The Manson Murders
The autopsy reports of the victims of the Manson Family murders of August 1969.
The Tate Murders — August 8–9, 1969
On the night of August 8, 1969, acting on Charles Manson's orders, members of his “Family” — Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian — drove to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles. There they murdered five people, including the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, in one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century. The following night the Family struck again, killing Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their Los Feliz home.
- Tate, Sharon (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) Actress best known for Valley of the Dolls and wife of director Roman Polanski, Sharon was eight and a half months pregnant when members of the Manson Family broke into the home she shared with Polanski at 10050 Cielo Drive in the early hours of August 9, 1969. She pleaded for the life of her unborn child before being stabbed 16 times. Her murder — and the brutal killings of four others that night — shocked the nation and came to define the dark end of the 1960s.
- Sebring, Jay (October 10, 1933 – August 9, 1969) Celebrity hairstylist to the stars and a former Navy man, Jay Sebring was visiting his friend Sharon Tate at Cielo Drive that night. When the intruders entered, he tried to intervene and protect Sharon. He was shot once and stabbed seven times, dying alongside the woman he had tried to save.
- Folger, Abigail (August 11, 1943 – August 9, 1969) Heiress to the Folgers coffee fortune, Abigail Folger had devoted herself to social work and was staying at the Cielo Drive house as a guest of Wojciech Frykowski. She fought desperately for her life, fleeing across the front lawn before being overtaken and stabbed 28 times.
- Frykowski, Wojciech (December 20, 1936 – August 9, 1969) Polish writer and actor and a close friend of Roman Polanski, Frykowski was a houseguest at Cielo Drive. He fought his attackers harder than any other victim — he was shot twice, struck on the head 13 times, and stabbed 51 times before he died on the front lawn.
- Parent, Steven (February 12, 1951 – August 9, 1969) Eighteen-year-old Steven Parent was in the wrong place at the worst possible time. A friend of the estate's caretaker, he had stopped by to sell a clock radio and was leaving in his car when the killers arrived. He was the first to die — shot four times at close range in the driveway.