My Washington Times Review Of 'The Killer Across The Table: Unlocking The Secrets Of Serial Killers And Predators With The FBI's Original Mindhunter'

The Washington Times published my review of The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and predators With the FBI’s Original Mindhunter.

Who knows why a person rapes, tortures and kills countless men, women and children without empathy or remorse?

Well, former FBI profiler and author John Douglas has a fair idea, having studied and interviewed numerous serial killers and other murderers for nearly 50 years, often sitting about three feet across the table from the killers in a prison interview room.

In “The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI’s Original Mindhunter,” Mr. Douglas and co-author Mark Olshaker take a close look at four predatory killers while detailing the profiling process and strategies used to solve some of the country’s most complicated and heinous cases.

Mr. Douglas, an FBI profiler who became famous as the inspiration for the film “Silence of the Lambs,” the network TV series “Criminal Minds” and the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” has been involved in thousands of violent crime cases over the course of his 25-year-career as an FBI special agent and later as a private consultant. Along with Mr. Olshaker, he previously published “Mindhunter,” “The Anatomy of Motive” and “Law & Disorder.”

Although the four murderers interviewed and analyzed in “The Killer Across the Table” are not as infamous as Ted Bundy and other more notorious serial killers, Mr. Douglas reflects on his past encounters with some of the country’s most notorious murderers, such as Ed Kemper, Charles Manson, the “BTK Strangler” Denis Rader and David Berkowitz, known as the “Son of Sam” killer, and compares their actions and motives with the four lessor known killers covered in this book.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jun/10/book-review-the-killer-across-the-table-by-john-f-/

Ben Macintyre: Hollywood Rewards Killer's Quest For Fame

The Australian offers Ben Macintyre’ London Times column on Charles Manson, who will once again be dramatized in a film by Quentin Tarantino.   

Soon after he was charged with murder in 1969, Charles Manson achieved his ambition. He appeared on the cover of Life magazine, looking bug-eyed and bonkers, beneath the headline “The Love and Terror Cult”. He had become a celebrity.

The Manson story was about sex, drugs and the manipulation of vulnerable people into committing acts of terrible violence. In the sweep of American cultural history he came to symbolise the moment the hippie Age of Aquarius turned nasty, the end of the counterculture.


But for Manson himself it was always about fame, something he almost attained legally and cultivated assiduously — a process that started before the murders and continued during the trial, in prison and even following his death in 2017 at the age of 83.

Manson wanted to be famous and he succeeded because this semi-literate, racist, profoundly evil man was a brilliant self-publicist. He did not want to be admired, he just wanted to be talked about. He took the American Dream — the myth that everyone can achieve fame and success — and turned it into a nightmare.

No fewer than three new films have now taken on the Manson story: The Haunting of Sharon Tate, starring Hilary Duff; Mary Harron’s Charlie Says, which explores the lives of three of Manson’s murderous followers after their convictions; and, most eye-catchingly, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s brilliantly bloody treatment starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo Di­Caprio and Margot Robbie.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/hollywood-rewards-killers-quest-for-fame/news-story/87b829445daa74f6442a7f592c1a5a82 

You can also read my Washington Times review of Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson via the below link:


 www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/11/a-look-back-at-evil-life-of-charles.html 

A Look Back At The Evil Life Of Charles Manson

For a look back at the evil life of Charles Manson, who died in prison in California, one can read Jeff Guinn's Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson. 

I reviewed the book for the Washington Times.

Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry's “Helter Skelter” is a great true-crime book and up until now I would have said that it was the definitive book on murderer and cult leader Charles Manson.

Now, having read Jeff Guinn’s “Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson,” I realize that there was much more to this odd and horrible man.

Mr. Bugliosi, the prosecutor in the Manson trial, penned an excellent account of how, in 1969, Manson and his “family” brutally murdered seven people, including the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, as well as the subsequent investigation and trial. But Mr. Guinn offers a full biography of one of America’s most infamous criminals.

Through extensive interviews with Manson’s surviving relatives, friends, cellmates and members of his family, Mr. Guinn offers us a view of the young Manson, beginning with his West Virginia childhood.

... Perhaps only during this era of peace, love and excessive drug use could a sociopath like Manson convince people that he was both Christ reincarnated — and the fifth Beatle. He warns his band of followers, mostly young women, that based on the Book of Revelation and Beatles’ albums, there is a coming apocalyptic race war that he called “Helter Skelter,” after the Beatles’ song. But Manson still wants to be a rock star, despite being a mediocre guitar player and songwriter. He moves his family to Los Angeles and befriends Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys and other people in the music business by offering them sex with his girls.

Mr. Guinn explains that as Manson's dreams of being a rock star faded, he imbued his followers with two core beliefs: that he had to be obeyed and that the members of the family were the most special people on Earth. 

Manson persuaded them that they were destined to rule the world after Helter Skelter. He then directed these drug-crazed followers to commit multiple vicious murders.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/08/my-washington-times-review-of-manson.html 

Welcome To Hell, Charles Manson

The Washington Times reports that Charles Manson has died in prison.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader who became the hypnotic-eyed face of evil across America after orchestrating the gruesome murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969, died Sunday after nearly a half-century in prison. He was 83.

Manson, whose name to this day is synonymous with unspeakable violence and madness, died at 8:13 p.m. of natural causes at a Kern County hospital, according to a California Department of Corrections statement.

Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, reacted to the death by quoting the late Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles prosecutor who put Manson behind bars. Bugliosi said: “Manson was an evil, sophisticated con man with twisted and warped moral values.”

 “Today, Manson’s victims are the ones who should be remembered and mourned on the occasion of his death,” Hanisee said.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/20/charles-manson-whose-cult-slayings-horrified-world/ 

Vincent Bugliosi, Author And Prosecutor In Manson Trial, Dies At 80

Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor of Charles Manson, has died at age 80.

Bugliosi was the author of Helter Skelter, which covered the Manson trial, and Reclaiming History, which covered the Kennedy Assassination (Oswald did it), and other true crime books.

The Philadelphia Inquirer offers an obituary of Vincent Bugliosi.

Vincent Bugliosi, a prosecutor who parlayed his handling of the Charles Manson trial into a career as a bestselling author, has died, his son said Monday night. He was 80 years old.

Bugliosi, who had struggled with cancer in recent years, died Saturday night at a hospital in Los Angeles, his son, Vincent Bugliosi Jr., told The Associated Press.

Bugliosi Jr. said his father had "an unflagging dedication to justice" in everything he did.

As an author, Bugliosi Sr. was best known for "Helter Skelter," which was his account of the Manson Family and the killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others by followers of the cult leader, Charles Manson.

You can read the rest of the obiturary via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20150609_ap_f6d3ca753c6d429089b04db0923696cf.html

Note: You can also read my Washington Times review of Manson via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/08/my-washington-times-review-of-manson.html

 

Charles Manson's Future Mother-In-Law, Shockingly, Disapproves

Natalie O'Neill at the New York Post reports on Charles Manson's future mother-in-law, who, "shockingly,' as the Post headline claims, does not approve of the marriage.

The mother of Charles Manson’s fiancée won’t attend the couple’s prison wedding — or buy the lovebirds a gift on their big day, she told The Post.

Melissa Burton, 47 — whose daughter, Afton Elaine Burton, 26, plans to marry the 80-year-old mass murderer — said the occasion doesn’t exactly call for flowers and fancy registries.

“It’s not that kind of a wedding . . . She knows how we feel about it. If I could choose a life for my daughter, I’d choose a normal one,” said Melissa Burton of Bunker Hill, Ill.

Manson and Afton, who goes by the name Star, are allowed up to 10 guests at the Corcoran State Prison wedding in California — but none of her relatives plans to attend, Melissa Burton said.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2014/11/19/charles-mansons-future-mother-in-law-wont-attend-wedding/

You can also read my Washington Times review of Jeff Guinn's Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/08/my-washington-times-review-of-manson.html

One Good Reason To ReinstateThe Death Penalty: Charles Manson In Love Behind Bars

Here is one good reason to reinstate the death penalty - stories and photos about convicted murderer Charles Manson in love behind bars.

James Nye offers a piece about Manson in love with some good - if creepy - photos in the British newspaper the Daily Mail. 

You can read the piece and see the photos via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511564/In-love-bars-Charles-Manson-79-25-year-old-woman-hes-going-MARRY-Americas-notorious-serial-killer-reveals-hes-bisexual--STILL-claims-hes-innocent.html 

You can also read my Washington Times review of Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson Manson via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/28/how-the-monster-came-to-be/  

Creepily Ever After: Convicted Murderer Charles Manson To Wed 25-Year-Old 'Manson Family' Look-Alike

David K. Li at the New York Post offers a piece on the announcement that Charles Manson plans to wed a 25-year-old.

Charlie Manson and his Susan Atkins look-alike gal pal plan to tie the knot behind bars and live creepily ever after.

“I’ll tell you straight up, Charlie and I are going to get married,” Manson’s 25-year-old girlfriend, “Star,” tells Rolling Stone.

“When that will be, we don’t know. But I take it very seriously. Charlie is my husband,” she said.
If the 79-year-old serial killer wants to take a wife, the only thing stopping him is cold feet.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2013/11/21/charles-manson-and-gal-pal-plan-to-tie-the-knot/

You can also read my Washington Times review of Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson  via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/28/how-the-monster-came-to-be/  

'Manson: The Life And Times Of Charles Manson' Draws Portrait Of Psychopath As A Young Man

Sherryl Connelly at the New York Daily News offers a look at a new book about Charles Manson.

In “Manson: The Life and Times of Charlie Manson,” former investigative journalist and author Jeff Guinn tells the story of one of the most notorious psychopaths of the 20th century with such quiet authority that Manson’s horrific acts seem even more chilling, if that’s possible.

Among other interviews Guinn was able to obtain exclusively, he spoke at length with Pat Krenwinkel, one of the four Manson Family members to carry out the slaughter of Sharon Tate and her friends that night in the mansion on Cielo Drive. The book goes on sale Aug. 6, two days before the 44th anniversary of the carnage.

Guinn draws a masterly portrait of the psychopath as a young man, “graduating” from reform school to prison then to parole when he flirted with the straight life by marrying waitress Rosalie Jean Willis in 1955.

She gave birth to his son, Charles Manson Jr., while he was back in prison on parole violation. Willis deserted him shortly afterward in 1957. Though there would be another marriage to a prostitute, it seems Manson’s growing evil was unchecked after that.

The book is most harrowing as Guinn details the prelude to slaughter as Manson, desperate for the money and fame he felt was his due, relocates with his slavish followers, the Family, to Los Angeles in 1967 trolling for the connection to bring his music, and his genius, to the world.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/hedline-article-1.1410785

Note: Manson sounds interesting, but one should also read, or reread, Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. This is a fasinating account of the arrest and prosecution of Manson.

Jay Leno Jokes About Political Correctness, WikiLeaks and Charles Manson

Jay Leno joked about a number of current issues on The Tonight Show.

You have to be careful of political correctness this time of the year. You can’t call them “Santa’s elves” anymore. They’re “undocumented little people.”

Because of a printing error, a billion new $100 bills have to be destroyed. They’re going to burn $100 billion dollars — just like they did with the last stimulus program.

President Obama’s pledge to have the most transparent administration in history has come true. Thanks to WikiLeaks.

Charles Manson was busted for having a cell phone in his prison cell. He’s surrounded by concrete and metal bars. What carrier does he have?