Vincent T. Bugliosi Jr. (; August 18, 1934 – June 6, 2015) was an American prosecutor and author who served as Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office between 1964 and 1972. He became best known for successfully prosecuting

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

and other defendants accused of the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

– LaBianca murders that took place between August 9 and August 10, 1969. In 1972, Bugliosi left the District Attorney's (DA) office and started a private practice, which included defense cases for criminal trials. He twice ran for the DA's office, but was not elected. He also began his writing career, exploring notable criminal cases.

Early life

Bugliosi was born on August 18, 1934, in

Hibbing, Minnesota Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At th ...

to parents of Italian descent. When he was in high school, his family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. Bugliosi graduated from

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

. He attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

on a tennis scholarship and graduated in 1956. In 1964, he earned his law degree from the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

, where he was president of his graduating class.

Marriage and family

Bugliosi was married, and he and his wife Gail had two children: a daughter, Wendy, and a son, Vince Jr. Although raised as

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, Bugliosi said later in life that he was an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

, although open to the ideas of

deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the Philosophy, philosophical position and Rationalism, rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that Empirical evi ...

Career

Bugliosi began his law career in the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

's office in 1964, where he served as a deputy district attorney for eight years, through 1972. He successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony jury trials, which included 21 murder convictions.

Manson prosecution

As a

Deputy

, Bugliosi came to national attention for prosecuting the seven murders that took place August 9–10, 1969, in which

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...

Jay Sebring Thomas John Kummer (October 10, 1933 – August 9, 1969), known professionally as Jay Sebring, was an American celebrity hair stylist, and the founder of the hairstyling corporation Sebring International. Sebring was murdered by members of the M ...

, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, and

Leno and Rosemary LaBianca James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

were killed. Bugliosi successfully prosecuted

, Charles "Tex" Watson,

Susan Atkins Susan Denise Atkins (May 7, 1948 – September 24, 2009) was an American convicted murderer who was a member of Charles Manson's "Family". Manson's followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a perio ...

Patricia Krenwinkel Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel (born December 3, 1947) is an American murderer and a former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Sco ...

, and

Leslie Van Houten Leslie Louise Van Houten (born August 23, 1949) is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Li ...

for these murders, and each was convicted. He was credited especially with gaining conviction of Manson, who had not been directly involved in the murders.

Political candidate

In 1972, Bugliosi ran as a Democrat for Los Angeles County District Attorney against longtime incumbent Joseph Busch. Joseph Gellman was his legal counsel for this campaign. Bugliosi narrowly lost the campaign. Bugliosi ran again in 1976, after Busch died of a heart attack in 1975, but lost to interim District Attorney

John Van de Kamp John Kalar Van de Kamp (February 7, 1936 – March 14, 2017) was an American politician and lawyer who served as Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1975 until 1981, and then as the 28th Attorney General of California from 1983 until 1991. ...

, who was incumbent.

Private practice

After leaving the Los Angeles district attorney's office in 1972, Bugliosi turned to private practice. He represented three criminal defendants, achieving acquittals for each of them—the most famous of which was Stephanie Stearns (referred to as "Jennifer Jenkins" in his book), whom he defended for the murder of Eleanor "Muff" Graham on

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Line Islands, Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way bet ...

, a

South Pacific island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

Writing career

After leaving the DA's office, Bugliosi wrote, jointly with

Curt Gentry Curtis Marsena "Curt" Gentry (June 13, 1931 – July 10, 2014) was an American writer, born in Lamar, Colorado. He is best known for co-authoring, with Vincent Bugliosi, the 1974 book '' Helter Skelter'', which detailed the Charles Manson murder ...

, a book about the Manson trial called '' Helter Skelter'' (1974). The book won an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

for the best true crime book of the year. It was adapted twice for television movies (one produced in 1976 and one in 2004). As of 2015, it is the best-selling true crime book in publishing history, with more than 7 million copies sold.Rebecca Trounson and Elaine Woo
"Famed Manson family prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi dies at 80,"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', June 9, 2015.David Stout
"Vincent T. Bugliosi, Manson Prosecutor and True-Crime Author, Dies at 80,"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', June 9, 2015. He has written several other books, mostly dealing with well-known crimes. His works include ''

And the Sea Will Tell ''And the Sea Will Tell'' is a true crime book by Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson. The nonfiction book recounts an apparent double murder on Palmyra Atoll although only one body was ever found; the subsequent arrest, trial, and conviction o ...

'' (1991), which he wrote with

Bruce Henderson Bruce Doolin Henderson (April 30, 1915 – July 20, 1992) was an American businessman and management expert. He founded Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts and headed the firm as the president and CEO until 1980. He c ...

about the murder case against Stephanie Stearns. It was a #1 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' bestselling book. He later wrote '' Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy'' (2007), in which he challenged numerous conspiracy theories and explored the events surrounding the assassination. He also wrote ''

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder ''The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder'' is a 2008 book by Vincent Bugliosi, a former prosecutor in Los Angeles. He argues that President George W. Bush took the United States into the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses and should be ...

'' (2008), a condemnation of former president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's decision to invade Iraq.

O. J. Simpson case

Bugliosi wrote '' Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder'' (1996), about the acquittal of O. J. Simpson for the murders of

Nicole Brown Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney an ...

and Ronald Lyle Goldman. Bugliosi argues that Simpson was guilty. He criticizes the work of the district attorney, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and Judge

Lance Ito Lance Allan Ito (born August 2, 1950) is a retired American judge best known for presiding over the criminal trial for the O. J. Simpson murder case, held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1995. Early life and career Ito was born ...

. He criticized the media for characterizing Simpson's lawyers as "the Dream Team," and said that the lawyers were unremarkable and of average ability. He used his profiles to explore what he considers broader problems in American criminal justice, the media, and the political appointment of judges.

Bill Clinton

Bugliosi criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in ''

Clinton v. Jones ''Clinton v. Jones'', 520 U.S. 681 (1997), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation, in federal court, against him or her, for acts do ...

''. In his book, ''No Island of Sanity'', he argues that the right of a president to be free of a private lawsuit while in office outweighed

Paula Jones Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones cite ...

's interest in having her case brought to trial immediately.

George W. Bush

Bugliosi condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the ''

Bush v. Gore ''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. On December 8, th ...

'' case that decided the 2000 presidential election. He wrote a lengthy criticism of the case for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', titled "None Dare Call It Treason," which he later expanded into a book titled ''

The Betrayal of America ''The Betrayal of America'' is a book by Vincent Bugliosi (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2001, ) which is largely based on an article he wrote for ''The Nation'' entitled "None Dare Call It Treason", which argues that the US Supreme Court's December 12, ...

''. Some of his criticisms were depicted in the 2004 documentary ''

Orwell Rolls in His Grave ''Orwell Rolls in His Grave'' is a 2003 American documentary film directed by Robert Kane Pappas and written by Pappas and Tom Blackburn. Documentary topic The film covered topics including the Telecommunications Act of 1996, concentration of me ...

.'' He also believed that

should have been charged with the murders of the thousands of American soldiers who died in the

Invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

, because of his belief that Bush launched the invasion under false pretenses. In his book, ''

,'' he laid out his view of evidence and outlined what questions he would ask Bush at a potential murder trial. Bugliosi testified at a

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...

meeting on July 25, 2008, at which he urged

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

proceedings for Bush. The book formed the basis of a 2012 documentary film, ''

The Prosecution of an American President ''The Prosecution of an American President'' is a 2012 American documentary film about the Iraq War directed by Dave Hagen and David J. Burke. Former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi outlines his legal case for prosecution of George W. Bush for deliber ...

.''

JFK assassination

Bugliosi is on record for believing that Senator

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

was the victim of a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

. He said the following during a civil trial of the

RFK assassination On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT the following day. Kennedy was a senator from New York and a candidate ...

We are talking about a conspiracy to commit murder ... a conspiracy the prodigious dimensions of which would make Watergate look like a one-roach marijuana case.

As a result of his research, Bugliosi came to refute conspiracy theories. In 1986, Bugliosi played the part of prosecutor in an unscripted 21-hour mock television trial of

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

. His legal opponent, representing Oswald, was the well-known criminal defense attorney

Gerry Spence Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and has not ...

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

sponsored the mock trial, which followed

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

criminal trial procedure. It also included a former Texas judge and a jury of U.S. citizens from the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

area which reviewed hundreds of exhibits and listened to witnesses who testified about the assassination. The jury found Oswald guilty. Spence remarked, "No other lawyer in America could have done what Vince did in this case." The program required extensive preparation by Bugliosi and inspired him to later write a comprehensive book on the subject of the assassination. His 1,612-page book (with a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

containing an additional 958 pages of endnotes and 170 pages of source notes), '' Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy,'' was published in May 2007. His book examined the

JFK assassination John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

in detail and drew on a variety of sources; his findings were in line with those of the

Warren Report The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...

, which concluded that

acted alone in the assassination of the 35th President. He called ''Reclaiming History'' his ''"magnum opus."'' The book won the 2008

for Best Fact Crime. A portion of the book was re-published in 2008 as '' Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy'', which became the basis of the 2013 film '' Parkland''. The title of ''Reclaiming History'' derived from Bugliosi's belief that the history of the Kennedy assassination has been hijacked by

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

, the popularity of which, he asserted, has a pernicious and ongoing effect on American thought:

Method of writing

Bugliosi did not own a computer and at one time did all his research through library

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

archives.''

'' (2008) Acknowledgments In his later years, he relied on his virtual secretary, Rosemary Newton, to help with these tasks. He also wrote his books entirely by hand, with Newton later transcribing his long-hand texts.

Death

Grave of Vincent Bugliosi at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale

Bugliosi died of cancer at age 80, at a Los Angeles hospital on June 6, 2015. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

.Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2. McFarland & Company (2016)

Works

Books

* '' Helter Skelter'' (with

) (1974) (

, 1975, Best Fact Crime book) * ''Till Death Us Do Part: A True Murder Mystery'' (with Ken Hurwitz) (1978) (Edgar Award, 1979, Best Fact Crime book) * ''Shadow of Cain'' (with Ken Hurwitz) (1981) * ''Lullaby and Good Night'' (with William Stadiem) (1987) * ''Cleopatra: Biography'' (1988) * ''Dinner with the Timbo: Getting to Know a Great Man'' (with Timothy Bishop) (1990) * ''

'' (with

) (1991) * ''Drugs in America: The Case for Victory - A Citizen's Call to Action'' (1991) * ''The Phoenix Solution: Getting Serious About Winning America's Drug War'' (1996) * '' Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder'' (1996) * ''No Island of Sanity:

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

—The Supreme Court on Trial'' (1998) * '' The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President'' (2001) * '' Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy'' (2007) (Edgar Award, 2008, Best Fact Crime book) * ''

'' (2008) * ''Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy'' (2008) * ''Divinity of Doubt: The God Question'' (2011)

In film and television

Many of Bugliosi's books have been adapted to the screen, and he appeared as a character in several of them. * '' Helter Skelter'' 1976 (portrayed by

George DiCenzo George Ralph DiCenzo (April 21, 1940 – August 9, 2010) was an American actor, and one-time associate producer for ''Dark Shadows''. He was in the show business for over 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage, and commercial credits. DiCenzo ...

) * ''On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald'' (1986 TV film appearing as himself) * ''And the Sea Will Tell'' 1991 TV film (portrayed by

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as ''The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', ''Body Heat'', the first three ' ...

) * ''Till Death Us Do Part'' 1992 TV film (portrayed by

Arliss Howard Leslie Richard "Arliss" Howard (born October 18, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for his roles in the films ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987), '' Tequila Sunrise'' (1988), '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (19 ...

) * '' Helter Skelter'' 2004 (portrayed by

Bruno Kirby Bruno Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr.; April 28, 1949 – August 14, 2006) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in ''City Slickers'', '' When Harry Met Sally...'', ''Good Morning, Vietnam'', ''The Godfather Part II'', and ' ...

) He also appeared as himself in the 1973 documentary film '' Manson''.

Articles

* "No Justice, No Peace", ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', February, 1993. *
None Dare Call It Treason
, ''The Nation'', February 5, 2001.

References

External links

VIDEO: Bugliosi talks with Investigation Discovery about the Manson Family murders.
July 2, 2008
Vincent Bugliosi video interview with the American Book Tour on the Kennedy Assassination

Vincent Bugliosi Interview on ''Democracy Now!'' regarding ''The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder''
*
''In Depth'' interview with Bugliosi, November 4, 2007
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bugliosi, Vincent 1934 births 2015 deaths People from Hibbing, Minnesota American agnostics American legal writers American non-fiction crime writers American political writers American male non-fiction writers Critics of conspiracy theories Researchers of the assassination of John F. Kennedy Edgar Award winners California Democrats Writers from California Writers from Minnesota District attorneys in California History of Los Angeles American politicians of Italian descent UCLA School of Law alumni University of Miami alumni Manson Family Deaths from cancer in California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)