The Tate Murders
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The Tate Murders
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The
victims are above, from left to right: Wojciech (Voyteck) Frykowski, Sharon Tate, Steve
Parent, Jay Sebring and Abigail Folger.
"It
was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice
rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon."
I
LOVE that line.
If you've ever been up to that house at night, you know exactly what they
meant. Here's an evening view from the house. I wish I could include more about this case, but
it's been gone over so many times, by too many people.
I do have some cool pictures though, so check it out please. It's curious that so many people are obsessed with
this case, including yours truly. 1999 marks
the 30th anniversary of the murders. Just
try to get a table at the El Coyote that night. Anyway,
I'll try to keep faithful.
Meanwhile,
on the other side of town, the Charlie Manson and his clan were living at the Spahn Movie Ranch. Here's what it looks like now.
(Photo courtesy of Steve
Smith. Thanks Steve.) George
Spahn was a very old, legally blind man that let Manson and his "family" crash
at the ranch, in return for upkeep and certain umm, favors.
On the night of August 8th, 1969, Sharon and company ate what was to be their
Last Supper at the El Coyote Mexican
Restaurant, on Beverly Boulevard. It's
a damn shame they picked that place, as the food is
vile. Anyway, the reservation was made under
the name Sebring. Sebring was a very
successful men's hair stylist, an ex fiancé of Sharon, and now good friend to both Sharon
and Roman. The group left the restaurant to
return to Cielo Drive for the last time.
Manson sent the psycho posse out on their infamous errand.
Tex Watson, Pat Krenwinkle, Susan Atkins and Linda Kasabian (coz she was the
only one with a driver's license) got in a 1959 Ford, and drove to the house on Cielo
Drive. They arrived around midnite.
Tex cut the phone lines, which landed on the gate.
They scaled the hillside beside the
gate, for fear of electric shock. Once
on the other side, they encountered Steve Parent, 18, driving towards them in his white
Rambler. Parent was visiting William Garretson, the
caretaker - and trying to sell him a radio. Garretson was staying in the guest cottage, at the far
end of the property. Watson tells the girls
to hide when the headlights head their way. Tex
held up his hand and ordered Parent to "HALT." "Please don't hurt me, I won't say anything," were Steve's last
words. Bang bang bang bang.
Point blank distance. Wrong place, wrong time.
Big Time.
NEXT!
Tex
slit a screen in back of
the house, and crawled in a window, and let the girls
in, sans Linda who was a lookout and snitch.
Voytek
was sleeping on the couch in the living room in front of the fireplace. Susan scoped the house, and saw Folger reading a
book in a back bedroom. Atkins waved to her,
and Folger waved back. Susan then saw Sharon
and Jay conversing in
the other bedroom. Susan herded
them all into the living
room, and lined them up near the fireplace.
This is when it got really nasty. Tex says he wrapped a rope around
Sebring's neck and then slung it up over one of the rafters that ran across the room.
He started to tie the rope around Sharon's neck,
and Jay started moaning about Sharon being pregnant, so Tex shot him twice.
That was him done with. Of course Sharon and Abigail flipped out big time. Atkins had tied Voytek's hands with a towel
(yes. A towel. I know.), so when Tex ordered
her to kill him, and she hesitated, Voytek got loose, and a horrible grisly fight began.
He got it worse than any of them, but then he just
wouldn't give up. He made it out the front door and onto the front lawn, but was stabbed 51 times, shot, and
pistol-whipped. They even broke the handle of
the gun on his skull. Folger flipped and
tried to run out the
back bedroom, but Krenwinkle tackled her, and Tex finished her off just outside. Folger's last words were, "I give up.
You've got me." That left Sharon pleading for the life of her
baby. The last words she heard were
"Woman, I have no mercy for you." Good
ol' Tex stabbed her 16 times.
Afterwards the killers covered Sebring's head with a bloody towel, and tied the other end of the rope to Sharon's body, and used Tate's blood to write the word "PIG" on the door.
June 2002
Mark Ashley sends us this: Thought you might like this picture of the door step of the house on Cielo Drive.
The
next morning, Winifred Chapman, the maid, showed up to work.
She let herself in the kitchen entrance,
and made her lovely discovery. Winifred was
immortalized by her next action, running out the gates and down the road screaming those
immortal words, "Murder, death, bodies, blood!"
The
only living person on the premises was Garretson.
He
was arrested, but he claimed he didn't hear a thing, and probably didn't, because it was a
considerable distance from the guesthouse.
He
was eventually released, so he could pursue his lifetime of therapy.
Roman
was in his London flat
when he got the phone call about the slayings. He
took the next flight back to LA, heavily sedated, I might add.
See their Death Certificates and Graves
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See
the front page of Sharon's
Autopsy report.
After the murders, the address of the house was changed to 10066(?) Cielo Drive. The house was bought in 1991 by Al Weintraub, and he had it torn down in 1994. A gigantic structure called "Villa Bella" has been built in its place. Rumor has it that they can't give it away. Here are the new gates to the property.
M.E. Taylor
Tons
o' Trivia: Sharon was originally cast as one of the "Petticoat Junction" girls
but they
canned because the producer, Marty Ransohoff, claimed she was too beautiful for
a mere supporting role in television. Truth was, she couldn't act her way
out of a bag. Thanks to Findadeath.com friend
Michael for that tidbit. She
also appeared in the "Beverly Hillbillies,"
"Mr. Ed," and even dated Max (Jethro) Baer at one point.
Jay Sebring appeared in an episode of "Batman," playing hairdresser "Mr. Oceanbring." Clever. Thanks again Michael. It was a Julie Newmar/Catwoman episode, called "The Bat's Kow Tow."
Received
from Findadeath.com friend Tara - January 3, 2002: I just got a tiny tidbit of info on the Manson case. I was at a game
show audition yesterday in LA and there was an older lady there who was once Doris Day's secretary. Her first day of work was the Monday after the Manson killings and she says when she got there, there were cops everywhere, loads of undercover non-uniform cops because of Terry Melcher and the fact that it was his old house where everything had happened.
I thought you might find that interesting. Thanks, Tara!
The
music group, "Nine Inch Nails," were the last people to live in the house. Upon leaving the house, and knowing it was going
to be demolished, lead singer Trent Reznor supposedly took the front (PIG) door with him. I went to the house just as they dismantled the
fireplace, and grabbed a pile of the stones. They
are prized possessions. Wanna buy one? Go here.
Here
are letters I've received from LA County deputy district attorney Vincent Bugliosi & killer Tex Watson.
Officer William Richard Walley was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene. It was his first big case. In 1994, Walley was one of the first officers to arrive at Nicole Simpson's house. It was his last big case, as he retired shortly thereafter.
Finally, there was no party at the house that night. Abigail Folger was reading a book in bed, Voyteck was asleep on the sofa. No one was invited to the house, except for Robert Evans, the producer and a friend of Roman and Sharon's. He was going to keep an eye on Sharon until Roman got back. That night he phoned. Lucky him.
The character that Warren Beatty plays in SHAMPOO is based on Jay Sebring.
Sharon's only living sibling Debra, has a website for Sharon, sent to us by Findadeath.com friend Robert. Here it is. Thanks Robert!
March 2002 - Findadeath.com friend JDavis sends us this: Sharon worked with Bruce Lee in the 1969 movie The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin. Bruce was helping them to do the fight scenes. Here a pic of Bruce and Sharon together not long before her death. Thanks JDavis. I love that film. It is awful, on an epic scale. Anyone - get this movie. Martin slurs through the entire thing, and a couple of times, Sharon is actually pretty funny!
UPDATE December 2004, from Findadeath friend Kevin:
Scott -
I have greatly enjoyed reading through your site, and I hope you continue to
have the time and inclination to maintain it.
Reading through the various stories got me to thinking, and I realized that I
had one or two of my own to tell. Here's one; please feel free to use it if you
find it interesting.
In the early 80s, my Mom was an ER nurse at a hospital in Covina, CA. She was
given a few tickets to the hospital's Octoberfest, and she offered one to me. I
showed up, and ate dinner with Mom and a friend of hers, another nurse. I was
introduced, and the conversation sort of rambled as we ate. Somehow the topic
came up (this was a long time ago, so I don't remember how) that this woman was
Steve Parent's fiance, the guy who was the first one killed at the Tate house by
the Manson family. She is pictured in the Bugliosi book with Parent. It was an
interesting conversation; she related how she had tried suing everyone with any
connection to the book to try to get her picture removed, but to no avail. She
had also had to hide her whereabouts for years, for fear of the Manson family
finding her to finish the job.|Thanks, Kevin!
For more on the Barker Ranch, go here.
An amazing resource about the Tate/LaBianca murders can be found at this website:
To chat with others about this amazing crime, join this Yahoo group.
To see our (Findadeath/DearlyDeparted) own version of the events - in early 2009 we released our own full length documentary about these infamous crimes. Click the banner below to see a free clip.
