The Tate-LaBianca Murders, better known as the "Manson Murders", were not what news reporter Linda Deutsch once called, "the first real cult killings this country has ever seen". They were the first major example of the increasing violence directly related to the illegal drug trade that this country has ever seen, because it was the first time it erupted in a place people didn't think things like that happened in and during a period of time when the last thing the country needed was a scandal that would have exposed corruption, criminality and a host of dirty secrets in a wide range of political and social aspects. All of which were already the target of extreme criticism. They threatened to pull the sheets off the rich and famous and their entanglement with the Mafia and so-called Counter Culture of the time. But more than that, a corrupt legal system working in harmony with the Mafia to prevent a black uprising the underworld of crime and legal system of America. Helter Skelter was coming down during the summer of 1969. But it wasn't Charles Manson who wanted to ignite it.
"If a Roman Catholic comes over here and gets in your district attorneys office...Rome! Rome, mamma! That's talking all the way back to one cross and they'll do anything in the world to put one cross back in order, because if they don't put one cross back in order, they got Islam right up their ass from Chicago bouncing that god damn fucking basketball" - Charles Manson 1997
What Helter Skelter really was:
Black dope syndicates (with the legal aid from the Nation of Islam ) would rise in power and start fighting back against the Roman Catholic Italian Mafia (with the legal aid of Italian lawyers), police and rich white dope pushers in Hollywood and upper class neighborhoods. That's what Helter Skelter was. The same Italian mafia trying to take control over the drug market, were always operating behind the scenes in the music and entertainment industry that Manson and the gang were apart of as well.
Charles Manson and The Family found themselves on the front line of Helter Skelter after the shooting of Bernard Crowe and rather than get any help or protection, they were purposely left open for an attack by local law enforcement, eager to ignite what looked like a racially motivated attack, despite knowing the drug-related nature of the crime. There is evidence that they might have been under the watch of a much larger intelligence agency too.
After the murder of Gary Hinman, Bobby Beausoleil wrote "Political Piggy" in blood on the wall, knowing fully well that the police and criminals alike were purposely covering up drug crimes to prevent any leads from being made and in some cases, getting off with the aid of mob attorneys. With the intense hatred of blacks felt by the police and knowing it was open season on them, racial motives were the best cover (ironic that after the murders, cults became the new cover). With the cops laying off Manson and his foolish kowtowing to them about his problems with a Black Panther (they knew fully well he shot Crowe and that Crowe was alive and well), he might have thought he was on their good side. Bobby figured the cops would automatically go after the Panthers for the crime, or just consider it yet another bizarre cold case like so many others in California.
For years and years, people have often demanded proof of drug transactions. They were all covered up by those involved, so as to not blow any other covers. To most of the run away kids, it might have appeared they were deadly serious about Bugliosi's fantasy version. I believe it may have been Beausoleil's purpose to get nailed, so he could establish a fake story and get a lawyer with the right connection since he murdered a rogue, small time dealer and tried to cover it, or somebody convinced him of such. Two years earlier, a dope dealer was stabbed multiple times. His killer was found on the highway with his arm in the car, speaking nonsense. His defense: a bad trip. A few months after the arrest of Beausoleil, a strange girl would be wandering around LA County Jail for the same crime, acting outrageous and confessing to have murdered Sharon Tate and drinking her blood... after seeing her two Italian attorneys, Paul Caruso and Richard Caberello. They would later tell us she was under the influence of LSD and the hypnotic trance of 35 year old petty car thief.
The Tate murders occurred only three days after Bobby Beausoleil was busted. Unable to get any help for a non-white hippie drug dealer from anyone in the system, the girls cooked up the idea that a copy cat murder might get Bobby released. We've been told that part. The rest of this ill-logical plan makes sense when one considers other aspects of research into the case. The rest has been all but hidden, revealed only in hints. Sebring and Frykowski were both dope dealers and were no strangers to Charles "Tex" Watson.
The idea that the killers and victims were strangers is perhaps the biggest lie told to conceal the truth about what happened. They did something to get on somebody's bad side, thinking they could get away with it (much like the Italian business manager of The Beach Boys), while the Family were in a state of hysteria fearing an attack from the Black Panthers they knew the cops were anticipating (and perhaps even the Mafia and FBI). A deal involving drugs and $5,000 Linda Kasabian stole had to figure into it some how, since this seemed to be something Bugliosi brushed under the rug in court.
"White man would kill white man. The black man would sort of be there, too, helping him along." - Leslie Van Houten, interview with attorney Marvin Part
Billy Doyle and gang would kill Voytek Frykowski and Jay Sebring. Black dope pushers would get the blame, then start to retaliation against rich white pushers. The idea was to cause "confusion" as to who committed the crime: The Black Panthers or three Canadian drug dealers: Billy Doyle, Tom Harrigan and William Dawson. The ropes on the body, mock hood in the form of towel over the head of Jay Sebring and the fact that Voytek Frykowski was pistol whipped repeatedly and found on the lawn with his pants down is indication this is true. The wave of horror over fear that covers will be blown and a possible wave of Black dope dealers attacking rich white dealers, would prompt the police and right attorney to act fast and link the crime to Hinman and get Bobby released. If the three Canadians weren't busted, they would then become targets in the drug underworld or at least go up the river for their dealing. The murders were to send a shock through the drug/entertainment underworld running underneath the entire state of California. The cops and Panthers would now be busting the heads of white rich dealers, not the small timers like Watson and The Family. Watson then can corner a lot of new markets and rise up, maybe even over the blacks. Parts of it worked. In other ways it backfired in the worst possible way. The farce of the Spahn Ranch raid was no doubt to save face. The only question remains: What about the LaBianca murders? For that, the possibilities are endless, but somewhere there is a strong link. Isn't interesting that Bugliosi would also write books on the drug war, JFK and OJ?
Recommended Reading:
The Manson File: Myth and Reality of an Outlaw Shaman (Nikolas Schreck)
Goodbye Helter Skelter (George Stimson)
Death to Pigs (Robert Hendrickson)
BBC Interview with Charles Manson (Bill Scanlan Murphy)
Mae Brussell interview with Preston Guillory (arresting officer of Charles Manson during the Spahn Ranch raid)
