Strange Sight | CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND UNSOLVED CASES

Sharon Tate + Charles Manson

BEFORE WE BEGIN

this chapter is a bit long. The first part will be just about Sharon Tate and her death as she was the most well known victim. The second part will be about Charles Manson and the Manson Family.

[OVERVIEW]

Sharon Marie Tate Polanski was born on January 24 of 1943. In the 60's she played in small television roles before appearing in major movies. She was known as one of Hollywood's most promising newcomers.

On January 20, 1968, Tate married Roman Polanski, her director and co-star in 1967's The Fearless Vampire Killers.

[DEATH & INVESTIGATION]

On August 8, 1969 Tate was just a few weeks from giving birth to the couples first son.

She and two friends were at her home as she complained to them about how her husband hadn't returned him from London yet.

Later in the afternoon her little sister Debra called her asking if she could spend the night. Tate told her not that night and maybe another one.

Tate dined at her favorite restaurant, El Coyote Cafe, with Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger, returning at about 10:30 p.m.

The next morning Tate's housekeeper found the bodies and Tate and her friends. A little after midnight they had been brutally murdered.

Police arrived at the scene to find the body of a young man, later identified as Steven Parent, shot dead in his car, which was in the driveway. Inside the house, the bodies of Tate and Jay Sebring were found in the living room; a long rope tied around each of their necks connected them. On the front lawn lay the bodies of Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger. All of the victims, except Parent, had been stabbed numerous times. The coroner's report for Tate noted that she had been stabbed sixteen times, and that "five of the wounds were in and of themselves fatal".

Police took the only survivor at the address, the property's caretaker William Garretson, in for questioning. Garretson lived in the guest house that was located on the property, but a short distance from the house, and not immediately visible. As the first suspect, Garretson was questioned and submitted to a polygraph test. Garretson stated that Parent had visited him at approximately 11:30 p.m. and left shortly thereafter. Garretson informed police that he had no involvement in the murders and did not know anything that could help the investigation. Police accepted his explanation and he was released.

Polanski was informed of the murders and returned to Los Angeles where police, unable to determine a motive, questioned him about his wife and friends. On Wednesday, August 13, Tate was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, with her son, Paul Richard Polanski (named posthumously for Polanski's and Tate's fathers), in her arms. Sebring's funeral took place later the same day; the funerals were scheduled several hours apart to allow mutual friends to attend both.

Life magazine devoted a lengthy article to the murders and featured photographs of the crime scenes. Polanski was interviewed for the article and allowed himself to be photographed at the entrance of the house, next to the front door with the word "PIG"—written in Tate's blood—still visible. Widely criticized for his actions, he argued that he wanted to know who was responsible and was willing to shock the magazine's readers in the hope that someone would come forward with information.

Polanski later stated that, in the months following the murders, he suspected various friends and associates, and his paranoia subsided only when the killers were arrested. Newspapers claimed that many Hollywood stars were moving out of the city, while others were reported to have installed security systems in their homes.