8/12/2019 'They'll Never Forget This One' (Aug. 6, 1989)

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l l u t c h i n s o n N e w s S u n d a y , A u g . 6. 1989 Pago 5

^They ll never forget this oneTwo decades later the Tate-LaBianca murders still haunt

By Linda DeutschAssociated Press Wr i t e r

LO S A N G E L E S - Two d e c a d e s a f t e rt h e S h a r o n Ta t e - L a B i a n c a m u r d e r s , t h es c r e a m s o f a s u m m e r n i g h t h a u n t t h e

memories of '60s survivors an d e c h ot h r o u g h t h e l e g e n d s p a s s e d t o n e w g e n -erat ions .

"There's no quest ion i t i s the mostf a m o u s m a s s m u r d e r in A m e r i c a n h i s -tory, sa id Deputy District A t t o r n e yS t e p h e n K a y, w h o assisted in prose-c u t i n g C h a r l e s M a n s o n a n d three w o m e nfo l lowers . My kids learn about i t inschool.

There have been lots worse m u r d e r sover the years, b u t n o b o d y r e m e m b e r st h e m , s a i d M a x w e l l K e i t h , t h e d e f e n s el a w y e r w h o represented Lesl ie VanH o u t e n an d f i n d s h i m s e l f r e m e m b e r e dfo r th e case.

I t w a s a m a s s m e d i a even t , saidI r v i n g K a n a r e k , M a n s o n ' s a t t o r n e y. M a n s o n w a s o n t h e cover of L i fe m a g a -z i n e a n d i t just took off.

I th ink i t ' s i n d e l i b l y etched," sa ida t t o r n e y P a u l Fitzgerald, w h o repre-s e n t e d Patricia Krenw inkel . I t 's l ikeLoeb and Leopold, Sam Shepard. Peoplecan ' t remember Jim Jones' n a m e o rC h a r l e s W h i t m a n ; they're e v e n startingto forget Patty Hearst. B u t they ' l l n ever

forget th is one.Coda for the 60s

W h y, a f ter 20 years, do people s t i l lcare? W h y d o they s ign pet i t ions to k e e pth e Tate m u r d e r e r s b e h i n d bars? W h yd o t h e y t u n e in w h e n M a n s o n o c c a s i o n -al ly g ives TV interviews?

T h e a n s w e r a p p a r e n t l y l i es i n p u b l i cf a s c i n a t i o n w i t h H o ll y w o o d stars, cul ts ,drugs and the pow er of a cha r ismat icleader to tu rn c lean-cut , a i l -Americankids in to murderers.

The cr ime also was a coda for the '60s,th e d e a d - e n d stop sign for an era ofd r p p o u t s , h ippies , druggies an d f l o w e rc h i l d r e n .

I t was s o m e sort of m e t a p h o r for thet imes, Fi tzgerald says of the col l is ion ofM a n s o n ' s w o r l d a n d t h e p r o t e c te dBever ly Hills sphere o f m o v i e stars.

In the beginnin g, the notor ie ty of thev i c t i m s w a s t h e fue l that jettisoned th isi n t o outer space, h e s a i d .

T h a t f a t a l n i g h t of A u g . 9 , 1969, b lack-clad i n t r u d e r s crept in to pres t ig iousB e n e d i c t C a n y o n a n d , in an explosion o f

v i o l e n c e , d iver ted world a t tent ion f romki l l ing i n Vi e t n a m t o t h e senselessb u t c h e r i n g of a beaut i fu l , p r e g n a n t ac -t r e s s , S h a r o n Tate.

T h e m u r d e r s c e n e w a s o n e o f g h o u l i s hhorror. Miss Tate, the 26-year-old w i f e o fm o v i e d i rector Roman Polanski , w a sf o u n d s l a u g h t e r e d a l o n g w i t h threef r iends a n d a caretaker's guest in ah o u s e w h e r e h e r b l o o d w a s u s e d t oscrawl the word Pig on the f ront door.S h e h a d b e e n h a n g e d b e f o r e s h e w a ss t a b b e d to d e a t h , a n d h e r ful l - term fetus ,a b o y, d i e d w i t h h e r.

On e o f t h e m u r d e r e d w a s Jay Sebr ing,t h e n Hol lywood's premier hair stylist.A n o t h e r w a s Abigai l Folger, heiress toth e coffee for tu ne. Voi tyck Frykowski , aje t -se t t ing Pol ish film d i rector, wa s af r iend of Polan ski ' s . Steven Parent, th e18-year-old f r iend of the caretaker, d i e dw i t h t h e m .

Synonym fo r evilA s L o s A n g e l e s reeled in shock, the

ki l lers s t ruck again a d a y later. We a l t h ym a r k e t o w n e r s Leno a n d R o s e m a r yL a B i a n c a w e r e f o u n d g r u e s o m e l y s l a i nacross t o w n i n their Lo s Feliz home. Acarving fork was lef t in LaBianca 'ss tomach and bloody scrawlings m arkedthe scene.

People locked their doors a nd bol tedw i n d o w s whi le the kil lers remained a tlarge. Three m o n t h s later the suspectsw e r e c a u g h t , a n d their leader's n a m ebecame a synonym for evi l : CharlesM a n s o n .

Th e discovery o f the shaggy ha ired,w i l d - e y e d M a n s o n and his tribe of s lavi -

Charles Manson, shown in Feb. 1986, with a swas-tika on his forehead, staring at the parole board inSa n Quentin, is the most famous inmate in the Call-

A s s o c i a t e d Press p h o t o sfornia prison system. At 54, the wild-eyed one-timeguru of a murderous family still gets stacks of mailan d requests for interviews.

s h l y d e v o t e d , m o s t l y y o u n g w o m e n f o l -l o w e r s l i v i n g i n a desert c o m m u n e a d d e da n e w d i m e n s i o n .

T h e r i c h a n d f a m o u s , i t t u r n e d o u t , h a db e e n m u r d e r e d b y c h i l d r e n o f privilegew h o l e f t their middle-class Americanh o m e s , t o o k d r u g s a n d c a m e u n d e rM a n s o n ' s spel l .

"These c h i l d r e n w h o come a t y o u w i t hk n i v e s , they're y o u r c h i ld r e n , M a n s o nw o u l d te l l socie ty at large. I d i d n ' tt e a c h t h e m . Yo u did . I j u s t tried to h e l p

them stand up.T h e i r parents' b e w i l d e r m e n t w a s m i r -rored across th e l a n d as teen-agers be -c a m e r u n a w a y s i n t o a w o r l d o f d r u ge x p e r i m e n t a t i o n a n d v i ol e n c e .

F r e s h - f a c e d h o m e c o m i n g p r i n c e s sLesl ie Van Houten and rugged one- t imeh i g h s c h o o l , a t h l e t e C h a r l e s Te xWa t s o n b e c a m e m u r d e r e r s f o r M a n s o n .S o d i d S u s a n A t k i n s , a t r o u b l e d girl w hof o u n d a h o m e w i t h M a n s o n ' s f a m i ly,an d P a t r i c i a K r e n w i n k e l , a h o m e l y s e c -retary w ho s a id M a n s o n m a d e h er feelb e a u t i f u l .

I t was a fe el ing a l l my l ife I'd b e e nlooking for, Miss K r e n w i n k e l s a id of l ifew i t h M a n s o n .

Th e Manson Family t r ia ls began apubl ic journey into th e w o r l d o f c u l t s ,drugs and murder, presaging an era inw h i c h s u c h matters would become com-monplace.

Th e trial o f M a n s o n a n d t h e threew o m e n lasted 10Vz m o n t h s a n d w a sperhaps the mos t chaot ic in Los Angelescourt history.

I t w as an exper ience o f e n o r m o u simportance and fa t igue, sa id Fi tzgerald ,w h o h e a d e d t h e d e f e n s e t e a m . G o d , i tw a s a n ordeal T h e d e f e n d a n t s c a r v in gX's on their f o re h e a d s , C h a r l i e j u m p i n gat the judge, the girls being dragged outof cour t , (a t torney Rona ld) Hughe s dis-appear ing. I t was a 24-hour-a-day or -deal."

H u g h e s , M i s s Va n H o u t e n ' s l a w y e r,v a n i s h e d just b e f o r e c l o s i n g a rg u m e n t s .H i s b o d y w a s f o u n d later in a remotem o u n t a i n area w h e r e h e h a d g o n e c a m p -

i n g a n d w a s d r o w n e d in a f lash f lood.K e i t h w a s a p p o i n t e d to f in i sh th e case .

A b a n d o f M a n s o n ' s ra g t a g f o l l o w e r sc a m p e d o u t s i d e t h e c o u r t h o u s e d a i l y a n ds h a v e d t h e i r h e a d s t o p r o t e s t t h e t r i a l .

A f t e r m o n t h s o f c l a i m i n g i n n o c e n c e ,th e M a n s o n w o m e n a b ru p t l y t o o k th es t a n d d u r i n g th e p e n a l t y p h a s e o f t h e i rt r ia l an d c o n f e s s e d in r e p u l s i v e d e t a i lt h a t t h e y a n d Wa t s o n h ad k i l l e d th ev i c t i m s . M i s s Va n H o u t e n w a s n o t a t t h eTate

h o u s e b u t a d m i t t e d s t a b b i n g M r s .L a B i a n c a , pr o b a b ly a f t e r s h e w a s d e a d .Th e w o m e n t r ie d to absolve M a n s o n o f

g u i l t , b u t t h e j u r y d e c r e e d h e w a s a sg u i l t y as t h e y w e r e fo r o r d e r i n g th ek i l l i n g s , e v e n i f he was not p r e s e n t .

M a n s o n a n d t h e t h r e e w o m e n w e r es e n t e n c e d t o d e a t h . Wa t s o n , w h o w a st r i e d s e p a r a t e l y, a l s o r e c e i v e d a d e a t hs e n t e n c e . B u t a U . S . S u p r e m e C o u r tr u l i n g o u t l a w i n g th e d e a t h p e n a l t y in1 97 2 c o m m u t e d t h e i r s e n t e n c e s to l ife inprison, and in 1978 they began a seem-i n g l y e n d l e s s s t r i n g o f p a r o l e h e a r i n g s

s e e k i n g f r e e d o m . N o n e o f t h e m h as b e e ng i v e n a p a r o l e d a l e , a n d K; iy, w h o re pr e s e n t s ih o d i s t r i c l a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e i\ lt h e h e a r i n g s , s a y s h e sees n o i m m i n e n tc h a n c e o f t h a t .

1 h a v e a l w a y s b e e n o f t h e o p i n i o nt h a t M a n s o n , Wa t s o n , A t k i n s a m iK r e n w i n k e l s h o u l d n e v e r ge t o u t , h es a i d . 1 w a s a l w a y s o f t h e h o p e t h a t Va nH o u t e n w o u l d o n e d a y b e s u i t a b l e f o rp a r o l e , m a y b e w h e n s h e w a s i n h e r - I D s .

M u t n o w t h a t M i s s Va n H o u t e n i sa b o u t t o t u r n -10 , K a y h a s r e t r e a t e d ont h a t p o s i t i o n . H e s a y s h er b r i e f m a r r i a g et o a n ex c o n v i c t in 1982 s h o w e d s h e w a ss t i l l s u s c e p t i b l e to i n f l u e n c e b y u n s t a b l em a l e s . 1 t h i n k t h e r e i s a c h a n c e f o r Va nH o u t e n , b u t n o t i m m e d i a t e l y , h e s a i dr e c e n t l y.

F i t z g e r a l d , w h o c o r r e s p o n d s w i t h M i s sVa n H o u t e n , c o n t e n d s s h e i s c o m p l e t e l yr e h a b i l i t a t e d a n d c r i t i c i z e s th e ( l i . t t r i r la t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e fo r d a n c i n g t o t h e t u n eo f p u b l i c o p i n i o n .

Victims voiceK a y ' s c h i e f a l l y i s S h a r o n Ta l e ' s

m o t h e r , Doris , w h o h a s g a t h e r e d hi md r e d s of t h o u s a n d s o f s i g n a t u r e s o n p et i t i o n s t o k e e p th e Ta t e L a H i n n c a k i l l e r sb e h i n d b a r s .

M r s . Tate f o r m e d P a r e n t s o f M u rdered C h i l d r e n , a g r o u p t h a t c o m f o r t s i t sm e m b e r s a n d s e e k s j u s t i c e f o r v i c t i m s .R e c e n t l y s h e h a s b e e n l e c t u r i n g a t pr iso n s , t e l l i n g i n m a t e s th e u n f a t h o m a b l esorrow of v i c t i m s ' f ami l ies .

I a m t h e v i c t i m s ' voice , s a i d M r s .Ta t e , w h o i s f r e q u e n t l y a s k e d b y f r i e n d sw hy sh e d o e s n o t p u t i t b e h i n d h e r .

Ho w can you go on w i t h y o u r l i f ew h e n y o u ' r e t o t a l l y c o n s u m e d w i t ht h i s ? sh e asks . How c a n y o u r l i f e beth e s a m e a s i t w a s before? N e v e r .

L i k e o t h e r s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h th e c a s e ,M r s . Tale s t i l l p u z z l e s o v e r w h y it h a pp c n e d .

S o m e t h i n g d e e p d o w n i n s i d e o f m ek e e p s s a y i n g , ' W h y d o h u m a n b e i n g sr e a c t so v i o l e n t l y w i t h n o r e a s o n , e s p e -cia l ly in cases l ike m i n e . ' . . . Why k i l lp e o p l e t h e y d o n ' t e v e n k n o w ?

A m a z i n g l y, t h a t q u e s t i o n r e m a i n s u na n s w e r e d .

V i n c e n t B u g l i o s i , w h o p r o s e c u t e d th ek i l l e r s an d w r o t e a b o o k o n t h e c a s e ,p r o p o u n d e d a n e l a b o r a t e t h e o r y c a l l e d H e l t c r S k e l t e r , w h i c h h e l d t h a tM a n s o n ' s m o t i v e w a s t o t o r m e n t a r a c ew a r a n d t h a t h e w a s i n s p i r e d b y aBeat les song t o b e g i n th i s s iege o f killi n g s -

K a y , w h o look over th e case w h e nBugl ios i le f t the p r o s e c u t o r ' s o f f i c e , a c -cepts t h a t t h e o r y b u t r e c e n t l y be g a n t os e e t h e k i l l i n g s a s a s a t a n i c r i t u a l . M r s .Tate a lso ascr ibes to the s a t a n i s mtheory.

T h e y r e c a l l t e s t i m o n y t h a t Wa t s o n ,u p o n e n t e r i n g t h e Tate h o m e , d e c l a r e d , I am the d e v i l and I 'm here to do thed e v i l ' s w o r k .

D a y e S h i n n , M i s s A t k i n s ' a t t o r n e y, i sc o n v i n c e d t h a t d ru g s — p a r t i c u l a r l yLSD — triggered th e k i l l i n g s .

Ho w e lse c o u l d a n y o n e b e l i e v e t h a tC h a r l i e h ad t h a t m u c h p o w e r t o g e tp e o p l e to k i l l? he asks . I t was them i n d - e x p a n d i n g d r u g s t h e y t o o k , th eL S D . . . . D r u g s s c r e w e d u p t h e i r m i n d s .

Th e w o m e n t e s t i f i e d t h e y w e r e u n d e rth e i n f l u e n c e o f LSD and o t h e r h all u c i n o g e n s w h e n t h e y k i l l e d .

F i t z g e r a l d , w h i l e c i t i n g t h e i n f l u e n c eo f d r u g s , b e l i e v e s t h e m o t i v e w as n e v e rk n o w n t o t h e k i l l e r s a n d w a s a p r o d u c t o fM a n s o n ' s o w n s l i d e i n t o p a r a n o i a i n t h es u m m e r o f 1969.

For rea sons k n o w n o n l y to h i m , h eb e c a m e v e r y i r r a t i o n a l a n d a n t i s o c i a l ,says F i tzgerald .

A n d fo r r e a s o n s k n o w n o n l y t o t h em a n i c m i n d o f M a n s o n , h e d e c i d e d tos e n d h i s f o l l o w e r s i n t o th e n i g h t o n am i s s i o n o f m u r d e r .

Editor's note: Linda Deutsch coveredthe Tate-LaBianca murders th e Mansontrial an d subsequent chapters in theManson Family saga or The AssociatedPress.

The first n ight s v ic t ims

Sharon TateTh e 26-year-old pregnant ac -

tress was wife to film directorRoman Polanski.

Voityck FrykowskiFrykowski w as a Polish film

director and friend of T ate s hus-band.

Steven Parent

Parent was a guest of the Tatescaretaker.

Jay SebringSebring wa s Hollywood s

mier hairdresser.

Abiga i l Folgerpre- Folger wa s heiress to the coffee

fortune.