Errol Morris’ new Charles Manson documentary presents alternative theories about killings
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One of the prevailing theories around Charles Manson is that the infamous cult leader had intended to incite a race war by orchestrating his so-called family’s killing spree in the 1960s.
But Errol Morris casts doubts on that narrative in his new documentary, “Chaos: The Manson Murders,” out now on Netflix. Based on the book by Tom O’Neill with Dan Piepenbring, Morris’ film presents alternative theories surrounding the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders — including how Manson may have had links to government programs related to mind control and brainwashing.
Featuring music by Manson, “Chaos” presents these alternative takes primarily through interviews with O’Neill, Manson case prosecutor Stephen Kay and former Manson associate Bobby Beausoleil. The documentary also includes archival interviews with Manson and his followers.
The film challenges the accuracy of (and the motivations behind) the “Helter Skelter” theory presented by lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in the Tate-LaBianca trial. Through separate interviews, both O’Neill and Beausoleil offer different theories about how and why the Manson-directed killings could have happened.
Here’s a breakdown of the alternative theories presented in “Chaos: The Manson Murders.”
A new docuseries about the cult leader features audio in which he admits to participating in multiple killings in Mexico before the notorious Manson family murders of 1969.
Manson possibly had links to secret government mind-control programs
While acknowledging that there are still some loose threads to this theory, O’Neill suggests that Manson possibly had connections to secret government programs researching mind control and brainwashing, such as the CIA’s project MKUltra.
According to O’Neill, Manson’s time as a parolee in the Bay Area coincided with the time the government was conducting research into the effects of drugs such as LSD on individuals’ mental states.
During that time, Manson and his followers frequented the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic for treatment as well as to meet with his parole officer Roger Smith. Patients of the clinic were reportedly used as research subjects for these mind control studies. O’Neill also explains that psychiatrist Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West, who is known to have ties to the MKUltra project, was conducting research on brainwashing in the Haight-Ashbury area at that time.
Although he acknowledges there is no proof that Manson and West definitively crossed paths, O’Neill points out that the two men were within each other’s orbit while Manson was gaining followers whom some could describe as “brainwashed” at a time when the government was researching brainwashing. O’Neill also believes Manson having ties to these government research programs could explain Smith’s leniency on Manson despite his breaking rules that should have jeopardized his parole.
As a salacious moment, the Manson murders had it all: sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, racial discord, Hollywood, mind-control and dune buggies.
The attempt to pin the killings on the Black Panthers could have been personal or a government conspiracy
Among the facts known about the 1969 killings is that words written in the victims’ blood were left on various surfaces at the crime scenes. These words — including “pigs,” “rise” and “Helter Skelter” — helped build the prosecution’s case that Manson had intended to incite a race war.
According to the documentary, around the time of the murders, Manson believed the Black Panthers were going to retaliate against him for killing one of its members. (Manson had shot Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe, who survived the encounter and was not a member of the Black Panthers, in July 1969. The Tate–LaBianca murders occurred in August.)
Alternatively, O’Neill explains that secret government counterintelligence programs at the time were intent on discrediting left-wing political movements such as the Black Panthers.
Read our full coverage of the Manson murders.
Manson was possibly just motivated by paranoia
Beausoleil, a former Manson associate who was convicted of killing Gary Hinman for a drug deal gone bad, believes that Manson’s motivation behind orchestrating the 1969 killing spree is much more simple.
He suggests Manson urged his acolytes to commit these severe crimes because of his paranoia. According to Beausoleil, Manson probably intended to use these killings to keep his followers in line.
(The Hinman killing is also cited as a motive for the Tate-LaBianca murders. It has been suggested that Manson orchestrated the subsequent killings in order to make it seem like all three incidents were connected.)
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