Editing Terry Melcher (section)

==Manson Family==
{{Main|Manson Family}}
In 1968, Beach Boy [[Dennis Wilson]] introduced Melcher to ex-con and aspiring musician [[Charles Manson]]. Manson and his "family" had been living in Wilson's house at 14400 [[Sunset Boulevard]] after Wilson had picked up hitchhiking Manson family members [[Patricia Krenwinkel]] and Ella Jo Bailey. Wilson expressed interest in Manson's music and also recorded two of Manson's songs with the Beach Boys.<ref>{{cite news| first=Katie| last=Dowd| title=How the Beach Boys ended up recording a song written by Charles Manson| url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/beach-boys-song-written-by-charles-manson-12371418.php| newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]| date=November 20, 2017| access-date=August 17, 2020| archive-date=August 9, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809121613/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/beach-boys-song-written-by-charles-manson-12371418.php| url-status=live}}</ref> For a time, Melcher was interested in recording Manson's music as well as making a film about the family and their hippie commune existence. Manson met Melcher at [[10050 Cielo Drive]], the home that Melcher shared with his girlfriend, actress [[Candice Bergen]] and musician [[Mark Lindsay]].<ref name="Nancy Adamson">{{cite news| newspaper=[[Midland Reporter-Telegram]]| title=Mark Lindsay talks about new music, cats and Charlie Manson| url=http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html| first=Nancy| last=Adamson| date=June 8, 2013| access-date=June 12, 2013| archive-date=July 3, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703040017/http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html| url-status=live}}</ref>

Manson eventually auditioned for Melcher but Melcher declined to sign him. There was still talk of a documentary being made about Manson's music but Melcher abandoned the project after witnessing Manson fighting with a drunken stuntman at [[Spahn Ranch]].<ref name=telegraph/> Wilson and Melcher severed their ties with Manson, a move that angered Manson.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.cielodrive.com/family/manson/index.html| title=Charles Manson| website=CieloDrive.com| access-date=March 17, 2017| archive-date=March 4, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030050/http://www.cielodrive.com/family/manson/index.html| url-status=live}}</ref> Soon after, Melcher and Bergen moved out of the Cielo Drive home. The house's owner, Rudi Altobelli, then leased it to film director [[Roman Polanski]] and his wife, actress [[Sharon Tate]]. Manson was reported to have visited the house on more than one occasion asking for Melcher but was told that Melcher had moved.<ref name=telegraph/>

On August 8–9, 1969, the house was the site of [[Tate murders|the murders of Tate]] (who was eight months pregnant at the time), coffee heiress [[Abigail Folger]], hairdresser [[Jay Sebring]], writer [[Wojciech Frykowski]] and [[Steven Parent]] by members of [[Manson Family|Manson's "family"]]. Some authors and law enforcement personnel{{Who|date=October 2020}} have theorized that the Cielo Drive house was targeted by Manson as revenge for Melcher's rejection and that Manson was unaware that he and Bergen had moved out. However, family member [[Tex Watson|Charles "Tex" Watson]] stated that Manson and company did, in fact, know that Melcher was no longer living there,<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |chapter=Chapter 14: Helter Skelter I (August 8–9) |title=Will You Die For Me? |author=Watson, Charles D. |editor=Hoekstra, Chaplain Ray |publisher=Cross Roads Publications, Inc. |date=April 24, 1978 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329161133/http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-014.php |archive-date=March 29, 2010 }}</ref> and Melcher's former roommate Mark Lindsay stated, "Terry and I talked about it later and Terry said Manson knew (Melcher had moved) because Manson or someone from his organization left a note on Terry's porch in Malibu."<ref name="Nancy Adamson"/>

At that time, Melcher was producing music by singer [[Jimmy Boyd]] for [[A&M Records]]. After initial tracks were recorded, the Manson murders occurred, reportedly prompting Melcher to go into seclusion and the session was never completed. When Manson was arrested, it was widely reported that he had sent his followers to the house to kill Melcher and Bergen. Manson family member [[Susan Atkins]], who admitted her part in the murders, stated to police and before a [[grand jury]] that the house was chosen as the scene for the murders "to instill fear into Terry Melcher because Terry had given us his word on a few things and never came through with them".<ref name=telegraph/> Melcher took to employing a bodyguard and told Manson prosecutor [[Vincent Bugliosi]] that his fear was so great he had been undergoing psychiatric treatment. Melcher was described as the most frightened of the witnesses at the trial, even though Bugliosi assured him that "Manson knew you were no longer living [on Cielo Drive]".<ref name=telegraph/>

In his 2019 book ''[[CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties]]'', author Tom O'Neill reexamined the Manson case and found evidence Melcher may have been more closely involved with the Manson family than he admitted at trial.<ref>{{cite news| first=Steven| last=Phillips| date=July 12, 2019| url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-chaos-charles-manson-dan-piepenbring-20190711-story.html| title=What Really Happened in the Manson murders? 'Chaos' casts doubt on Helter Skelter theory| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| access-date=May 14, 2021| archive-date=June 10, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610115901/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-chaos-charles-manson-dan-piepenbring-20190711-story.html| url-status=live}}</ref> In reviewing police files and other data, O'Neill found evidence Melcher was associating with Manson in the four month period after the Tate-Labianca murders but before Manson's arrest. These documents, seemingly hidden by Bugliosi, undermined claims the Tate murders were intended to frighten Melcher in revenge for his refusal to record Manson's music. O'Neill also found documents indicating Melcher was [[statutory rape|having sex]] with 15-year-old Manson family member [[Ruth Ann Moorehouse]].<ref name="O'Neill">{{cite book| last=O'Neill| first=Tom| title=Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ| year=2019|publisher=Little, Brown| isbn=978-0-316-47757-4| access-date=July 18, 2021| archive-date=June 6, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606182949/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live|pages=119–139}}</ref> Dean Moorehouse, Ruth Ann's father and a Manson Family member, had also resided at 10050 Cielo Drive with Melcher. [[Tex Watson]] was known to frequently visit the residence.{{sfn|O'Neill|2019|pp=117-119}}