• Audio Archives: Gregg Jakobson interviewed by Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, February 20, 1970 – Tape One

Audio Archives: Gregg Jakobson interviewed by Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, February 20, 1970 – Tape One

Monday, January 28th, 2013

“He had a thousand faces and he used them all”

Jan. 28 – For this installment of the Audio Archives, we will travel back to Friday, February 20, 1970 and listen to Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi interview Gregg Jakobson, in Bugliosi’s office at the Hall of Justice.

In this interview, Jakobson tells Bugliosi about Charlies philosophies on death, changes, how you could do no wrong, and how Manson would take people for rides in cars and deliberately try to scare them.

gregg-jakobson

Gregg Jakobson

Gregg Jakobson, 30 years-old at the time of this interview, was a musician and talent scout who met Charlie Manson in the spring of 1968 at his friend’s house, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson.

Born an orphan in St. Paul, Minnesota, Jakobson moved to California with his adopted mother in the early 1950s. In high school Gregg began acting, eventually landing a small role on The Doris Day Show, where he befriended her son, Terry Melcher.

Jakobson, who found the Manson “family” interesting and often discussed philosophy with Charlie, talked about wanting to film a documentary on the group’s lifestyle.

He testified for the state in the first Tate-LaBianca murder trial, again in 1971 when Tex Watson was tried, and finally in 1977 when Leslie Van Houten was retried.

Jakobson co-wrote two albums with his friend Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue and Bambu. Dennis passed away during the recording of Bambu and the album was shelved until 2007 when Jakobson was finally able to get it released.

vincent-bugliosi

Deputy District Attorney Vincent T. Bugliosi

Deputy District Attorney Vincent T. Bugliosi, 35 years-old at the time of this interview, had been with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for 5 years. Born in Hibbing, Minnesota, Bugliosi had attended the University of Miami on a tennis scholarship, followed by law school at UCLA.

Bugliosi became a member of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1964. He was assigned to the Tate-LaBianca murder case on November 18, 1969.

During his 8 year career with the District Attorney’s office, Bugliosi tried 106 felony jury trials, obtaining convictions in all but one case. Bugliosi ran for District Attorney in 1972 and for Attorney General in 1976, losing both elections.

Vincent Bugliosi’s book about the Manson case, Helter Skelter, was released in 1974 and went on to become the best selling true crime book of all time.

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13 Responses to Audio Archives: Gregg Jakobson interviewed by Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, February 20, 1970 – Tape One

  1. Silentseason says:

    Very looking forward to this; he was always one of the more colorful characters from Bugliosi’s book. Will be seeing if there are any nuances from the Helter Skelter theories that didn’t translate across to the printed page that might be there orally.

  2. Maude's Harold says:

    Hey Cielo,

    Thank you for sharing this great information. The audios really give another dimension to the people we’ve read about for so long. Thanks for all your hard work and generosity.

  3. johnnyseattle says:

    Looking forward with great anticipation.
    Again, thank you for providing these interviews.

  4. cielodrive.com says:

    Thanks Harold, I love these tapes too.

    Quick note on this one. About three minutes in, a man drops by Bugliosi’s office to discuss Patricia Krenwinkel. At the time Krenwinkel was still in Alabama, but was in the process of being extradited back to California, having given up the fight earlier that week. She was arraigned in California the following Tuesday where she of course, requested to represent herself.

  5. Johnnyseattle says:

    Nice tape, CD. This is the first time I’ve really had a chance to hear Greg J. in a question/answer forum. You wonder how in the heck Manson was able to intrigue Greg J for such a long time. Greg J is obviously an intelligent sort yet he repeatedly/willingly engaged in long conversations with Charlie. Of course, with the benefit of time it’s easy to look back and see what a scammer Manson was. It sure took Greg J a long time to wise up.

    The comment about how Charlie liked to scare the hell out of people in a car was interesting. Just for a second, imagine Charlie today trying to drive a car after 40 plus years…wonder how he would like the ‘voice’ telling him to put on a seatbelt or having ‘OnStar’ in the car tracking his movements.

    • Silentseason says:

      It’d just be another voice inside his head, Johnny. Charlie probably had alot then and has even more now that he’s been in quasi-isolation since his conviction.

      • Johnnyseattle says:

        You’re right Silent, the second he heard the voice telling him to ‘take a left turn in 100 feet’ he’d be telling that ‘OnStar’ to ‘get the heck in the back of the line behind the other voices.’

        But I am curious for these folks who get locked up for 20, 30 plus years how much of a culture shock it would be to be back on the street.

    • cielodrive.com says:

      Seems like a lot of people have brought up Charlie’s wild driving. I wanna say Krenwinkel just talked about it at her last hearing. And I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Atkins bring it up.

      • johnnyseattle says:

        Hey CD
        In retrospect, it really isn’t such a surprise that Charlie was a wild driver. After all, he was multiple felon, do we expect he is gonna obey the ‘Rules of the Road.’ LOL

  6. Silentseason says:

    This is the first Vince tape I have heard. I sense some Anti-Bugliosi sentiment in the Tate-LaBianca communities, one of the issues being that Vince led or coached his wittnesses to confirm conclusions Vince had already himself made. I don’t get that from tape one. Gregg knew what the situation was and took the interview seriously, and provided alot of damaging info for what was to be the Helter Skelter motive, IMO the only legitimate and time tested theory behind the murders. There were other sub-motives along with Helter Skelter, but I will be listening to see if any of these interviews shakes my belief in it.

    Thank you again for sharing, Cielo.

  7. pvm777 says:

    Well Cielo you have done it but yet again! Thank you for bringing us these interviews. Paul Crockets audio wise were perfect, I only wish that on the ones that are harder to hear we could read a transcript like on Pauls. Otherwise I don’t mind turning the volume up on high in order to hear every word. Thanks again!!!!

  8. LENNON says:

    Thanks for posting another great tape. So much better hearing first hand from people who were directly involved at the time. Very curious as to where and how you come up with these tapes Cielo?

  9. daniel miltz says:

    Manson’s outrage in my determination is– by {his} inability to be acknowledged by the Hollywood beautiful people

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