Free Audiobook : Chaos (Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties), by  Tom O’Neill

A journalist's relentless 20-year investigation into the Manson murders uncovers startling new theories suggesting FBI complicity, reshaping one of America's most notorious criminal sagas.

In 1999, Tom O’Neill was tasked with writing an article on the 30th anniversary of the Manson killings, anticipating a routine piece. Wasn't the story final? Charles Manson had supposedly directed his youthful cult members to execute seven heinous murders, and they had followed without question. However, as O’Neill delved deeper, he found discrepancies in the narrative presented by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in the iconic "Helter Skelter." Soon, doubts about the motive, the manhunt, and more began to surface. Despite never identifying as a conspiracy theorist, O’Neill's life became consumed by this investigation for the next two decades.

Without resorting to speculation, CHAOS chronicles O’Neill’s quest to challenge the official account of Manson. Who were his true allies in Hollywood, and what lengths would they go to conceal their associations? Why did law enforcement miss numerous opportunities to intervene? How did Manson transform a band of peace-loving hippies into ruthless murderers? O’Neill’s search for truth takes him from Hollywood's hidden figures to CIA operatives, from the era's free-spirited Summer of Love to the covert locations of mind-control studies, revealing a path littered with secrecy and strange alignments.

With fresh interviews and previously unseen documents from the LAPD, FBI, and CIA, CHAOS argues, as noted by Stephen Kay, a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney, that there might be grounds to challenge the Manson trial outcomes. In those two horrific nights in LA, O’Neill uncovers the essence of California during the '60s: a time when charlatans and visionaries mingled, love was as free as mind control was insidious, and utopia or dystopia was just a psychedelic experience away.