Sharon Tate was only 26 years old when she, along with her unborn child, three of her friends, and a stranger with bad timing were murdered. Tate, a Golden Globe-nominated actress most known for her role in Valley of The Dolls, was also the wife of French-Polish film director Roman Polanski. On August 9, 1969, Tate, who was eight-and-a half months pregnant, noted hairstylist Jay Sebring, aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski, and Frykowski's girlfriend Abigail Folger, book editor and heiress to the Folger coffee fortune, had their lives taken from them at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles’s Benedict Canyon.
The murders, soon to be referenced in Quentino's upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, were carried out by members of Charles Manson’s “family” in what's been described as a vengeful act. Manson, who had aspirations of becoming a musician, had previously attempted to get a record deal from producer Terry Melcher (son of Doris Day), who had once rented the house along with musician Mark Lindsay and Melcher's then-girlfriend, actress Candice Bergen. Reports claim Melcher’s snub of Manson left him agitated and disgruntled, leading him to take his revenge on Hollywood.
Manson allegedly instructed Tex Watson to take Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to "that house where Melcher used to live," and to "totally destroy everyone in [it], as gruesome as you can," according to Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, an account written by the Manson trial's prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi.
Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten.
What happened next, many say, changed the tide of Hollywood. Joan Didion wrote of the event in her 1978 essay “The White Album, “Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969, ended at the exact moment when word of the murders on Cielo Drive traveled like brushfire through the community, and in a sense this is true. The tension broke that day. The paranoia was fulfilled.”
According to Helter Skelter, shortly after midnight on August 9 Watson was first to enter the home. He encountered a sleeping Frykowski, and proceeded to kick him in the head. When Frykowski asked who he was and what he was doing there, Watson allegedly replied, "I'm the devil, and I'm here to do the devil's business." Atkins, on Watson’s direction, reportedly found the house’s other occupants and Watson tied Tate and Sebring together by their necks with rope that he then slung from the ceiling beams. According to Bugliosi, when Sebring protested the rough treatment of pregnant Tate, Watson shot him. Helter Skelter says that Frykowski and Folger both fought against their captors to no avail—they were repeatedly stabbed 51 and 28 times, respectively.
Reportedly, back in the house, Tate was pleading for her life and the life of her child. She told the Manson clan of her wish to be allowed to live long enough to have her baby, and offered herself up as a hostage in exchange. It’s not known whether either Atkins, Watson, or both killed Tate, who was stabbed 16 times — but Linda Kasabian, the Manson family member who was a witness in the murder trial, later said in the dramatized documentary Manson that Tate cried out for her mother during the attack.
"I saw a woman in a white dress and she had blood all over her and she was screaming and she was calling for her mom. I saw Katie stabbing her," said Kasabian in the film.
Before leaving for Cielo Drive, Manson allegedly instructed the women to "leave a sign ... something witchy" as a signature after the murders, according to Helter Skelter. The book goes on to explain that Atkins used Tate's blood to write "pig" on the front door.
The bodies were found the next morning by Tate's housekeeper, Winifred Chapman, and in the driveway police later saw Steven Parent, who had been visiting the property's caretaker, William Garretson, shot dead in his car. On the front lawn lay the bodies of Frykowski and Folger, and inside the house, the bodies of Tate and Sebring were found in the living room still connected by the long rope tied around each of their necks, four feet apart from each other.
Months passed before Charles Manson and his followers were identified as the prime suspects, and on April 19, 1971, the four were sentenced to death.
Amanda Mitchell
Amanda Mitchell is a writer and podcaster with bylines at Marie Claire, OprahMag, Allure, Byrdie, Stylecaster, Bon Appetit, and more. Her work exists at the apex of beauty, pop culture, and absurdity. A human Funfetti cake, she watches too much television, and her favorite season is awards season. You can read more of her work at amandaelizabethmitchell.com or follow her on Instagram and Twitter @lochnessmanda.
