Echoes Of Laurel Canyon - Part Fourteen

Only Compromising Activity Recorded - Mass Murders Not Recorded

Detailed Summary of the Article

The article, sourced from a Substack post, presents a conspiratorial interpretation of the 1969 Manson Family murders at 10050 Cielo Drive, drawing heavily on Tom O’Neill’s book Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties. It alleges that CIA operative Reeve Whitson had the Cielo Drive residence, home to Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, under electronic surveillance before and during the murders, with similar surveillance at the Manson Family’s Spahn Ranch. Despite this, no surveillance evidence was presented during the nine-month Manson trial, raising questions about why such critical evidence was withheld.

The article suggests that the surveillance equipment was removed from Cielo Drive just before the murders, possibly to protect intelligence operations aimed at compromising Hollywood elites, with Polanski allegedly acting as a CIA agent to entrap powerful figures by filming them with Tate after drugging her with LSD.

The article speculates that Reeve Whitson, who bears a supposed resemblance to Robert Allen Hale (a figure linked to General Dynamics and oil dealings), might have been a diversion to obscure Hale’s involvement in a broader scheme to compromise Robert Kennedy with Tate.

It posits that Whitson, possibly guided by his cousin, FBI agent Clyde Whitson, was tasked with retrieving surveillance equipment to conceal the operation’s true purpose. The article further suggests that Whitson was assigned to assist Sharon Tate’s father, Colonel Paul Tate, in his private investigation to monitor how close he came to uncovering the alleged Kennedy-Tate entrapment plot.

A key focus is the unpublished manuscript Five Down on Cielo Drive, co-authored by Paul Tate, LAPD Lieutenant Robert Helder, FBI agent Roger LaJeunesse (under the pseudonym “Walter Kern” for Whitson), and purportedly Whitson himself.

This book, described as a detailed chronology of the murders, is presented as a collaborative effort by CIA and FBI figures to establish a “pre-narrative” before Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter became the definitive account. The article questions why Five Down was never published, suggesting it served as a trial balloon to align agency narratives.

The article also explores broader motives, proposing that the murders were a botched CIA operation to compromise Hollywood executives via an LSD-fueled drug cult, crossed with an FBI COINTELPRO program targeting groups like the Black Panthers.

It references Curtis LeMay and the CIA’s Phoenix program, suggesting the murders were orchestrated to justify importing COINTELPRO tactics to U.S. soil, with Tate and Abigail Folger as unintended victims.

Ted Gunderson’s COINTELPRO activities in Los Angeles, including spreading disinformation about actress Jean Seberg, are cited as evidence of such operations. Finally, the article connects peripheral figures like Herbert Itkin and George DeMohrenschildt, involved in oil deals and Operation PB Success, to the broader intelligence network, framing the murders as a convergence of CIA and FBI agendas in Hollywood.

Critically, many claims lack primary source corroboration and rely on O’Neill’s speculative findings or unverified assertions. The absence of surveillance evidence, Whitson’s alleged CIA role, and the Kennedy-Tate entrapment theory are not substantiated beyond O’Neill’s research and the article’s conjecture.

The involvement of high-level CIA and FBI figures in Five Down is intriguing but undocumented in mainstream accounts, and the article’s narrative risks conflating coincidence with conspiracy without concrete evidence.

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Descriptions of Persons and Organizations

Persons

Reeve Whitson
Reeve Whitson is alleged to have been a CIA operative who conducted electronic surveillance on the Cielo Drive house and Spahn Ranch during the Manson murders, according to Tom O’Neill’s Chaos. The article claims he was at the murder scene, possibly mistaken for a victim, and removed surveillance equipment to protect a CIA operation compromising Hollywood elites, though these claims lack primary source confirmation. Whitson co-authored Five Down on Cielo Drive under the pseudonym “Walter Kern,” collaborating with Paul Tate, Robert Helder, and Roger LaJeunesse, suggesting a role in shaping the early narrative. Speculation about his resemblance to Robert Allen Hale and ties to Iran-Contra via his “Quarry Unit” remains unverified, casting doubt on his precise role.

Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate, a rising Hollywood actress, was brutally murdered by the Manson Family at her Cielo Drive home in August 1969, an event that became a cultural touchstone. The article posits she was an unintended victim in a CIA operation to compromise Hollywood figures, with her husband, Roman Polanski, allegedly drugging her for filmed entrapments, though this is highly speculative. Her father, Colonel Paul Tate, investigated her death, co-authoring Five Down on Cielo Drive to document the case. The lack of surveillance evidence from her heavily monitored home fuels conspiracy theories about intelligence agency cover-ups.

Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski, a celebrated film director and Sharon Tate’s husband, lived at the Cielo Drive house where the Manson murders occurred. The article controversially claims he was a CIA compromise agent who drugged Tate with LSD to film her with powerful men, a theory lacking credible evidence and rooted in speculation. He was not present during the murders but was interviewed by police, with Reeve Whitson reportedly present, suggesting his proximity to intelligence figures. His role in the narrative remains tangential, overshadowed by unverified conspiracies.

Colonel Paul Tate
Colonel Paul Tate, Sharon Tate’s father and a retired Army intelligence officer, conducted a private investigation into his daughter’s murder, leveraging his psychological operations experience from working with CIA’s James Angleton in Italy. He co-authored Five Down on Cielo Drive with Reeve Whitson, Robert Helder, and Roger LaJeunesse, aiming to document the murder timeline, though the book was never published. The article suggests he was monitored by Whitson to prevent uncovering a supposed Kennedy-Tate entrapment plot, a claim lacking substantiation. His military background fuels speculation about his role in navigating intelligence agency involvement.

Robert Allen Hale
Robert Allen Hale, linked to General Dynamics’ Security Division and oil dealings, is presented as a figure possibly obscured by Reeve Whitson’s prominence in the Manson narrative. The article speculates Whitson’s resemblance to Hale during his “Sundance” years in Hollywood suggests a deliberate diversion, though no evidence supports this. Hale’s alleged connection to a Kennedy-Tate entrapment scheme is mentioned but not detailed, relying on unverified ties to intelligence operations. His role remains ambiguous, with the article offering no concrete links to the murders.

Clyde Whitson
Clyde Whitson, an FBI agent and Reeve Whitson’s cousin, is suggested to have masterminded a diversion to shift focus from Robert Allen Hale to Reeve Whitson in the Manson case. The article provides no evidence for this claim, relying on speculation about FBI efforts to obscure broader intelligence operations. His role is not detailed beyond this alleged familial connection, making his involvement hypothetical. No primary sources confirm his direct participation in the Manson investigation or related cover-ups.

Lieutenant Robert Helder
Lieutenant Robert Helder, the lead LAPD investigator on the Manson murders, was known as “Death Penalty” Helder for his tough stance. He co-authored Five Down on Cielo Drive with Paul Tate, Reeve Whitson, and Roger LaJeunesse, contributing insider knowledge to a detailed but unpublished chronology. The article questions his collaboration with CIA and FBI figures, suggesting it was to align narratives, though this lacks corroboration. His role in the official investigation is well-documented, but his involvement in Five Down remains obscure.

Roger LaJeunesse
Roger LaJeunesse, an FBI agent, co-authored Five Down on Cielo Drive in an “unofficial capacity,” assisting the LAPD and collaborating with Paul Tate, Reeve Whitson, and Robert Helder. The article finds his lack of public visibility suspicious, speculating he helped align CIA-FBI narratives, but no evidence supports this. He is linked to relocating Herbert Itkin to California, though this connection is tangential. His precise role in the Manson case is unclear, with the article offering no verifiable details beyond Five Down.

Herbert Itkin
Herbert Itkin was a CIA-sanctioned oil man involved in Caribbean Basin dealings alongside George DeMohrenschildt, later relocated to California as a technology executive after Operation PB Success. The article mentions his ties to General Dynamics’ Security Division and the Manson case through Roger LaJeunesse, but the connection is vague and unsupported. He is not directly linked to the murders, serving as a peripheral figure in the intelligence network narrative. His role exemplifies the article’s tendency to draw speculative links without evidence.

George DeMohrenschildt
George DeMohrenschildt, an oil businessman with CIA ties, was involved in Caribbean oil deals with Herbert Itkin during Operation PB Success. The article mentions him briefly as part of the intelligence network relocated to California, but he has no direct connection to the Manson murders. Known for his association with Lee Harvey Oswald, his inclusion here seems to bolster the conspiracy narrative without substantive relevance. No evidence ties him to Cielo Drive or the Manson case.

Curtis LeMay
Curtis LeMay, a high-ranking Air Force general and CIA associate, is alleged to have pushed for the Manson murders to justify importing the CIA’s Phoenix program and COINTELPRO to the U.S., using Tate’s death to stir public fear. The article claims he was connected to Reeve Whitson, but this lacks verification beyond a single X post. His involvement is speculative, with no primary sources linking him to the murders or surveillance. The narrative positions him as a hardliner orchestrating chaos, but evidence is absent.

Ted Gunderson
Ted Gunderson, a former FBI agent and investigative reporter, is cited as running COINTELPRO operations in Los Angeles with 200 agents, including disinformation campaigns against figures like Jean Seberg. The article suggests his activities align with a motive to justify COINTELPRO through the Manson murders, but no direct evidence ties him to Cielo Drive. His broader COINTELPRO involvement is documented, lending some credibility to the claim of FBI operations in the area. His role remains contextual rather than central to the murders.

Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi, the lead prosecutor in the Manson trial, authored Helter Skelter, which framed the murders as motivated by Manson’s apocalyptic vision, overshadowing Five Down on Cielo Drive. The article implies he downplayed surveillance evidence and coerced testimony, such as Shahrokh Hatami’s, to fit his narrative, though these claims stem from O’Neill’s Chaos without independent confirmation. He worked closely with Reeve Whitson, as noted in trial records, but the extent of their collaboration is unclear. His authoritative account remains the dominant narrative, contested by conspiracy theorists.

Jay Sebring
Jay Sebring, a celebrity hairstylist and friend of Sharon Tate, was among the victims of the Manson murders at Cielo Drive. The article speculates he was a target in a drug entrapment operation gone wrong, with Tate as collateral damage, but this lacks evidence. His presence at the house was incidental, tied to his social circle rather than intelligence activities. The narrative’s focus on his alleged drug ties is unverified and leans on conspiracy-driven assumptions.

Wojciech Frykowski
Wojciech Frykowski, a friend of Roman Polanski, was murdered alongside Tate and Sebring at Cielo Drive. The article suggests he was a drug dealer targeted in a CIA entrapment scheme, with Tate and Abigail Folger as unintended victims, but no evidence supports this. His role in the narrative is minor, framed by speculative motives rather than documented facts. The lack of surveillance evidence mentioning him further weakens the article’s claims.

Abigail Folger
Abigail Folger, an heiress and socialite, was killed in the Manson murders at Cielo Drive. The article posits she was collateral damage in a botched CIA drug operation, a claim without substantiation. Her presence at the house was social, not linked to intelligence activities. The narrative’s use of her death to fuel conspiracy theories lacks supporting evidence.

Jean Seberg
Jean Seberg, an actress targeted by FBI COINTELPRO, was falsely rumored to be pregnant by a Black Panther leader, a smear campaign cited to show the FBI’s tactics in Los Angeles. The article uses her case to suggest a broader motive for the Manson murders as a COINTELPRO justification, but she has no direct connection to the case. Her documented harassment lends credibility to claims of FBI overreach, but the link to Cielo Drive is speculative. The COINTELPRO document referenced supports her targeting but not the article’s broader narrative.

Robert Kennedy
Robert Kennedy, the former Attorney General and senator, is speculatively tied to a CIA entrapment scheme involving Sharon Tate, with Reeve Whitson allegedly obscuring this plot. The article provides no evidence for this claim, relying on unsubstantiated theories about intelligence operations targeting Kennedy. His inclusion seems designed to amplify the conspiracy narrative, with no documented connection to the Manson murders. The Kennedy-Tate lure theory remains a baseless assertion.

Charles Manson
Charles Manson, the cult leader behind the Tate-LaBianca murders, orchestrated the Cielo Drive killings, though the article questions the Helter Skelter motive, suggesting a CIA-FBI operation gone awry. It claims his Spahn Ranch was under surveillance, yet no evidence emerged, fueling cover-up theories. O’Neill’s Chaos posits Manson enjoyed unusual leniency from authorities, possibly as an informant, but this is not conclusively proven. His role as the mastermind is undisputed, but the article’s intelligence connections remain speculative.

James Angleton
James Angleton, a CIA counterintelligence chief, is mentioned as Colonel Paul Tate’s colleague in psychological operations in Italy, suggesting Tate’s intelligence ties. The article implies Angleton’s influence in a broader CIA operation linked to the Manson murders, but no evidence connects him directly. His inclusion serves to deepen the conspiracy narrative, leveraging his notorious CIA role without substantiation. Angleton’s documented career does not intersect with the Manson case.

Organizations

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
The CIA is alleged to have conducted surveillance on Cielo Drive and Spahn Ranch, with Reeve Whitson as an operative, to compromise Hollywood elites, though no primary evidence supports this. The article links the agency to Operation CHAOS and the Phoenix program, suggesting the murders justified COINTELPRO’s domestic expansion, but these claims rely on O’Neill’s Chaos and lack corroboration. Programs like MKUltra and CHAOS existed, but their connection to Manson is speculative. The CIA’s involvement in Five Down on Cielo Drive via Whitson and Tate raises questions, but mainstream accounts do not confirm agency interference.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The FBI, through COINTELPRO, is implicated in Los Angeles operations targeting groups like the Black Panthers, with Ted Gunderson’s activities and Jean Seberg’s harassment as examples. The article suggests Roger LaJeunesse and Clyde Whitson helped cover up surveillance in the Manson case to protect a Kennedy-Tate entrapment scheme, but no evidence supports this. Collaboration on Five Down on Cielo Drive with CIA-linked figures hints at narrative alignment, though this is unverified. COINTELPRO’s documented tactics lend some plausibility, but direct FBI involvement in the murders remains conjectural.

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)
The LAPD, led by Lieutenant Robert Helder, investigated the Manson murders, with the article noting Helder’s collaboration on Five Down on Cielo Drive with intelligence figures as suspicious. It claims the LAPD was unaware of surveillance equipment removed before their arrival, suggesting a cover-up, but this lacks substantiation. The department’s official investigation led to Manson’s conviction, with no mainstream evidence of withheld surveillance. Helder’s insider role makes his Five Down involvement notable, but the article’s conspiratorial framing is unsupported.

Manson Family
The Manson Family, a cult led by Charles Manson, committed the Cielo Drive murders, driven by Manson’s apocalyptic vision or, as the article speculates, as pawns in a CIA-FBI operation. Their Spahn Ranch was allegedly under surveillance, yet no evidence emerged, fueling cover-up theories. O’Neill’s Chaos suggests Manson’s leniency by authorities points to informant status, but this is not proven. The Family’s role as perpetrators is clear, but their manipulation by intelligence agencies remains a hypothesis.

General Dynamics Security Division
General Dynamics’ Security Division is mentioned as employing Robert Allen Hale and others involved in Caribbean oil deals post-Operation PB Success. The article vaguely ties it to the Manson case through Hale and Herbert Itkin, suggesting intelligence connections, but provides no concrete links. Its role is peripheral, used to bolster the narrative of a broader CIA network without evidence. No records connect General Dynamics directly to the murders or surveillance.

Black Panthers
The Black Panthers, a revolutionary group targeted by COINTELPRO, are referenced to suggest the Manson murders were staged to justify FBI tactics against them, per Bugliosi’s claim of a race war motive. The article cites Jean Seberg’s harassment as evidence of FBI overreach, but no direct link to the murders exists. COINTELPRO’s documented actions against the Panthers lend context, but the article’s claim of their involvement in the Manson narrative is speculative. The group’s inclusion serves to frame the murders as a political operation, lacking substantiation.

Introduction

One of the most shocking revelations of Tom O’Neil’s book, “Chaos”, was that CIA operative Reeve Whitson had the Cielo Drive house where the Manson massacre took place under electronic surveillance before and during the killings.

Not only was CIA operative Reeve Whitson at the Manson murder location that evening but he was even presumed to be a victim of the murders at one point in the evening.

The Sharon Tate - Roman Polansky Cielo Drive house was under heavy surveillance before and during the Manson Murders, but no surveillance film or audio evidence emerged at the trial.

Reeve (sic Reed) Whitson bears a great resemblance to Robert Allen Hale during his “Sundance” years in Hollywood.

Not only was the Sharon Tate house under surveillance at the time of the Manson Murders, but the Manson Family Ranch, the Spahn Ranch, was under surveillance before and after the Manson Murders.

The Manson Family at the Spahn Ranch was under intelligence agency surveillance before and after the Manson Murders, yet no video or audio evidence emerged after a nine-month trial.

So how could the electronic evidence collected at the site of a gruesome murder of four people, including a famous Hollywood starlet, with massive amounts of surveillance equipment at both the murder scene and the getaway location, being the most infamous American murder mystery even, go unreported by intelligence agencies to the District Attorney during the entire nine-month trial in Los Angeles?

Electronic surveillance equipment appears to have been removed from the Manson Murder location just before the Manson Murders occurred.

It actually appears that the Manson Murder location at the Cielo Drive location had its surveillance equipment removed right before the Manson Murders!

Only one explanation is plausible. Exposing the surveillance would jeopardize intelligence organizations' compromise operations to infiltrate and undermine Hollywood's power players. Out researchers have posited Polanski was the CIA’s compromise agent in Hollywood, filming other men having sex with his wife after he drugged he with LSD at the Cielo home.

But surveillance documents didn’t connect Reeve Whitson to the Kennedy Hollywood starlet lures Marilyn Monroe and Sharon Tate. Robert Allen Hale was. Some say the insertion of Reeve Whitson into the story is a dashing diversion from the more dastardly, plebian Robert Allen Hale. Some point to Reeve Whitson’s cousin, FBI Agent Clyde Whitson, as the mastermind of the Reeve Whitson diversion.

Whitson has no “skin in the game” for entrapping Robert Kennedy with Sharon Tate. Mr. CIA Reeve Whitson just appears “deus ex machina” in the story.

Maybe Whitson is the FBI guy assigned to go in and fish out the surveillance equipment before the Manson murders, but he is oblivious to the big-picture goal of compromising Bobby Kennedy with Sharon Tate.

It makes sense that the FBI would assign an Agent to “help” Paul Tate, the father of Sharon Tate, with his murder investigation and, in turn, keep track of how close Paul Tate was getting to the real truth of the Kennedy-Tate lure situation. We will explore these topics in the paid part of this substack post.

And now comes the strange story of that was written by the father of Sharon Tate, the most famous Manson murder victim, by Colonel Paul Tate.

The book was titled “Five Down On Cielo Drive,” and one of the key co-authors was Colonel Paul Tate, the father of Shannon Tate.

Colonel Paul Tate’s background in psychological operations has always been a source of speculation, especially since he worked for James Angleton of the CIA in psychological operations in Italy.

Was all of “Helter Skelter” just one big LSD and meth Hollywood compromise operation gone horribly wrong? Were the drug dealers Sebring and Frykowski supposed to be the victims to wrap up the drug entrapment operation, but Sharon Tate and Abby Folger were collateral damage?

Were Curtis LeMay and other CIA Phoenix program hardliners looking for a gruesome murder to onshore the Phoenix program of COINTELPRO onto American soil? Was LeMay stirring the press with a beautiful Hollywood starlet’s murder to get the FBI to adopt the CIA’s COINTELPRO and CHAOS programs against cults and the Black Panthers?

We know that Ted Gunderson, the well-known investigative reporter, did indeed run COINTELPRO operations in Los Angeles with 200 agents at this time. Lies were spread, for instance, that actresses like Jean Seberg were having children with Black Panther party leaders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO#/media/File:COINTELPRO_-_Jean_Seberg.jpg

This “Justify COINTELPRO” motive seems not out of the realm of possibility since the very highest levels of the CIA and FBI are involved in the surveillance of the Cielo Drive home and Reeve Whitson's connection to LeMay and other CIA COINTELPRO proponents. Interestingly, an ad hoc junta of these same agencies formed for the subsequent penning of the pre-narrative “Five Down On Cielo Drive.” Did a CIA op to run an LSD drug cult into Los Angeles to compromise studio executives cross wires with an FBI COINTELPRO program in LA?

The book “Five Down On Cielo Drive” reputedly has the best description of the timeline of events still to this day of any book written on the Manson murders.

What is supposed to be a draft of “Five Down On Cielo Drive” reads more like a reporter’s chronology to me.

https://darkprophets.com/10050-cielo-drive-the-house-of-love-and-horror/

Still, curiously, it was not published before the more famous book “Helter Skelter” hit the market. Perhaps “Five Down On Cielo Drive” was a comparison of notes between CIA and FBI to establish a timeline for a definitive “Helter Skelter” blockbuster to be published?

And as you may have guessed, one of the other co-authors using the pseudonym Walter Kern was Reeve Whitson. That’s two CIA guys with one book, for starters.

Another co-author of “Five Down On Cielo Drive”? The lead Los Angeles Police Department investigator, Lieutenant Robert Helder, was also a co-author of “Five Down,” a fairly authoritative source.

Lieutenant Robert Helder certainly had inside information throughout the Manson Investigation, and, interestingly, he collaborated with two individuals so closely connected to the CIA in his rendition of the timeline of events. “Death Penalty” Helder as he was known publicly, but he wrote in the CIA-assisted pre-narrative “Five Down” has been completely obscured by history.

Also suspect in the CIA-assisted pre-narrative of the Manson Murders event, “Five Down At Cielo Drive,” is a co-author from the FBI, Roger LaJeunesse. He supposedly was helping the LAPD in an “unofficial capacity”. Try to find a picture of Roger LaJeunesse. Does unofficial capacity mean ‘let’s get out stories straight before we put out the bestseller?”. I find the lack of information about Roger LaJeunesse very suspect. I am only familiar with LaJeunesse as the FBI agent who relocated George Demohrenschilt’s oil business partner, Itkin, to Southern California.

Herbert Itkin had been involved with the Demohrenschildt in oil deals, but several members of IB Hale’s General Dynamics Security Division were also involved.

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/08/archives/principal-in-marcus-trial-is-a-figure-in-coast-case2.html

Herbert Itkin was one of the CIA sanctioned oil men in Dallas along with George Demohrenschildt to roll up oil holdings in the Caribbean Basin. After Operation PB Success was over, some of these Hale oil men were relocated under cover with new identities as technology executives like Itkin

I have never written a book with a CIA co-author who was doing surveillance on the home where the murder occurred and then removed the surveillance equipment before the police were called. Reeve Whitson did with “Five Down On Cielo Drive”.

Whitson’s Quarry Unit is also associated with Iran Contra.

I have never written a book with an LAPD officer who was called ninety minutes after the CIA surveillance equipment was removed. LAPD Lieutenant Robert Helder of Los Angeles Police Department certainly did with “Five Down On Cielo Drive”.

And I have never done a book with an FBI officer who had to explain how there was really no surveillance occurring in an illegal FBI-CIA surveillance operation.

But FBI Agent Robert LaJeunesse certainly wrote “Five Down On Cielo Drive”. The only picture I could find of Robert LeJeunesse appear to be a possible younger relative.

But I can understand why all those “Agency” parties might want to get together and write a book to get a pre-narrative out there as a trial balloon for the press to pick at in preparation to writing the final narrative.

We will continue this investigation with the uncanny high level of involvement from both the FBI and CIA in this one Normandy-style farmhouse in Benedict Canyon.

Notes -

(check back for more in the paid section - work in progress)