Editing Manson Family (section)

=== Possible murder motives ===
At trial and in later best-sellers, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi argued that the murders were intended to promote a race war called "Helter Skelter". Others argue the murders were simply an attempt to free family member Bobby Beausoleil, who had been arrested for the murder of Gary Hinman, by creating copycat crimes to convince authorities that Hinman's real murderers were still at large. Others suggest even simpler motives:   that the murders were about drugs or intimidation of Terry Melcher. 

==== Helter Skelter ====
{{Main|Helter Skelter (scenario)}}

In November 1968, the Family had established headquarters in [[Death Valley]]'s environs, at the Myers and [[Barker Ranch|Barker]] ranches.<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="watkins4"/> The former was owned by the grandmother of Family member Catherine Gillies.<ref name="watkins4" />

According to Charles Watson and [[Paul Watkins (Manson Family)|Paul Watkins]], Manson and Watson visited an acquaintance who played [[the Beatles]]' double album, ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'',<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="watkins4"/> and became obsessed with the group.<ref>{{cite interview|last=Reagan|first=Maureen|author-link=Maureen Reagan|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rzpLyB8IE0M|title=Paul Watkins|journal=[[CNN]] [[Larry King Live]]|date=1989|quote=Manson's alleged obsession with the Beatles is discussed at the end|access-date=July 20, 2021|archive-date=August 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809224918/https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rzpLyB8IE0M|url-status=live}}</ref>

Watkins claimed Manson had been saying that racial tensions between Blacks and Whites were about to erupt, predicted that Black Americans would rise up in rebellion,<ref name="watson12" /><ref name="umkc">[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonbeatles.html ''The Influence of the Beatles on Charles Manson''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309154239/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansonbeatles.html |date=March 9, 2007 }}. UMKC Law. Retrieved April 7, 2006.</ref> and that The Beatles' songs foretold it all in code.<ref name="watson12"/><ref name="umkc" />

According to Watkins, by February, the Family would create an album whose songs would trigger the predicted chaos. Murders of Whites by Blacks would be met with retaliation. A split between racist and non-racist Whites would result in the Whites' self-annihilation.<ref name="umkc canoga park">[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansontestimony-w.html Testimony of Paul Watkins in the Charles Manson Trial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320085827/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/manson/mansontestimony-w.html |date=March 20, 2007 }} UMKC Law. Retrieved April 7, 2007.</ref>

==== Copycat ====
According to Family members [[Susan Atkins]], [[Patricia Krenwinkel]], [[Leslie Van Houten]],<ref name="bugliosi"/>{{rp|426–435}} [[Bobby Beausoleil]], and others, the arrest of Beausoleil for the torture and murder of Gary Hinman was the catalyst for the Family's ensuing murder spree. They wanted to convince police that the killer(s) of Hinman were still at large. [[Truman Capote]]'s interviews of Beausoleil, and that by  [[Ann Louise Bardach]] in November 1981, affirmed this account.<ref name="Capote">{{cite book|last=Capote|first=Truman|title=A Capote Reader|publisher=[[Random House]]|year=1987|pages=455–462|isbn=978-0-394-55647-5|url=https://archive.org/details/capotereader00trum}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bardach|first=Ann Louise|url=http://www.bardachreports.com/articles/oa_19811100.htm|title=Jailhouse Interview: Bobby Beausoleil|date=November 1981|access-date=July 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119004534/http://www.bardachreports.com/articles/oa_19811100.htm|archive-date=November 19, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Charlie Guenther, a police detective who investigated the murders, said of Beausoleil, "He called the [Spahn] Ranch after he was arrested. The sole motive for those murders was to get Bobby out of jail."<ref name="O'Neill"/>{{rp|149}} Bugliosi's co-prosecutor Aaron Stovitz said he believed the motive for the Tate–LaBianca murders was as copycat murders after Hinman.<ref name="O'Neill"/>{{rp|151–152}}

==== Drugs ====
Other people suggested the motive was related to the drug dealing by [[Jay Sebring]] and Voytek Frykowski, and their connection with [[Tex Watson|Charles Watson]] and Manson, and a bad drug deal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schreck |first=Nikolas |author-link=Nikolas Schreck |title=The Manson File |title-link=The Manson File |publisher=[[Amok Press]] |year=1988 |isbn=0-941693-04-X |location=New York City |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Markham">{{cite news |last=Siegel |first=Tatiana |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manson-family-murder-victims-friend-posits-alternative-motive-1227729 |title=Manson Victim's Friend Posits Alternative Motive: 'I Never Bought into the Race War Theory' |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=July 18, 2021 |date=July 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731034053/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manson-family-murder-victims-friend-posits-alternative-motive-1227729 |archive-date=July 31, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="O'Neill">{{cite book|last=O'Neill|first=Tom|title=Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ|year=2019|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=978-0-316-47757-4|access-date=July 18, 2021|archive-date=June 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606182949/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> For instance, Sebring's protégé [[Jim Markham]] believes the murders were in response to a bad drug deal the day before, in which Manson went to Tate's house to sell [[marijuana]] and [[cocaine]] to Sebring and Frykowski. Instead, the two men attacked and beat Manson.<ref name="Markham"/> In an interview with police, Frykowski's friend Witold Kaczanowski said that Frykowski had been involved with many criminals and the drug trade.<ref name="O'Neill"/>{{rp|56–57}} In his later interview with Truman Capote, Bobby Beausoleil said, "They burned people on dope deals. [[Sharon Tate]] and that gang."<ref name="Capote"/>{{rp|460}}

[[Ed Sanders]] and [[Paul Krassner]] uncovered information that Joel Rostau, the boyfriend of Sebring's receptionist, had delivered [[mescaline]] and cocaine to Sebring and Frykowski at Tate's house a few hours before the murders. During the Manson trial, Rostau and other associates <!-- who? how many? -->of Sebring were murdered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Krassner|first=Paul|title=Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counterculture|publisher=[[Soft Skull Press]]|location=[[New York City]]|url=https://archive.org/details/confessionsofrav0000kras|isbn=1593765037|date=1994|access-date=July 19, 2021|page=198}}</ref>

==== Terry Melcher ====
In 1968, musician [[Dennis Wilson]] introduced record producer [[Terry Melcher]] to Manson.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dowd |first=Katie |date=November 20, 2017 |title=How the Beach Boys ended up recording a song written by Charles Manson |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/beach-boys-song-written-by-charles-manson-12371418.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809121613/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/beach-boys-song-written-by-charles-manson-12371418.php |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |access-date=August 17, 2020 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref> For a time, Melcher was interested in recording Manson's music, as well as making a film about the family and their hippie commune existence. Manson met Melcher at 10050 Cielo Drive, a house that Melcher shared with his girlfriend, actress [[Candice Bergen]], and musician [[Mark Lindsay]].<ref name="Nancy Adamson">{{cite news |last=Adamson |first=Nancy |date=June 8, 2013 |title=Mark Lindsay talks about new music, cats and Charlie Manson |url=http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703040017/http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html |archive-date=July 3, 2013 |access-date=June 12, 2013 |newspaper=[[Midland Reporter-Telegram]]}}</ref>

Manson eventually auditioned for Melcher, but Melcher declined to sign him. There was still talk of a documentary being made about Manson's music, but Melcher abandoned the project after witnessing Manson fighting with a drunken stuntman at [[Spahn Ranch]].<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |date=November 23, 2004 |title=Obituaries: Terry Melcher |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1477227/Terry-Melcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605000106/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1477227/Terry-Melcher.html |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |access-date=August 23, 2011 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> Wilson and Melcher severed their ties with Manson, a move that angered Manson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Manson |url=http://www.cielodrive.com/family/manson/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030050/http://www.cielodrive.com/family/manson/index.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=March 17, 2017 |website=CieloDrive.com}}</ref> Soon after, Melcher and Bergen moved out of the Cielo Drive home. The house's owner, Rudi Altobelli, then leased it to film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Manson was reported to have visited the house on more than one occasion asking for Melcher, but was told that Melcher had moved.<ref name="telegraph" />

Some authors and law enforcement personnel{{Who|date=October 2020}} have theorized that the Cielo Drive house was targeted by Manson as revenge for Melcher's rejection and that Manson was unaware that he and Bergen had moved out. However, family member Charles "Tex" Watson stated that Manson and company did, in fact, know that Melcher was no longer living there,<ref>{{cite book |author=Watson, Charles D. |url=http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |title=Will You Die For Me? |date=April 24, 1978 |publisher=Cross Roads Publications, Inc. |editor=Hoekstra, Chaplain Ray |chapter=Chapter 14: Helter Skelter I (August 8–9) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329161133/http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |archive-date=March 29, 2010}}</ref> and Melcher's former roommate Mark Lindsay stated, "Terry and I talked about it later and Terry said Manson knew (Melcher had moved) because Manson or someone from his organization left a note on Terry's porch in Malibu."<ref name="Nancy Adamson" />

The Manson murders reportedly prompted Melcher to go into seclusion. When Manson was arrested, it was widely reported that he had sent his followers to the house to kill Melcher and Bergen. Manson family member Susan Atkins, who admitted her part in the murders, stated to police and before a [[grand jury]] that the house was chosen as the scene for the murders "to instill fear into Terry Melcher because Terry had given us his word on a few things and never came through with them".<ref name="telegraph" /> Melcher took to employing a bodyguard and told Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi that his fear was so great he had been undergoing psychiatric treatment. Melcher was described as the most frightened of the witnesses at the trial, even though Bugliosi assured him that "Manson knew you were no longer living [on Cielo Drive]".<ref name="telegraph" />

In his 2019 book ''[[CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties]]'', Tom O'Neil reexamined the Manson case and found evidence Melcher may have been more closely involved with the Manson family than he admitted at trial.<ref>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Steven |date=July 12, 2019 |title=What Really Happened in the Manson murders? 'Chaos' casts doubt on Helter Skelter theory |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-chaos-charles-manson-dan-piepenbring-20190711-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610115901/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-chaos-charles-manson-dan-piepenbring-20190711-story.html |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |access-date=May 14, 2021 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> In reviewing police files and other data, O'Neill found evidence Melcher was associating with Manson in the four month period after the Tate-Labianca murders but before Manson's arrest. These documents, seemingly hidden by Bugliosi, undermined claims the Tate murders were intended to frighten Melcher in revenge for his refusal to record Manson's music. O'Neill also found documents indicating Melcher was having sex with 15-year-old Manson family member Ruth Ann Moorehouse.<ref name="O'Neill2">{{cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ |title=Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties |publisher=Little, Brown |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-316-47757-4 |pages=119–139 |access-date=July 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606182949/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dean Moorehouse, Ruth Ann's father and a Manson Family member, also had resided at 10050 Cielo Drive with Melcher. Tex Watson would also frequently visit the residence.{{r|O'Neill2|pp=117–119}}