Tate–LaBianca murders
| Tate–LaBianca murders | |
|---|---|
The road leading to 10050 Cielo Drive | |
| Location | Tate murders: 10050 Cielo Drive Los Angeles, California, U.S. LaBianca murders: 3301 Waverly Drive Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Date | Tate murders: August 9, 1969, LaBianca murders: August 10, 1969 |
Attack type | Mass stabbing, shooting |
| Weapons | 22 caliber Hi-Standard "Buntline Special" revolver, clasp-type Buck knives, bayonet, two prong carving fork |
| Deaths | 7 |
| Victims | Abigail Folger Wojciech Frykowski Steven Parent Jay Sebring Sharon Tate Leno LaBianca Rosemary LaBianca |
| Perpetrators | Tex Watson Patricia Krenwinkel Leslie Van Houten Susan Atkins Clem Grogan Linda Kasabian Charles Manson |
| Motive | Undetermined |
The Tate–LaBianca murders were a series of murders perpetrated by members of the Manson Family during August 9–10, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, United States, under the direction of Tex Watson and Charles Manson. The perpetrators killed five people on the night of August 8–9: pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her companions Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski, along with Steven Parent. The following evening, the Family murdered supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, at their home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.
On the night of August 8–9, four members of the Family – Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian – drove from Spahn Ranch to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, the home Tate shared with her husband, film director Roman Polanski. The group murdered Tate (who was 8½ months pregnant), and guests Sebring, a celebrity hairdresser; Folger, heiress to the Folgers coffee fortune; her boyfriend Frykowski, an aspiring screenwriter; and Parent, an 18-year-old visiting the guest house caretaker. Polanski was not home as he was working on a film in Europe. Manson was a cult leader and wannabe musician who had tried to get a contract with record producer Terry Melcher, who had previously rented the house.
The following night, the four participants in the Cielo Drive killings, in addition to Manson, Leslie Van Houten and Steve "Clem" Grogan, committed two more murders. Manson had allegedly said he would show them how to do it. Linda Kasabian drove the group to 3301 Waverly Drive.: 22–25, 42–48 Manson left with Atkins, Grogan and Kasabian in the car and told the others to hitchhike back to the ranch. Watson, Krenwinkel and Van Houten killed the couple in the early morning hours of August 10.