Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

by Tom O'Neill

I found proof that Melcher was much closer to Manson, Tex Watson, and the girls than he’d suggested. A year before the murders, he’d even lived with a member of the Family at the house on Cielo Drive. There was a strong likelihood that Melcher knew, immediately after the crimes, that Manson was involved—but he never told the police. I found evidence that Melcher lied on the stand, under oath. And Bugliosi definitely knew about it. Maybe he’d even put him up to it, suborning witness perjury. Just like the omissions about Polanski’s sex tape and Frykowski’s episode with Billy Doyle, this raised questions about Bugliosi’s motives. Did he change the story to protect Melcher, a powerful record producer and the only child of one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars?