# Vincent Bugliosi is dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105 "2015-06-09T21:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/1 "2015-06-09T21:35:03Z")
[VICE story here](http://www.vice.com/read/vincent-bugliosi-the-beast-of-a-prosecutor-who-took-down-charles-manson-is-dead-609). Wow. He was 80 years old, and if the name isn’t familiar, he’s the guy who put Charles Manson behind bars nearly 45 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/2 "2015-06-09T21:43:10Z")
Looks like it was cancer that had come back. I was sorry to have read this, but then again, he was 80, and had more success than any 4 people I know. I especially like his book Reclaiming History about the JFK assassination, but he’ll always be known for Helter Skelter (I just re-read the book and saw the Steve Railsback TV movie version. Knowing what I now know about people and cults, it’s astonishing how Bugliosi figured that out in 1969-70.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/3 "2015-06-09T23:54:41Z")
I remember when all that took place; I was not long returned from Vietnam, and wondered what sort of insanity had taken over the country. Riveting book, brilliant prosecutor. Charlie must be tittering in that insane giggle of his to have outlived his nemesis. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/4 "2015-06-10T01:12:04Z")
Damn. The ranks of the good guys gets smaller again. (Glances up at his worn copy of _Reclaiming History_, one of only three books I keep on my desktop.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/5 "2015-06-10T14:59:30Z")
Didn’t he play Dracula. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/6 "2015-06-10T16:02:36Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Didn’t he play Dracula. I think that was Bella Abzug. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/7 "2015-06-10T16:11:36Z")
No, Jim Fregosi, who died just last year. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/8 "2015-06-10T16:33:14Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > Knowing what I now know about people and cults, it’s astonishing how Bugliosi figured that out in 1969-70.) He not only figured it out, he managed to convey it convincingly to a jury at the trial, and then to the rest of us in his outstanding book. > [@Chefguy](#): > > I Riveting book, brilliant prosecutor. Charlie must be tittering in that insane giggle of his to have outlived his nemesis. I totally agree about the book and the man. When I first read the book, I was struck by the fact that Bugliosi got convictions for Charlie on five murders for which Manson wasn’t even present. Bugliosi was a remarkable guy. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/9 "2015-06-10T16:35:46Z")
I don’t usually read “true-crime” as a genre, but his _And The Sea Will Tell_ was utterly fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/10 "2015-06-10T17:50:00Z")
All that time he spent debunking the JFK conspirators, and in the end they murdered him… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/11 "2015-06-10T18:31:29Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > All that time he spent debunking the JFK conspirators, and in the end they murdered him… ☹ Of course! How could I have missed that? IT IS A CONSPIRACY, AND IT’S GOING ON TO THIS DAY! (No, not too soon. He’d laugh.) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/12 "2015-06-10T19:02:30Z")
Many of Bugliosi’s books contain excerpts from his jury arguments–or, in the case of _Outrage_, from arguments that he _would_ have made if he had prosecuted O.J. Simpson. These excerpts are excellent models of how to convey complicated information to a non-technical audience through metaphor, example, and humor. I’ve found them helpful for improving (hopefully) my own workplace presentations. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/13 "2015-06-10T20:34:02Z")
Oh, great. Every documentary or show about the Manson Family, VB is hogging the spotlight. Hell, he did a great job in court and wrote the book about it, but man, he’s lucky he got to ride that story for decades. Thanks Vince, and f\*\*\* any family member who’s looking to die at home. Sorry, dummy. You die behind bars. That’s the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/14 "2015-06-10T20:47:43Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Thanks Vince, and f\*\*\* any family member who’s looking to die at home. Sorry, dummy. You die behind bars. That’s the deal. I was a little shocked and put out at this line until I realized Family should be capitalized… As for VB hogging the Manson Family story spotlight, he earned it. He put several real monsters away for life - sent them to the chair, even if they took the chair away a little later. Even a well-intended colleague could have failed to prosecute successfully (as successfully), and an OJ team could have let them all walk. We really didn’t understand cults and madmen like Manson very well in that era, and it all could have gone very wrong. But for a very insightful and very dogged prosecutor who I know grated on a lot of people’s nerves with things like the OJ and JFK books, but… fuggem. He earned his stripes. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/15 "2015-06-11T00:28:23Z")
In his honor I started listening to Helter-Skelter in my audio books yesterday. He and Curt Gentry did a good job. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/16 "2015-06-11T02:19:48Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Didn’t he play Dracula. That was Bela Lugosi. This was the funny looking dude from Fargo. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/17 "2015-06-11T12:52:31Z")
I read _And the Sea Will Tell_, which was about a double murder that took place on Palmyra Atoll, one of those little flyspeck Pacific islands that the US owns. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/18 "2015-06-11T17:28:21Z")
I’ve read three of Bugliosi’s books: Helter Skelter was a brilliant and gripping true crime story\*, Reclaiming History was an awesome encapsulation of the entirety of the JFK murder, and Outrage (the one about the OJ trial), while a little “ranty”, was another interesting read. He will be missed. \*Curt Gentry, his co-writer on Helter Skelter, also wrote a very good bio of J.Edgar Hoover that a highly recommend ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/19 "2015-06-13T03:35:55Z")
Half through Helter-Skelter. I had forgotten how much Bugliosi despised the LAPD Robbery-Homicide detectives in charge of the Tate investigation (he named names), and how approving he was of the detectives at Inyo County, and the ones on LaBianca (LA Sherriff’s Office, I think). Of course they’re all retired or maybe dead now, but at the time it must have been a a real crap-storm in R-H when the book was published, ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105/20 "2015-06-13T03:43:35Z")
his JFK book was great very thorough [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-bugliosi-is-dead/722105.md?page=2)