neill has provided over 60 pages of foot notes to support his claims.
One character of prominence Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West, who was heavily involved with the CIA MK-Ultra mind control program, seeing the links between West and Manson, is quite perturbing. Reading about West, images from Anthony Burgess novel "A Clock Work Orange " appear in my mind.
Overall, it's a ripping good yarn. Highly recommended .
April 24, 2022
I'm not a fan of books on serial killers or that sort of thing but this was really good.
Sets out not to provide an alternative narrative to the Manson killings so much as to poke holes in the official story. At that, it does an amazing job. There was clearly something more to the murders. Goes down a ton of rabbit holes you wouldn't expect. Like Manson's constant proximity to CIA bigwigs. Really strange. Also uhhh casts some doubt and raises some legitimate questions about the murder of JFK, as, among other things, the CIA doctor who declared Jack Ruby insane and unfit to stand trial was probably also Manson's lsd supplier and once publicly killed an elephant with lsd, suggesting that he just gave Ruby a huge dose and talked him into hallucinating a new holocaust. Very troubling stuff.
I know this sounds like conspiracy theory nonsense and O'Neill certainly could have used a bit more focus on his project, but there is something there. It's just so frustrating because at a certain point you just have to accept you'll never know what it is or else you'll drive yourself crazy.
Sets out not to provide an alternative narrative to the Manson killings so much as to poke holes in the official story. At that, it does an amazing job. There was clearly something more to the murders. Goes down a ton of rabbit holes you wouldn't expect. Like Manson's constant proximity to CIA bigwigs. Really strange. Also uhhh casts some doubt and raises some legitimate questions about the murder of JFK, as, among other things, the CIA doctor who declared Jack Ruby insane and unfit to stand trial was probably also Manson's lsd supplier and once publicly killed an elephant with lsd, suggesting that he just gave Ruby a huge dose and talked him into hallucinating a new holocaust. Very troubling stuff.
I know this sounds like conspiracy theory nonsense and O'Neill certainly could have used a bit more focus on his project, but there is something there. It's just so frustrating because at a certain point you just have to accept you'll never know what it is or else you'll drive yourself crazy.
July 25, 2019
Un libro muy interesante sobre lo podrido que está el sistema y sobre cómo se construyó la acusación a Manson sin pruebas reales. Y todo ello tras dejarle campar a sus anchas sabiendo lo peligroso que era. A veces dudo si lo que pensamos que son conspiraciones no será una inmensa chapuza de los investigadores y la policía, aunque ciertamente algo huele mal en todo esto.
January 4, 2020
In 1999 "Premier Magazine" asked free lance writer Tom O’Neill to write a 30 year commemorative article on the Tate-LaBianca murders. The article was expected to cover the murder’s impact on individuals and Hollywood in general. O’Neill takes the reader along with him on this project that wound up enveloping him for 20 years.
Most people, particularly celebrities, like to see their name in print, so landing interviews was expected to be easy. O’Neill not only got a cold shoulder from friends and neighbors of the victims, he also found police and judicial records sealed or missing. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wanted him to stop and threatened to ruin his reputation, and sue him and his publisher.
The book does not dispute the guilt of Manson and his family but uncovers a trove of negligent police work, fishy cover stories, missing evidence and perjury. The back story has a cast of enablers who may or may not be criminally liable and sheds some light on "why". Here are a few of the many intriguing characters for whom O’Neill provides well documented stories.
- Reeve Whitson – made the first call from the Tate house – before the news of the murders was out. Who was he? Why was he there? Why was he not interviewed?
- Dr. Louis Jolly West, David Smith and Roger Smith all operated “clinics” in San Francisco where Manson and his family hung out. The clinics were actually fronts for these men who researched LSD and other drugs. O’Neill digests their applicable research and interviews them. He documents how all three were associated with COINTELPRO and/or MKULTR.A, CIA drug and mind control experiments.
- Roger Smith – The drug researcher above was also Manson’s parole officer prior to the murders. He sat by as Manson violated his parole many times (drugs, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, auto theft, etc) was caught and released to the chagrin of the arresting officers (Who is Manson’s godfather?). Susan Atkins has “catch and release” experiences too. Smith approved a questionable trip to Mexico and took in Manson’s baby with Mary Brunner. If all that isn’t questionable enough, Manson was his only parolee.
There are plenty of fishy side stories. These are the most curious for me:
- It's not surprising that Terry Melcher and Brian Wilson would distance themselves from Manson after the murders, but O’Neill exposes the legal issues of, for instance, Melchor’s claim that he never saw Manson after the murders.
- Why is Larry Schiller allowed to interview Susan Alkins and publish a pre-trial book despite the gag order? Note, Schiller was granted similar and questionable access to Jack Ruby.
- Why is Vincent Bugliosi so apoplectic? I was surprised about his back-stories (the revenge on the milkman!) but his frequent harassment of the writer hints of something deeper than the gaps in the testimony O'Neill showed him.
- Why was Paul Dostie's dig for more bodies curtailed?
The documentation presented and the record of how difficult it was to get, even on simple matters such as Manson’s parole violations, the identity of Reeve Whitson and the “free clinics” in Haight-Ashbury, on their own are significant.
While this is a research project, it does not have that feel. O’Neil’s chronological approach has you traveling alongside him as he follows leads. If you are interested in this time in history and read this, you will find yourself as engrossed in it as the author was in producing it..
Most people, particularly celebrities, like to see their name in print, so landing interviews was expected to be easy. O’Neill not only got a cold shoulder from friends and neighbors of the victims, he also found police and judicial records sealed or missing. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wanted him to stop and threatened to ruin his reputation, and sue him and his publisher.
The book does not dispute the guilt of Manson and his family but uncovers a trove of negligent police work, fishy cover stories, missing evidence and perjury. The back story has a cast of enablers who may or may not be criminally liable and sheds some light on "why". Here are a few of the many intriguing characters for whom O’Neill provides well documented stories.
- Reeve Whitson – made the first call from the Tate house – before the news of the murders was out. Who was he? Why was he there? Why was he not interviewed?
- Dr. Louis Jolly West, David Smith and Roger Smith all operated “clinics” in San Francisco where Manson and his family hung out. The clinics were actually fronts for these men who researched LSD and other drugs. O’Neill digests their applicable research and interviews them. He documents how all three were associated with COINTELPRO and/or MKULTR.A, CIA drug and mind control experiments.
- Roger Smith – The drug researcher above was also Manson’s parole officer prior to the murders. He sat by as Manson violated his parole many times (drugs, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, auto theft, etc) was caught and released to the chagrin of the arresting officers (Who is Manson’s godfather?). Susan Atkins has “catch and release” experiences too. Smith approved a questionable trip to Mexico and took in Manson’s baby with Mary Brunner. If all that isn’t questionable enough, Manson was his only parolee.
There are plenty of fishy side stories. These are the most curious for me:
- It's not surprising that Terry Melcher and Brian Wilson would distance themselves from Manson after the murders, but O’Neill exposes the legal issues of, for instance, Melchor’s claim that he never saw Manson after the murders.
- Why is Larry Schiller allowed to interview Susan Alkins and publish a pre-trial book despite the gag order? Note, Schiller was granted similar and questionable access to Jack Ruby.
- Why is Vincent Bugliosi so apoplectic? I was surprised about his back-stories (the revenge on the milkman!) but his frequent harassment of the writer hints of something deeper than the gaps in the testimony O'Neill showed him.
- Why was Paul Dostie's dig for more bodies curtailed?
The documentation presented and the record of how difficult it was to get, even on simple matters such as Manson’s parole violations, the identity of Reeve Whitson and the “free clinics” in Haight-Ashbury, on their own are significant.
While this is a research project, it does not have that feel. O’Neil’s chronological approach has you traveling alongside him as he follows leads. If you are interested in this time in history and read this, you will find yourself as engrossed in it as the author was in producing it..
October 14, 2019
New premise of epistemology: if the Lolita Express was real, then anything can be real. The Manson family as CIA op gone perfectly according to plan. Why not?
...
Alright, so this has got to be the page-turner of the year, if not the page-turner of our still-young century...
Then why not give it five stars out of five? Well, there’s also something deeply unsatisfying here. The book does a really excellent job punching holes in the official Bugliosi version of events (with certainty, we can say the man suborned perjury). When it comes to presenting a positive alternate theory, however, things get very very hairy... it’s not really a book about the CIA and the sixties so much as a memoir about the author’s own decades-long research and concomitant descent into paranoia/quasi-madness, but even there I can’t help thinking there’s something slightly off. I mean, why would a professional writer need a credited coauthor to write his own memoirs?
...
O’Neill himself agrees that his research is inconclusive. We still don’t know nearly enough about CHAOS and MKULTRA. May this book spur further interest and research.
...
Alright, so this has got to be the page-turner of the year, if not the page-turner of our still-young century...
Then why not give it five stars out of five? Well, there’s also something deeply unsatisfying here. The book does a really excellent job punching holes in the official Bugliosi version of events (with certainty, we can say the man suborned perjury). When it comes to presenting a positive alternate theory, however, things get very very hairy... it’s not really a book about the CIA and the sixties so much as a memoir about the author’s own decades-long research and concomitant descent into paranoia/quasi-madness, but even there I can’t help thinking there’s something slightly off. I mean, why would a professional writer need a credited coauthor to write his own memoirs?
...
O’Neill himself agrees that his research is inconclusive. We still don’t know nearly enough about CHAOS and MKULTRA. May this book spur further interest and research.
July 13, 2019
Holy cow, that was a RIDE. Like any good conspiracy/hidden history book, ultimately there’s no answer and Tom O’Neill doesn’t claim to have one. But he spent twenty years uncovering a ridiculous number of threads, suppressed evidence, lies officially stamped by law enforcement, and outright prosecutorial misconduct and suborning perjury at Vincent Bugliosi’s hands. There’s a lot here to shock and delight any fan of conspiracies in history. As an aside, if you’ve read David McGowan’s Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon, CHAOS is a great companion piece to it.
April 25, 2023
"In that rictus of his, those glinting eyes, the X carved into his forehead, we’re supposed to recognize what Bugliosi famously called “a metaphor for evil.” But the full extent of that evil isn’t in what we know about Manson. It’s in what we don’t know. That’s what kept me going all these years"
The Manson Murders is a case most everyone is familiar with (rather from Bugliosi's famous account or Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood) as it has engrained itself permanently into the cultural zeitgeist. This story, however, takes a rather unique perspective on the whole thing, questioning the official narrative brought forward in Bugliosi's account.
This book brings forth many interesting questions such as, how was Manson able to manipulate an entire group of peace-loving hippies to murder for him? Where did Manson's seemingly endless supply of LSD come from? (who funded it) and how was Manson able to commit the Tate murders all while under police surveillance?
The book peels back layer by layer the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Manson Family killings. It sets out with the intent of deconstructing the official narrative rather than directly offering an alternative.
"My goal isn’t to say what did happen—it’s to prove that the official story didn’t."
I think Tom O'Neal did a great job with this work, it's chock-full of information and O'Neal spent years researching for the book. That is to say, it seems he pursued every available avenue he had relating to this case. The book is kind of motivating at times as well when Tom talks about the amount of time it took and the struggles he went threw writing the book. If you find the Manson case interesting I would say this is worth a look.
The Manson Murders is a case most everyone is familiar with (rather from Bugliosi's famous account or Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood) as it has engrained itself permanently into the cultural zeitgeist. This story, however, takes a rather unique perspective on the whole thing, questioning the official narrative brought forward in Bugliosi's account.
This book brings forth many interesting questions such as, how was Manson able to manipulate an entire group of peace-loving hippies to murder for him? Where did Manson's seemingly endless supply of LSD come from? (who funded it) and how was Manson able to commit the Tate murders all while under police surveillance?
The book peels back layer by layer the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Manson Family killings. It sets out with the intent of deconstructing the official narrative rather than directly offering an alternative.
"My goal isn’t to say what did happen—it’s to prove that the official story didn’t."
I think Tom O'Neal did a great job with this work, it's chock-full of information and O'Neal spent years researching for the book. That is to say, it seems he pursued every available avenue he had relating to this case. The book is kind of motivating at times as well when Tom talks about the amount of time it took and the struggles he went threw writing the book. If you find the Manson case interesting I would say this is worth a look.
July 10, 2020
This is less an account of the Manson murders and more an exploration of journalist, Tom O’Neill’s, obsessive hunt for the truth about the investigation and the outcome of the trial. Like many others, I have read, “Helter Skelter,” which I loved by the way, and which I thought was the definitive book on this crime. To begin with, O’Neill has no real interest in the crimes, but, when he is asked to do a piece for an anniversary of the crimes, he begins to investigate and to meet inconsistencies.
If you like conspiracy theories, you will love this. It has everything from CIA experiments with LSD, through links to the JFK assassination, run-ins with Vincent Bugliosi, who felt his reputation was being tarnished, the Black Panthers, FBI operations, bizarre happenings and dodgy dealings… O’Neill suggests that Bugliosi having the final word has led to much of what we accept as fact, actually being fiction and takes us back to 1968, with the stories of those involved at the time and Bugliosi on, ‘a thirty year victory lap.’
There is too much in this book to go into, but some of the more compelling parts of the narrative around the crimes, include Terry Melcher being much closer with Manson than it previously appeared; the implication being that Bugliosi had protected him. Neil Young was one of the few people around at that time who did admit to having met Manson, while many others developed selective memories around that time. There was very odd behaviour from parole officers. Indeed, Manson’s parole officer even cared for his baby at one point and both Manson, and members of the Family, seemed to end back on the street when they had broken parole regulations. So, among these shocking drug experiments, and the infiltration of subversive groups, the actual state of Sharon Tate’s marriage and behaviour of those living at Cielo Drive, O’Neill uncovers a vast array of information and lays it out.
There is an exhaustive amount of evidence, and this is, at times, something of an exhausting read. It got a little bogged down in the middle, although O’Neill is compelling and persuasive. I am glad I read this, but must admit that I still have a soft spot for “Helter Skelter,” and it will be hard to replace that account as the definitive book on the crimes, even if this does make you question aspects of the true crime classic.
If you like conspiracy theories, you will love this. It has everything from CIA experiments with LSD, through links to the JFK assassination, run-ins with Vincent Bugliosi, who felt his reputation was being tarnished, the Black Panthers, FBI operations, bizarre happenings and dodgy dealings… O’Neill suggests that Bugliosi having the final word has led to much of what we accept as fact, actually being fiction and takes us back to 1968, with the stories of those involved at the time and Bugliosi on, ‘a thirty year victory lap.’
There is too much in this book to go into, but some of the more compelling parts of the narrative around the crimes, include Terry Melcher being much closer with Manson than it previously appeared; the implication being that Bugliosi had protected him. Neil Young was one of the few people around at that time who did admit to having met Manson, while many others developed selective memories around that time. There was very odd behaviour from parole officers. Indeed, Manson’s parole officer even cared for his baby at one point and both Manson, and members of the Family, seemed to end back on the street when they had broken parole regulations. So, among these shocking drug experiments, and the infiltration of subversive groups, the actual state of Sharon Tate’s marriage and behaviour of those living at Cielo Drive, O’Neill uncovers a vast array of information and lays it out.
There is an exhaustive amount of evidence, and this is, at times, something of an exhausting read. It got a little bogged down in the middle, although O’Neill is compelling and persuasive. I am glad I read this, but must admit that I still have a soft spot for “Helter Skelter,” and it will be hard to replace that account as the definitive book on the crimes, even if this does make you question aspects of the true crime classic.
September 22, 2019
I'm not going to bury the lead. This book is horrible. If you are hoping to read a book revealing anything new about the Manson Family... you're going to be disappointed. If you're hoping for a heart-pounding true crime story, you're going to be disappointed. If you're interested in secret CIA mind control experiments, you're going to be disappointed. There is really no scenario in which I can imagine a reader NOT being disappointed. I even question whether this book should be labeled as non-fiction. It seems more like fantasy to me. Really folks, don't waste your time.
October 13, 2021
What can I make of this?
This book goes off in so many directions and doesn't really end up anywhere definite. The author raises a lot of excellent questions, answers a handful of them, but never in a totally satisfying way because of all the long detours into other areas, some of which I can only describe as red herrings, like the trip down the rabbit hole that is the Kennedy assassination. It was interesting of course, but what does it have to do with the Manson family? He didn't even fully explain what Bugliosi was so mad at him about. I'm not sorry I read it, but...
This book goes off in so many directions and doesn't really end up anywhere definite. The author raises a lot of excellent questions, answers a handful of them, but never in a totally satisfying way because of all the long detours into other areas, some of which I can only describe as red herrings, like the trip down the rabbit hole that is the Kennedy assassination. It was interesting of course, but what does it have to do with the Manson family? He didn't even fully explain what Bugliosi was so mad at him about. I'm not sorry I read it, but...
July 7, 2020
If you've ever read Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi then, like me, you probably thought you had read the definitive account of the infamous murders. Manson intended that the murders would incite a race war and he singled out Sharon Tate's home, scene of the most infamous murders, to intimidate ex-resident Terry Melcher, who had reneged on a record deal for Manson, right? Apparently not.
It turns out that Vincent Bugliosi employed a selective approach to the evidence, ignoring those parts that didn't suit his narrative. He even deliberately hid some aspects from the defence, and convinced witnesses to perjure themselves. Later on in Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties we also discover that Vincent Bugliosi was a very nasty piece of work. At their final encounter, Bugliosi threatens to sue the impoverished O’Neill for a hundred million dollars and to smear him as a gay paedophile.
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties is an account of Tom O'Neill's 20 year obsession with the Manson case. He was originally commissioned to write a magazine article in 1999 to coincide with the 30 year anniversary of the murders. He never managed to write the article and, instead, the quest to try to get to the truth took over his life.
Tom O'Neill's obsession is a hell of a ride through the fear and loathing of the era. It takes in the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Programme) operations, the Black Panthers, the CIA's CHAOS programme, judges and probation officers repeatedly allowing parolee Manson to remain on the street, Project MKUltra, the Beach Boys, Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son), Dr. Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West (a CIA scientist who killed an elephant called Tusko by injecting it with 1,400 times the dosage of acid that produces “marked mental disturbance” in humans), a CIA funded hippy crash pad in San Francisco, and much more including, almost inevitably, the JFK assassination. The things that some US authorities were up to during this era is jaw dropping.
Arguably Tom O'Neill is as obsessive as the characters he chronicles. Needless to say he is unable to offer a neat solution to the murders and, instead, we are left with lots of fascinating questions.
If you like True Crime, and the darker highways and byways of America's surveillance and control of their own population, then this is highly recommended.
5/5
A journalist's twenty-year obsession with the Manson murders brings shocking revelations about one of the most infamous crimes in American history: carelessness from police, misconduct by prosecutors, and even potential surveillance by intelligence agents. What really happened in 1969?
In 1999, when Tom O'Neill was assigned a magazine piece about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Weren't the facts indisputable? Charles Manson had ordered his young followers to commit seven brutal murders, and in his thrall, they'd gladly complied. But when O'Neill began reporting the story, he kept finding holes in the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's narrative, enshrined in the best-selling Helter Skelter. Before long, O'Neill had questions about everything from the motive to the manhunt. Though he'd never considered himself a conspiracy theorist, the Manson murders swallowed the next two decades of his career. He was obsessed.
Searching but never speculative, CHAOS follows O'Neill's twenty-year effort to rebut the "official" story behind Manson. Who were his real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties? Why didn't law enforcement, including Manson's own parole officer, act on their many chances to stop him? And how did he turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers? O'Neill's hunt for answers leads him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from San Francisco's summer of love to the shadowy sites of the CIA's mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with shady cover-ups and suspicious coincidences.
Featuring hundreds of new interviews and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, CHAOS mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Steven Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. In those two dark nights in Los Angeles, O'Neill finds the story of California in the sixties: when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia-or dystopia-was just an acid trip away.
It turns out that Vincent Bugliosi employed a selective approach to the evidence, ignoring those parts that didn't suit his narrative. He even deliberately hid some aspects from the defence, and convinced witnesses to perjure themselves. Later on in Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties we also discover that Vincent Bugliosi was a very nasty piece of work. At their final encounter, Bugliosi threatens to sue the impoverished O’Neill for a hundred million dollars and to smear him as a gay paedophile.
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties is an account of Tom O'Neill's 20 year obsession with the Manson case. He was originally commissioned to write a magazine article in 1999 to coincide with the 30 year anniversary of the murders. He never managed to write the article and, instead, the quest to try to get to the truth took over his life.
Tom O'Neill's obsession is a hell of a ride through the fear and loathing of the era. It takes in the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Programme) operations, the Black Panthers, the CIA's CHAOS programme, judges and probation officers repeatedly allowing parolee Manson to remain on the street, Project MKUltra, the Beach Boys, Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son), Dr. Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West (a CIA scientist who killed an elephant called Tusko by injecting it with 1,400 times the dosage of acid that produces “marked mental disturbance” in humans), a CIA funded hippy crash pad in San Francisco, and much more including, almost inevitably, the JFK assassination. The things that some US authorities were up to during this era is jaw dropping.
Arguably Tom O'Neill is as obsessive as the characters he chronicles. Needless to say he is unable to offer a neat solution to the murders and, instead, we are left with lots of fascinating questions.
If you like True Crime, and the darker highways and byways of America's surveillance and control of their own population, then this is highly recommended.
5/5
A journalist's twenty-year obsession with the Manson murders brings shocking revelations about one of the most infamous crimes in American history: carelessness from police, misconduct by prosecutors, and even potential surveillance by intelligence agents. What really happened in 1969?
In 1999, when Tom O'Neill was assigned a magazine piece about the thirtieth anniversary of the Manson murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Weren't the facts indisputable? Charles Manson had ordered his young followers to commit seven brutal murders, and in his thrall, they'd gladly complied. But when O'Neill began reporting the story, he kept finding holes in the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's narrative, enshrined in the best-selling Helter Skelter. Before long, O'Neill had questions about everything from the motive to the manhunt. Though he'd never considered himself a conspiracy theorist, the Manson murders swallowed the next two decades of his career. He was obsessed.
Searching but never speculative, CHAOS follows O'Neill's twenty-year effort to rebut the "official" story behind Manson. Who were his real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties? Why didn't law enforcement, including Manson's own parole officer, act on their many chances to stop him? And how did he turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers? O'Neill's hunt for answers leads him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from San Francisco's summer of love to the shadowy sites of the CIA's mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with shady cover-ups and suspicious coincidences.
Featuring hundreds of new interviews and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, CHAOS mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Steven Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. In those two dark nights in Los Angeles, O'Neill finds the story of California in the sixties: when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia-or dystopia-was just an acid trip away.
May 17, 2022
I was so excited for this one and had such high hopes only to be let down spectacularly. I’m obsessed with the Manson story and devour any book I can find relating to the subject and when I saw this one offering a different perspective to the story I was instantly on board. Sadly it just didn’t do it for me. It was very little new information and a whole lot of conspiracy theory. And when I say a whole lot of conspiracy theory I mean A METRIC FUCK TON. That’s basically all this book was really, one big conspiracy theory and by the end it had nearly bored me to tears. Some parts were vaguely interesting but for the most part this was a huge disappointment and I do NOT recommend you read it unless you need something to put you to sleep.
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October 27, 2020At the beginning of Hearts of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola at the Cannes Film Festival says "My film is not a movie. My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam."
Tom O'Neill's Chaos is not a true-crime thriller. His book is not about Chaos. It is Chaos.
And as I loved Apocalypse Now, I loved Chaos. It is the story of every rabbit hole you've ever fallen down, every time you think you can see the truth but can't find the missing piece to prove it, every hunch you've followed, every time you've been spooked by a strange glance, thought you were being followed, and if you're me, every hour you spent scrutinizing the death of Jeffrey Epstein.
As for the ostensible subject? I know more about Manson, and therefore know less about Manson. I enjoyed the path to that void.
Tom O'Neill's Chaos is not a true-crime thriller. His book is not about Chaos. It is Chaos.
And as I loved Apocalypse Now, I loved Chaos. It is the story of every rabbit hole you've ever fallen down, every time you think you can see the truth but can't find the missing piece to prove it, every hunch you've followed, every time you've been spooked by a strange glance, thought you were being followed, and if you're me, every hour you spent scrutinizing the death of Jeffrey Epstein.
As for the ostensible subject? I know more about Manson, and therefore know less about Manson. I enjoyed the path to that void.
July 9, 2019
This was a good reminder that the human tendency for superstition and magical thinking is not limited to religious ideology. Oooo MK Ultra! Oooo the CIA! Ooooo the Kennedy Assassination. Drugs turn you into mindless automatons capable of everything under the sun! We're all government puppets! If person A happens to be in the same part of the country as person B in the same time period then they must be colluding in something nefarious! If person A knew person B before person B did something atrocious then person A must have some insider knowledge on government experiments on person B. There's just no other explanation! Everything is spooky! Everything is a conspiracy! The absence of evidence is evidence! People being annoyed by ridiculous insinuations and admitting they can't remember things from 40 years ago is evasion and lying!
The criminal justice system and probation/parole system were more loosey goosey in the 60s (towards white people)? Shocker!
Vincent Bugliosi concocted some story about the murders that doesn't match with reality? Of course he did. It happens all the time in criminal prosecution - even when the accused is guilty of the crime.
Vincent Bugliosi is a turd with no integrity? Apparently.
None of that changes the fact that Charles Manson is nothing but a basic criminal who led a group of people who did some heinous shit. Manson wasn't some living embodiment of a boogeyman with superhuman guru powers. He was a creepy little dude who preyed on the vulnerable. It's really that simple. Further, the random cast of characters who may or may not have inhabited the fringes of this story are standard shady shitheads. Not covert operatives of some past deep state.
I really expected this book to uncover serious misdeeds in the prosecution of the Manson family with some conspiracy sprinkled in for flavor. But all I got was a brief rundown of typical bullshit that happens in most prosecutions like this followed by HOURS of speculation about POTENTIAL conspiracies that MAY be indicated by various pieces of entirely VAGUE "evidence." Had I known what I was getting myself into I would not have picked this up.
The criminal justice system and probation/parole system were more loosey goosey in the 60s (towards white people)? Shocker!
Vincent Bugliosi concocted some story about the murders that doesn't match with reality? Of course he did. It happens all the time in criminal prosecution - even when the accused is guilty of the crime.
Vincent Bugliosi is a turd with no integrity? Apparently.
None of that changes the fact that Charles Manson is nothing but a basic criminal who led a group of people who did some heinous shit. Manson wasn't some living embodiment of a boogeyman with superhuman guru powers. He was a creepy little dude who preyed on the vulnerable. It's really that simple. Further, the random cast of characters who may or may not have inhabited the fringes of this story are standard shady shitheads. Not covert operatives of some past deep state.
I really expected this book to uncover serious misdeeds in the prosecution of the Manson family with some conspiracy sprinkled in for flavor. But all I got was a brief rundown of typical bullshit that happens in most prosecutions like this followed by HOURS of speculation about POTENTIAL conspiracies that MAY be indicated by various pieces of entirely VAGUE "evidence." Had I known what I was getting myself into I would not have picked this up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2025
THIS SHIT WAS FUCKED UP
SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THIS
(not me though)
SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THIS
(not me though)
May 3, 2020
I was leery about this when I saw it, but it got some good reviews here and some newspapers. I should’ve stayed away. The book is about the writer trying to write a book. The subject is Charles Manson, not a history, but conspiracy theories. His sources are washed up attention seekers, people that barely remember 1969, or other conspiracy books.
Truth, Charles Manson did somehow cross paths with a lot of celebrities. It could’ve been drugs, could’ve been because of Terry Melcher, could’ve been location. He does raise a good question as to how someone on parole was able to move, build this family, and sell drugs so freely.
The answers to the questions go off. We get the CIA, Manson was a police informant, the JFK assignation. The author was really out to paint Cass Elliott and Terry Melcher as complicit on the Tate-LaBianca murders. The author starts the book with blaming the victims.
In the end, the author has to concede that he didn’t have much of anything. The magazine he worked for and one publisher bailed out. This publisher should have passed too.
Truth, Charles Manson did somehow cross paths with a lot of celebrities. It could’ve been drugs, could’ve been because of Terry Melcher, could’ve been location. He does raise a good question as to how someone on parole was able to move, build this family, and sell drugs so freely.
The answers to the questions go off. We get the CIA, Manson was a police informant, the JFK assignation. The author was really out to paint Cass Elliott and Terry Melcher as complicit on the Tate-LaBianca murders. The author starts the book with blaming the victims.
In the end, the author has to concede that he didn’t have much of anything. The magazine he worked for and one publisher bailed out. This publisher should have passed too.
June 4, 2024
Acknowledging a flaw is not overcoming that flaw. The anxiety that O'Neill charts over his 20-year investigation is accurate- that he doesn't have a book. There are odds and ends here but not a full, well-rounded book. His solution, unfortunately, was to take that fact and make a book out of it.
There's great research here. The one solid case he makes is the state of California quarantined certain damning aspects of the Manson murders. The Who and the Why is what the book spends most of its pages speculating, and there is great speculation, but it ends up being just that.
The narrative never cohears, it never produces a complete argument. And I'd say when you're making a bold claim that you can undo five decades of knowledge on the most famous crime of the 20th century, you better have the gall to shoot your shot. This book threatens to do so, and backtracks, and monologues, and gets meta, and threatens again, but it never pulls the trigger.
It's a bold, sprawling book, but it ends up being the one thing it desperately tries not to be- harmless.
There's great research here. The one solid case he makes is the state of California quarantined certain damning aspects of the Manson murders. The Who and the Why is what the book spends most of its pages speculating, and there is great speculation, but it ends up being just that.
The narrative never cohears, it never produces a complete argument. And I'd say when you're making a bold claim that you can undo five decades of knowledge on the most famous crime of the 20th century, you better have the gall to shoot your shot. This book threatens to do so, and backtracks, and monologues, and gets meta, and threatens again, but it never pulls the trigger.
It's a bold, sprawling book, but it ends up being the one thing it desperately tries not to be- harmless.
Read
June 29, 2020before I can even consider posting about this book, I need to sort out all of the different threads explored here. Let's just say that the large-sized Moleskine notebooks I used were a blessing.
It was not an easy book to put down, that's for sure. More to come.
It was not an easy book to put down, that's for sure. More to come.
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