Register

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014 News 3
Register
1
THE TATE-LABIANCA MURDERS
summer of
The body of actress Sharon Tate is
taken from her home on Cielo Drive
in Beverly
erly
ly Hills on Aug.
g. 9,, 1969.
Tate, the
e wife of director Roman
Polanski, was eight months pregnant.
murder
Forty-five years ago this week, a charismatic but dangerous wannabe
musician sent his followers into two Los Angeles-area homes.
Their mission: gruesome murders that might inspire copycat crimes.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
That plan failed, but Charles
Manson and his family succeeded
in striking fear into the region.
BY CHARLES
APPLE
FOCUS PAGE
EDITOR
AUG. 9, 1969
AUG. 10, 1969
Shortly after midnight,
five of Manson’s followers
break into the Hollywood
home of actress Sharon
Tate. Her husband,
director Roman Polanski,
is out of the country, but
Tate — who is eight
months pregnant — and
three companions are
brutally murdered. In all,
the victims receive 102
stab wounds. The word
The next night, Manson’s
followers — led by
Manson himself this time
— butcher Leno and
Rosemary LaBianca in
their home in Los Feliz.
Both are stabbed
multiple times. The word
“War” is carved into
Leno’s stomach and
“Death to Pigs,” “Rise”
and “Healter Skelter” —
which turns out to be a
1968
SUMMER
1968
Manson and his
ragtag group of
followers — the
“family” — move
into the Spahn
ranch, a
rent-for-hire
movie set near
Chatsworth.
They survive by
petty crimes and
by sponging off
anyone they can,
including Beach
Boys drummer
Dennis Wilson.
Sharon
Tate
Coffee heiress
Abigail Folger
Voytek
Frykowski
“Pig” is written on a wall in
Tate’s blood. One victim, a
local teen, is killed as he
stumbles across the killers
Hair stylist
Jay Sebring
on their way onto the property. He is shot. People all over
L.A. are terrified by the details
of the murders.
1969
SEPT. 11,
1968
The Beach
Boys record
one of
Manson’s
songs for the
B-side of a
single. Manson
sells the song
— and label
credit — for
money but
expresses
displeasure
that Wilson
changed his
lyrics.
THE
HOUSE
ON
CIELO
DRIVE
NOV. 22,
1968
The Beatles
release the
their “White
Album.”
The album
influences
Manson’s
thinking.
He tells the
family the
Beatles are
sending
messages to
him in their
songs.
Steven
Parent, 17
1970
MARCH 23,
1969
Still hoping for a
recording contract,
Manson visits the
residence of record
producer Terry
Melcher. Melcher
has moved out.
The new tenants
are director Roman
Polanski and
actress Sharon
Tate. Manson feels
insulted by the
way he’s treated
by Tate’s
photographer.
JULY 31,
1969
Gary Hinman,
a local music
teacher who
introduced
Manson to
Wilson, is
found dead.
The words
“political
piggy” are
found
written on
the wall in
Hinman’s
blood.
OCT. 12,
1969
Manson and
14 members
of his
family are
arrested in
Death
Valley for
arson and
auto theft.
Rosemary
LaBianca
misspelled reference to a
Beatles song — are
written on the walls in
the victims’ blood.
1971
NOV. 6,
1969
One of
Manson’s
followers,
Susan Atkins,
brags to
another
inmate that
she was the
one who
stabbed
Sharon Tate
to death. The
horrified
inmate tips
off authorities.
JULY 24,
1970
After months
of investigation and court
hearings, the
murder trial of
Manson and
three of his
family
members
begins. One
associate —
Linda
Kasabian — is
offered
immunity for
her testimony.
The Tate-Polanski residence at 10050
Cielo Drive was owned by music and
movie talent agent Rudi Altobelli. He
rented to such stars as Cary Grant and
Dyan Cannon, Henry Fonda and Mark
Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders.
Melcher — producer for the Byrds and
the son of Doris Day — and his
girlfriend, Candice Bergen, lived there
before Polanski and Tate rented the
place in February 1969.
Leno
LaBianca
NOV. 30,
1970
One of the
defense
attorneys,
Ronald
Hughes, fails
to show up
for court. His
body is found
four months
later in a
gorge in
Ventura
County. The
crime is
never solved.
JAN. 25,
1971
The jury
returns
guilty
verdicts
against all
four
defendants,
including
Manson.
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch
Nails lived there for two
years in the early 1990s and
even recorded two albums
plus a Marilyn Manson
album in a studio he
installed there.
Altobelli moved back into the house three weeks
after the murders and lived there for 19 years.
He sold the house in 1988 for $1.6 million.
The home was demolished
in 1994. A new home
occupying that property has
a different street address.
Sources: CNN, Time magazine, Entertainment Weekly, ABC News, the History Channel, Biography.com, Huffington Post, JustPressPlay.net, CieloDrive.com, Douglas O. Linder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
APRIL
1971
All four are
sentenced to
death. Ten
months later,
the California
Supreme
Court rules
the death
penalty is
unconstitutional. The
sentences are
converted to
life in prison.
The
LaBianca
home in
Los Feliz
still stands
but has
been
extensively
remodeled.