Manson prosecutor Bugliosi dies at age 80

LOS ANGELES – 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 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 cult leader Charles Manson.

Bugliosi had prosecuted Manson and his female followers, winning convictions in one of America’s most sensational trials.

Bugliosi was born in 1934 in Hibbing, Minn. He attended the University of Miami at Coral Gables, Florida, on a tennis scholarship and graduated from the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles.

After the Manson trial, he wrote “Helter Skelter” with collaborator Curt Gentry, and it became one of the bestselling crime books of all time.

Bugliosi Jr. said his father was most proud of his nearly 2,000-page examination of the Kennedy Assassination, “Reclaiming History,” which took over 20 years to write.