Manson is tied to something called The Process, notable for being behind the Son of Sam murders, and tied to Robert Mapplethorpe and snuff films, as well as a strategy to sow civil terror (controlled fear response).
Imagine a room full of Hannity clones all interrupting each other.
They all are…..Berkowitz was a weak-minded schmo talked into doing some of the shootings.
My hypothesis is that they were going with the serial killer boogie-man, as an assignment from the CFR to sow discord and fear, until they discovered that the mass shooting events were far more effective (notice you rarely hear anything about Serial Killers anymore).
Solomon just seems like a really nice guy.