Sharon Tate - Death and Aftermath - Arrest and Trial of The Manson Family

Arrest and Trial of The Manson Family

In November 1969, while in prison in connection with a car theft, Susan Atkins boasted to an inmate that she was responsible for the murder of Sharon Tate. This led to her indictment, along with the accomplices she named, Charles Manson, Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian. Atkins also revealed that the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, the night after the Tate murders, were also committed by Family members, and incriminated Leslie Van Houten as a participant in the second murder.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney offered Susan Atkins a deal that guaranteed they would not seek the death penalty against her for any of the current charges in exchange for her grand jury and trial testimony. Atkins testified before the grand jury that she had been unable to stab Sharon Tate and that she was killed by Watson, a contradiction of statements she had made prior to her arrest. Atkins refused to cooperate further, forcing the District Attorney's office to withdraw its offer. An offer of immunity against prosecution was made to Kasabian in exchange for her agreement to provide complete testimony at any trial, against any of the defendants. Assistant District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi wrote later that he believed Kasabian would be more acceptable to the jurors because she had not killed anyone. In his book Will You Die For Me, Charles Watson later confessed to the murder saying Atkins didn't even touch her.

On June 15, 1970, Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten were tried while Watson remained in Texas fighting extradition. The details of the trial were reported throughout the world. Kasabian was a reliable and consistent witness. She testified about a hippie group and its leader Charles Manson, a thwarted musician who believed that a race war was imminent. He believed that the music of The Beatles warned of the coming holocaust, which he referred to as "Helter Skelter", after the Beatles song, and also believed that only the "chosen", his "family", would survive. Briefly associated with Terry Melcher, Manson had believed that Melcher would foster his musical aspirations; when this did not occur, Manson felt infuriated and betrayed. Manson believed that he would bring about the race war by having his followers slaughter wealthy people in their homes and cast suspicion on militant groups such as the Black Panthers. Manson expected these groups to win the race war, and predicted that they would make him their leader when they realized they were too inept to govern the new society. He had been to 10050 Cielo Drive, and although he knew that Melcher had moved, the house represented his rejection by the show business establishment. He instructed Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Kasabian to go to the house "and kill everyone there", while he remained in their camp at Spahn's Movie Ranch.

Kasabian's and Atkins' testimony provided details that had not previously been reported to the public. When the group scaled a fence surrounding the property, they were seen by Steven Parent, who was leaving in his car. Watson approached the vehicle and ordered it to stop. Parent asked Watson not to hurt him, and promised that he would not say anything, but Watson's response was to slash Parent with a knife and shoot him four times. Watson then instructed Kasabian to remain outside and keep watch while the others entered the house. The four occupants were rounded up into the living room and tied together at gunpoint. When Watson ordered the occupants to lie on their stomachs, Jay Sebring urged the intruders to consider Tate's pregnancy and not harm her. Watson immediately shot Sebring. Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger escaped, running in different directions onto the front lawn, where they were each overtaken and killed. Tate remained in the house and begged for her child's life, pleading that the group abduct Tate and allow her to give birth before murdering her. Atkins testified that she had told Tate she would receive no mercy. Tate was stabbed sixteen times, and Atkins dipped a towel in Tate's blood to write "PIG" on the front door. They left Tate's house after midnight and returned to Spahn Ranch.

During the penalty phase of the trial, Atkins was again questioned about her attitude to Tate and her role in Tate's death. She said, "They didn't even look like people... I didn't relate to Sharon Tate as being anything but a store mannequin... sounded just like an IBM machine... She kept begging and pleading and pleading and begging, and I got sick of listening to her, so I stabbed her." The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death on March 29, 1971. Watson was tried separately after extradition from Texas. Psychiatrists testified that he appeared to be feigning insanity, and while he admitted his role in all of the killings, he refused to acknowledge his responsibility, and was widely quoted by the press when he stated that he had not noticed that Sharon Tate was pregnant. He was found guilty and sentenced to death on October 21, 1971. The death sentences were later automatically commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court's People v. Anderson decision resulted in the invalidation of all death sentences imposed in California before 1972. As of 2010, Manson, Watson, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten remain incarcerated. Atkins died in prison on September 24, 2009.