Helter Skelter
"It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, that you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in the cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon." So goes the first line of the 1974 book by Manson Family prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi (and Curt Gentry), Helter Skelter: The True Story of The Manson Murders.
It's a haunting notion-as haunting as the crimes themselves proved to be on the American psyche for decades after those nights in 1969. Documented not only in the book quoted above but in the movies on television and film they inspire and inform to this day, those crimes are a part of our lexicon, a shorthand for the broken extremities of our society, a real part, like or not, of the American experience, of American history itself. The 10 lots featured in this auction are from later in that history, from when the perpetrators were still incarcerated or had been for decades to pay for their crimes.
Charles Manson Signed and Handwritten Mailed Envelope (JSA)
Offered is an enveloped dated "3 AUG 1999" signed by and filled out in the hand of Charles Manson. The envelope is addressed to a pen pal and fan in Missouri. Accompanied by an LOA from James Spence Authentication. Manson has incorporated a swastika into his signature. Near Mint condition with expected wear from mailing.