This morning (June 9, 2015) it was announced on various news outlets that Vincent T. Bugliosi, most famous as Los Angeles District Attorney back in the 1960s, died three days ago of cancer at an L.A. hospital. He was 80. My heart and my condolences go out to Mr. Bugliosi’s family, friends and loved ones. Because he was one of my personal heroes, a man whose writings, accomplishments and particularly his mind I greatly admired, I feel it’s only fitting that I create this article as a tribute to him. I was aware that Mr. Bugliosi faced health challenges over the last few years so while the news is not unexpected, it’s still saddening. America has lost not only a great lawyer, but a very able historian, and a thinker who can teach us all about the value of logic, reasoning and critical thinking.
Every news story I saw today announcing Bugliosi’s death led with the claim-to-fame that will ultimately be his legacy: he was the district attorney who successfully prosecuted Charles Manson and his murderous “Family” for their horrifying 1969 killings of numerous people. Obviously that’s huge, and so much of what we know about the bizarre Manson story came to the public through the true crime book Bugliosi co-authored in 1974 with Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter. But there are many other testaments to Bugliosi’s genius that have nothing to do with Manson, and which are even more illustrative of how his fascinating mind worked and how he saw the world.
Two books by Bugliosi sit on the shelf of my history office. (I keep Reclaiming History at home).
In 1978 Bugliosi wrote another book that came from his prosecutorial past: the much less well-known Till Death Do Us Part, which concerned two murders that occurred in L.A. in late 1966. The case was an amazing mind puzzle full of clues that could only come together with the application of logic, in exactly the way a well-written murder mystery does. Thanks to Bugliosi’s genius and his legal acumen, he put the two murderers, Alan Palliko and Sandra Stockton, behind bars. In another celebrated case which also became a book, Bugliosi, then (mid-1980s) a defense attorney rather than prosecutor, successfully proved the innocence of Stephanie Stearns, accused of murdering a couple on the remote Pacific island of Palmyra in 1974. In fact Stearns’s then boyfriend, Wesley “Buck” Walker, murdered them alone. The key part of the defense was logic: a reasoned argument as to why it made no sense that Stearns would have done it, and why Walker did. In 2013 I wrote one of my most popular articles, about the disappearance of Malcolm “Mac” Graham (one of Walker’s victims), using Bugliosi’s 1991 book, And The Sea Will Tell, as a source. It’s the logic of the case that’s so compelling.
In 1986, just as he was finishing the Stearns trial, Bugliosi was asked to take part in an elaborate mock trial being organized by a British television network. The defendant was Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Bugliosi was the prosecutor and noted defense lawyer Gerry Spence was the defense. The trial was a simulation, but the witnesses, evidence and even the jurors were all genuine, from actual Dallas jury rolls circa 1963. Applying his laser-like focus on logic to the case, Bugliosi proved not only that Oswald killed Kennedy, but that he acted alone in doing so, despite many Americans’ belief that there was a conspiracy. His desire to bring this conclusion to the American public, rather than just a British TV audience, resulted in Bugliosi’s awesome, 21-year effort to write Reclaiming History: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, which is, in my view, truly what he deserves to be remembered for.
Mac Graham, who disappeared on Palmyra Island, was certainly murdered by Wesley “Buck” Walker (his wife’s body was found, his wasn’t). Bugliosi defended Walker’s girlfriend who was also accused.
Reclaiming History is an astounding piece of historical writing. At 1700 pages, with 900 additional pages of footnotes–so big that when you buy the book the footnotes come on a CD-Rom (and yes, I have read it all)–Bugliosi’s treatment of the Kennedy assassination set the new definition of “comprehensive” when writing about a historical event. His research was so meticulous, so thorough and exacting that one wonders how a human being could hold and process so much detailed information in his head. Vincent Bugliosi did, and it proves how amazing his mind was. Furthermore, his north star, guiding him through 21 years of the process, was an unyielding respect for truth and the rules of logic and critical thinking. Cutting through all the chaff, misinformation and pseudohistorical arguments that have misled Americans for decades about what happened in the Kennedy case, Bugliosi placed beyond all doubt that one man, and one man alone, was responsible for the Kennedy assassination. This despite the fact that something like 75% of the American public believed in a conspiracy. Bugliosi knew he was right. Furthermore, he could prove it–and he did. Sometimes standing up for historical truth takes exceptional courage. Bugliosi had it.
Furthermore, Bugliosi was able to do what most of us in America can’t: avoid being blinded by our political prejudices, and seeing the truth for what it is. Politically Bugliosi was, so far as I know, a conservative Republican. Yet he coldly denounced the Supreme Court’s 2000 decision that made George W. Bush President over Al Gore, blasting its partisan bias and lack of legal basis. He went further, writing another famous book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder, laying out why the former President could legally be liable for the deaths of the over 4,000 soldiers who died during the Iraq War. These are gutsy stands for a conservative to take. Yet notice both of them are based not on partisan political feeling, but on legal reasoning. Bugliosi was able to separate law from politics in an age where the two have become extensions of each other. In my view it’s a sin that he was never elevated to the Supreme Court.
In his masterful book Reclaiming History, Bugliosi proved that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone on November 22, 1963 when he killed President John F. Kennedy.
There are very few public intellectuals left in America, people whose fame and admiration rests largely on the activities of their minds and words rather than their deeds. Bugliosi might not even count as one, as he wasn’t an academic in the classic sense, but I can guarantee that if we had more people like him shaping our public, legal and historical discourse, the intellectual life of America would be much stronger than it is. He was a wonderful man with an incredible intellect. He left the country safer and smarter as a result of his works and his words. I can think of few more fitting eulogies for anyone.
Goodbye, Vincent Bugliosi. Thanks for everything–you will be missed.
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I was aware of the book “Helter Skelter” and the book about the Palmyra Island killings, but I did not know about the volume on the Kennedy Assassination nor his book on Bush and the Iraqi War casualties. Thanks for bringing those to my attention.
[…] and author. Although this is the second obituary I’ve done on my blog this week–the first being for historian and lawyer Vincent Bugliosi–there’s no way I could not honor Lee with an article summarizing his career, his […]
I find it difficult to believe that someone born on the Minnesota Iron Range in the 1930s would ever become a conservative Republican… 😎
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Great article; I am halfway through my third re-reading of And The Sea Will Tell. Have read Helter Skelter twice, but was unaware of the other two books you mention. I’m so pleased to discover there are two other books I can devour. As you say, a fine mind, a crystalline logic, unerring inherent sense of justice and fairness and an astounding ability to cut through distraction and detail and see the bare bones, the sense, underlying it all. I am struck anew, in reading And The Sea, by his observation that the presumption of innocence virtually precludes any way of presenting proof of that innocence, at least in any cohesive, organised way. What a brutally obvious, yet little-remarked, anomaly. Great loss.
Good article. But a person is proven not guilty rather than innocent. I do wonder if Stephanie Stearns, who was convicted on a drug charge with Walker and of course on theft of the Sea Wind, was actually guilty. As for the Kennedy assassination, read Mortal Error which clearly demonstrates that Agent Hickey in the follow up car accidentally fired his AR15 rifle and the facts show that it was this shot that killed Kennedy. Among the evidence was that the kill shot used not a full metal jacket bullet which Oswald fired, but an exploding bullet which the AR15 used (and is actually used by law enforcement today). Full metal jacket bullets go through and through as happened with the neck shot from Oswald. A full metal jacket bullet would not have cause Kennedy’s head to “explode” as it had but would have gone right through. Also, subsequent evidence I think at the ARRB hearing called by Clinton in the 1990s demonstrated that the autopsy incorrectly identified the hole as being about 4 inches too low. The resulting angle and ballistic tests showed the shot came from the secret service car behind JFK and that the bullet was not a full metal jacket bullet, respectively. There are numerous other inconsistencies in the evidence which support this view including those outlined in a documentary based on the work of an apparently renowned investigator from Australia which documentary was created more recently.
If true, and it does seem very credible, it is a huge indictment of the Secret Service of that time. Having said that, I suppose I can understand why there would be an interest in hiding the fact that an agent accidentally discharged his firearm and killed the president as no one would have wanted to hear that back then. One other thing; there were numerous witnesses including a Senator, I believe other Secret Service agents and local police who smelled gunpowder at street level. With prevailing winds blowing in Oswald’s face plus the fact that the smell of gunpowder at street level would not have been possible unless a gun had been discharged at street level. The Secret Service of course denied any weapons were discharged by agents or any police that day. Ironically, neither Agent Hickey’s weapon nor any other agent’s weapon was inspected by the Warren commission.
I did like Bugliosi’s And the Sea will Tell. It was a great story. As you may know, Stearns came from a wealthy family but if memory serves, the Graham’s were not “upper crust” but regular people who loves sailing.
I’ve been meaning to read Helter Skelter for a while now and will have to go out and buy the book soon.
Utter nonsense. The ridiculous theory that a Secret Service agent fired a shot that killed Kennedy stems from the conspiratorial delusions of William Cooper, who is worthy of exactly zero credibility; the “facts [that] show it was this shot that killed Kennedy” simply do not exist. The facts that are proven show that one bullet from Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano rifle killed John F. Kennedy, and the striations on that bullet prove beyond all doubt that this bullet was fired from Oswald’s rifle–to the exclusion of all other weapons in the entire world. There is no more conclusive proof that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, and that anything to the contrary is conspiratorial nonsense with not a single shred of evidence to validate it.
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Sean, I just found you on YouTube while looking for the “And The Sea Will Tell” TV Series. I didn’t expect to be in such agreement with your ‘Heroes”, Vince Bugliosi being one of mine for decades. I know I’ve heard the music of James Horner (maybe in “The New World”?) Luscious and transporting melodies…..
Regarding JFK, I have to express my lifelong heartbreak on 11/22/62 — I was in my Freshman year of college and I will never forget my devastation as we all panicked and gathered in the cafeteria to watch the news shortly after he was shot. I adored him (I know he was a bit of a cad in his personal life), but he looked a lot like my father and even at a young age in the 1960’s I felt true allegiance to his political and social stance — yeah, he spoke to me and millions of my peers. That was the day the music stopped. His murder changed me for life. I can’t watch movies, videos or discussions about him, nor would I read Bugliosi’s book because that November wound feels terribly fresh. However, I’d never heard of this ‘tome’ before now, so thanks for mentioning it.
I do so appreciate your posts, as well as your dedication to my shared love of critical logical thinking. It seems to be a forgotten mind skill in recent times, despite our worldwide access to Information; most people are operating by emotions of fear and hatred; this scares me for the human race, or at least Americans. Keep up the good work, I like what you have to say and how you say it.
Thank you so much! I’ve always admired Bugliosi, but few share my admiration for him so it’s good to encounter someone who does. I wasn’t alive in 1963 but I certainly understand how traumatic JFK’s death was for the generation who lived through it, particularly the generation that was young at that time. And yes, critical thinking and logic are very much underappreciated these days. We live in what Carl Sagan called “the demon-haunted world,” but I’m doing my best to keep the torch of reason burning. Thanks again.
Sean, I want to second that and also thank you for efforts in keeping logic and reasoning alive in the public space, going against the current of mainstream thought. I too found your site while searching on youtube for more info on the ‘And the Sea Will Tell’ Palmyra murders. I am reading that book now, and have read Helter Skelter and Reclaiming History several times. I too am a huge fan of Vincent Bugliosi’s work, having devoured alot from from his public lectures and interviews about Reclaiming History on David von Pein’s JFK site (a must see for any JFK researcher).
Perhaps he turned people off with his brash, sometimes condescending style, but it’s too bad he is not more appreciated as he is in your wonderful eulogy above. His laser beam focus on logic and unbelievable attention to detail make him a true legend in true crime and historical writing.
Thank you as well for trying to set the JFK conspiracy-monger straight. Although sadly, when it comes to the JFK case, many conspiracy theorists’ minds have been so poisoned by the profitable industry of propogating conspiracies that they cannot be convinced or reasoned with in any way. The only hope is to take back people in the middle and point them the way of logic and critical thinking, as you seem to be doing.
I’m looking forward to perusing your site for other subject areas you write and teach about. If they are as thought provoking and intelligent as your writing on Mr. Bugliosi, it will be a worthwile endeavor.
Regards,
Andy