Charles Manson, His Hoosier Roots, and the “Chaos” of the Sixties

I have been fascinated by true crime and criminology since I was a teenager. I used to read true crime books for fun. I do not as much anymore, since I read true crime all day long now.

But years ago, I read Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter. I wasn’t all that interested in Charles Manson, but I was interested in the prosecutor’s version of the case. I had also learned that many blame Manson’s future criminal behavior on his time spent in Indiana as a child.

His mother was unable to care for him as a child due to her struggles with alcoholism, so Manson spent some time in Terre Haute at the Gibault School for Boys. Later he lived across the street from Central State Hospital in Indianapolis. Eventually he was sent to the Indiana Boys School, where many believe he was physically and sexually assaulted repeatedly.

Manson left Indiana for good in the mid-1950s. A fuller description of his time in Indiana can be found here.

Notably, in the early 1950s Manson found his way to the “National Training School for Boys” in Washington, D.C. Much of his life from then until his infamous crimes landed him in prison for life was not given much attention in the mainstream.

But on the 30-year anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders, a reporter named Tom O’Neill began a 20-year investigation into Manson’s ties to the CIA. Before O’Neill’s investigation, any connection between Manson and the CIA was largely considered a conspiracy theory.

But in 2019, O’Neill released a book detailing his investigation., entitled Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties . Given the craziness of the last couple of years, I had not heard of this book until I began listening to an interview of O’Neill on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. During the interview, O’Neill discussed his findings of police negligence and prosecutorial misconduct. Much of the investigation focused on a possible connection between Manson and the CIA’s mind-control experiments conducted during that time.

It has been so long since I read Helter Skelter, but the motive Bugliosi gave for the Manson Family’s murderous scheme is largely discredited by O’Neill’s work. I just ordered O’Neill’s large tome (over 500 pages) and cannot wait to jump in. I hope to share a review soon!