"DEATH IN BENEDICT CANYON: THE MANSON FAMILY'S TWO-NIGHT MURDER SPREE" (Part 1 of 3)

0:03 Calaruga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. November nineteenth, twenty twenty five. Courts remained quiet for the holiday break, so we're continuing our look at classic American trials today. The murders that ended the nineteen sixties. August ninth, nineteen sixty nine, Los Angeles, California, ten thoy fifty Colo Drive, Benedict Canyon, secluded property at the end of a winding driveway home to film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Sharon was twenty six years old, eight and a half months pregnant, due in two weeks. Roman was in London working on a film. Sharon stayed home with friends, safe in one of LA's most exclusive neighborhoods.

0:56 Twelve thirty am, four people arrived at the property. Charles tex Watson twenty three, Susan Atkins twenty one, Patricia Crenwinkle twenty one, Linda Kasabian twenty They carried knives, a gun, rope. Orders from their leader, Charles Manson, go to that house and kill everyone inside. They cut the phone lines, climbed the fence, approached the house, saw eighteen year old Stephn parent leaving in his car, shot him four times through the window. First victim dead in seconds. Then they entered the house found four people inside. Sharon Tate, j Sebring thirty five, her ex boyfriend and celebrity hairstylist, Abigail Folger twenty five, coffee heiress Voichek Freikowski thirty two, Abigail's boyfriend and aspiring filmmaker. What happened next was butchery. Tex Watson shot Jay Sebring, stabbed him seven times, kicked him in the face until his nose broke. Voichek woke to the attack, tried to fight back, was beaten, stabbed fifty one times, shot twice. Abigail tried to run, made it to the lawn, stabbed twenty eight times. Sharon Tate begged for her baby's life.

2:07 Please let me have my baby. Take me with you and let me have my baby. I just want to have my baby. Susan Atkins held Sharon down, stabbed her sixteen times. Sharon died, clutching her pregnant belly. Her baby died with her. The killers used Sharon's blood to write pig on the front door, then left, drove back to spawn Ranch. Told Charles Manson what they'd done. He said, good tomorrow night. They do it again. August tenth, nineteen sixty nine. Manson joined his followers. This time wanted to show them how it's done. They drove to three three zero one Waverley Drive, home of Leno and Rosemary la Bianca, wealthy couple, strangers to Manson, random targets. Manson and Tex entered the house, tied up Leno and Rosemary. Manson left, told his followers to finish it, make it look witchy.

3:04 Leslie Van Houghton nineteen and Patricia Crenwinkle joined text. They stabbed Leno forty one times, carved war into his abdomen. Rosemary stabbed forty one times, used their blood to write messages on the walls. Death to Pigs, Rise, Helter Skelter, Manson's misspelling of Helter Skelter. Seven people murdered in two nights, five at the Tate House, two at the Labyankas, all because Charles Manson wanted to start a race war. I'm reed, Carter, this is celebrity trials today. The Manson family murders and the Knight Hollywood's Golden Age ended in blood. Charles Mills Manson born November twelfth, nineteen thirty four, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

3:56 Mother Kathleen Maddox, was sixteen alcoholic prostitute told people Charles's father was Colonel Scott, likely a lie. She didn't know who the father was. Kathleen named him no name Maddox at birth, later gave him the name Charles Mills Maddox when she married William Manson. Charles took that last name. It stuck. Charles's childhood was chaos. Kathleen abandoned him repeatedly, left him with relatives, with strangers, with anyone who'd take him. When he was five, Kathleen tried to sell him for a pitcher of beer. The bartender said no. She abandoned him at the bar. Family members eventually found him. By age nine, Charles was in juvenile detention for burglary. Spent his entire childhood in and out of institutions, boys schools, reformatories, youth centers. He was beaten, sexually abused, and hardened by the system. By age thirteen, he'd committed his first armed robbery.

4:58 Adult life wasn't better. More prison, more crimes, theft, check fraud, pimping by nineteen sixty seven. Charles had spent more than half his life incarcerated. He was thirty two years old, about to be released from Terminal Island Federal Prison. Charles didn't want to leave, told prison officials he couldn't survive on the outside, begged to stay. They released him anyway. March twenty first, nineteen sixty seven, Charles Manson walked out of prison into San Francisco. Freeman, nowhere to go, no skills except manipulation. He ended up in hate Ashbury, height of the hippie movement, Summer of love, young people rejecting society, experimenting with drugs, looking for meaning, looking for belonging, perfect hunting ground for a predator like Charles Manson. Charles had charisma.

5:53 Prison taught him how to read people, how to tell them what they wanted to hear. He'd studied Dale Carnegie books, scientology, the Bible, psychology, built a toolkit for manipulation. He also played guitar, wrote songs. Wanted to be a rock star like the Beatles, saw himself as an artist, a prophet, a revolutionary. All he needed were followers. He found them easily, young women, mostly runaways. Abuse survivors, girls searching for father figures. Charles became exactly what they needed. Told them they were beautiful, special, that society had failed them, that he understood them, that with him they could build something pure. Mary Brunner twenty three, librarian, became his first follower. They lived together in San Francisco.

6:43 She worshiped him. Within months, Charles had attracted more girls, Lynette Squeaky from eighteen, Patricia Crenwinkle nineteen, Susan Atkins nineteen. Charles preached free love, no possessions, no rules, no judgment, communal living, shared everything, food, drugs, bodies. The girls had sex with Charles, with each other, with men. Charles told them to have sex with all in the name of freedom, of breaking down ego, of becoming one unified family. That's what he called them, the family. Charles also preached apocalypse, said a race war was coming. Black people would rise up and kill white people. Called it helter Skelter, borrowed from the Beatles song. Charles was obsessed with the Beatles, believe their White Album contained hidden messages for him. Believed the Beatles were speaking directly to him through their music.

7:41 He decoded the songs Blackbird was about black people rising up. Piggy's was about wealthy white people who deserved to die. Helter Skelter was the race war itself. Charles said the Beatles were prophets, and he was the fifth Beatle, the one who'd start Helter Skelter. The family grew by nineteen sixty eight, about twenty five members, men and women, living nomadically, traveling in a school bus, sleeping in fields, taking drugs, following Charles wherever he led. Charles tried to make it in music. Met Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Dennis let the family stay at his mansion for a while, introduced Charles to record producer Terry Melcher. Charles recorded songs at a studio, tried to get a record deal. Terry Melcher listened to Charles's music, decided not to sign him.

8:34 Too weird, too rough, not commercial. Charles was furious, felt rejected, betrayed. Terry had been living at ten thousand, fifty Colo Drive before moving out earlier in nineteen sixty nine. Charles knew the address, knew the house when he decided to start Helter Skelter. That's where he sent his followers. He didn't know Terry had moved, didn't know Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski now live there, didn't care. The rejection was enough. Someone at that house would pay. Late nineteen sixty eight, the family settled at Spawn Ranch, old Western movies set in the Santa Susanna Mountains outside Los Angeles, owned by eighty year old George Spahn, nearly blind, lonely, Squeaky from became his caretaker and lover. In exchange, George let the family live at the ranch for free. At Spawn Ranch, Charles's control intensified. More drugs, more manipulation, more apocalyptic preaching.

9:32 Helter Skelter was coming. They needed to prepare, stockpile weapons, learned to kill, be ready to survive the race War. But the race War wasn't happening fast enough. Black people weren't rising up, so Charles decided to help. He'd commit murders, make them look like black militants. Did it, pin the crimes on black revolutionaries, trigger the race war himself. He picked followers he could control. Tex Watson devoted to Charles, would do anything he said. Susan Atkins called herself Sadie may Glutz, completely brainwashed. Patricia Crenwinkle, desperate for Charles's approval. Linda Kasabian, newest member, still under his spell. August eighth, nineteen sixty nine. Charles gave them orders. Take knives, take a gun, go to the house at ten thousand and fifty Colo drive, kill everyone inside, make it witchy, bloody, shocking, leave clues pointing to black militants. Start helter skelter. They obeyed, left Spawn Ranch around eleven pm, drove to Benedict Canyon, parked down the hill, walked to ten thousand fifty Colo drive, prepared to commit murder for Charles Manson. Make it make sense.

10:47 A failed musician convinces young people he's a prophet, preaches about race war based on Beatles lyrics, orders followers to murder strangers, all because a record producer rejected him. Some people are just evil. Charles Manson was one of them. Ten thy fifty Clow Drive, Benedict Canyon secluded a state at the end of a long winding driveway, French country style house, pool, guesthouse, beautiful property in one of LA's wealthiest neighborhoods. August eighth, nineteen sixty nine, Sharon Tate was home twenty six years old actress married to director Roman Polanski, eight and a half months pregnant with their first child, a boy. They'd already picked a name, Paul Richard Polanski.

11:42 Roman was in London working on a film. Sharon stayed in Los Angeles. Didn't want to travel this close to her due date. She felt safe at home, had friends staying with her, nothing to worry about. That night, Sharon had three house guests. J Sebring thirty five, celebrity hairstylist, Sharon's ex boyfriend from before she met Roman. They'd remained close friends. Jay was successful, owned a chain of hair salons, styled hair for Frank Sinatra. Paul Newman, Steve McQueen was at the house to visit Sharon. Abigail Folger twenty five, coffee heiress, daughter of Folger Coffee chairman Peter Folger, Radcliffe graduate social worker, intelligent, kind, wealthy but humble dating Vouchiek Fraikovski Voitchik Frikofsky thirty two, Polish actor and aspiring filmmaker, friend of Roman Polanski's from Poland, came to America seeking opportunities.

12:43 Living in the clo Drive guesthouse with Abigail. They were caretakers while Roman was away. The four of them had dinner that night, then Sharon and Jay went to bed early. Sharon was exhausted from pregnancy. Jay stayed in a guest room. Abigail and Voichiek stayed up law longer, talking, reading, relaxing. They didn't know four people were walking up their driveway carrying knives and a gun, sent to murder them. Twelve thirty am. Stephen, parent, eighteen years old, was leaving the property. He'd been visiting William Garretson, the caretaker who lived in the guest house behind the main residence. Stephen and William were friends. Stephen had stopped by to visit, stayed about an hour. Around twelve thirty, he got in his nineteen sixty five AMC Ambassador and started down the driveway. The killers saw headlights someone was leaving, couldn't let them alert anyone.

13:36 Tex Watson walked up to the driver's side window. Stephen rolled it down. Please don't hurt me. I won't say anything. Tex shot him four times through the window point blank. Stephen slumped over the steering wheel dead. Eighteen years old. Wanted to be an electronics technician. Should be seventy three today, should have had a career, a family, a life. Dead in seconds because he visited a friend. The killers cut the phone lines, approached the house, found a window, Text cut the screen, climbed inside, unlocked the front door, let Susan Atkins and Patricia Crenwinkle in. Linda Kasabian stayed outside as lookout. They found Voichik asleep on the living room couch.

14:20 Text kicked him. Voychik woke, confused, saw three people with knives. Text pointed a gun at him. Don't move or you're dead. Sharon and Jay heard the commotion, came out of the bedroom, saw strangers in the house holding Voychick at gunpoint. Jay tried to intervene. What do you want. We'll give you money, just don't hurt anyone. Text shot Jay, hit him, Jay staggered, Text stabbed him seven times. Jay fell, tex stomped on his face, repeatedly, broke his nose, shattered his jaw. Jay Sebring, thirty five years old, died trying to protect Sharon. Abigail came out of her bedroom, screamed, tried to run. Patricia Crenwinkle chased her, tackled her held her down. Boychik tried to fight, half asleep, drugged from sleeping pills, weak text, beat him with the gun, stabbed him. Voychik broke free, ran for the front door, made it to the lawn.

15:17 Tex chased him, caught him, stabbed him over and over fifty one times, shot him twice. Woychik died on the front lawn. Inside the house, Susan Atkins tied a rope around Sharon's neck, threw it over a ceiling beam, tied the other end around Jay Sebrings's neck. Sharon and Jay's bodies connected. Sharon was hysterical, eight and a half months pregnant, watching her friend die, Knowing she was next. Please, Sharon begged, please let me have my baby. I don't want to die. Just let me have my baby. You can take me, you can kill me later, just let me have my baby. Susan Atkins looked at her, no empathy, no hesitation. Look, bitch, I don't care about you. I don't care about your baby.

16:01 You're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it. Sharon kept begging, please, please, I just want my baby to live. Susan Atkins stabbed her Sharon screamed, tried to protect her belly. Susan stabbed her again and again, sixteen times total. Sharon died begging for her baby's life. Paul Richard Polanski died with her two weeks from being born. Outside. Patricia Crenwinkle chased Abigail across the lawn. Abigail had broken free, was running for help, screaming. Crenwinkle caught her, stabbed her. Abigail fell kept trying to crawl. Crenwinkle stabbed her twenty eight times. Abigail Folger, twenty five years old, died fifty feet from the house. When it was over, Five people lay dead. Stephen Parent in his car, Jay Sebring in the living room, Sharon Tate next to him, connected by the rope. VOI check Fraikowski on the front lawn, Abigail Folger on the grass. Two gunshot wounds, blood everywhere inside the house, on the lawn, on the driveway, a massacre.

17:16 Susan Atkins had one more task Charles Manson's instructions. Leave a sign, something witchy, something that would shock the world. She dipped a towel in Sharon Tate's blood, walked to the front door, wrote pig in blood on the white door, message from the killers. Then they left, walked down the driveway, threw their bloody clothes in the bushes along the way, got in the car where Linda Kasabian was waiting, drove back to spawn ranch. Charles Manson asked if it was done. Tex said yes. Told him about the murders, about Sharon begging for her baby, about the blood, about pig on the door. Charles was pleased, said they did good, but tomorrow night they'd do it again. Do it better, make it more shocking. Eight thirty a m August ninth, nineteen sixty nine, Winnifred Chapman, the Polanski's housekeeper, arrived for work.

18:12 Walked up the driveway, saw stephen parents car, thought it was strange, then saw the front door pig written in blood. She ran, screamed, flagged down a neighbor. Police were called. Officers arrived, found the carnage, five bodies, blood everywhere, worst crime scene most officers had ever seen. They processed the scene for hours, collected evidence, photographed everything, tried to understand what happened. William Garretson, the caretaker who lived in the guest house, was questioned he hadn't heard anything. Music had been playing, He was asleep, knew nothing. Initially arrested as a suspect, later released, passed a polygraph cleared. News spread fast.

18:54 Sharon Tate, pregnant actress married to Roman Polanski, murdered in her home. Celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring killed, Coffee heiress Abigail Folger dead, Voichech Freikowsky dead, Stephen Parent dead. Hollywood was terrified. If someone could get to Sharon Tate, they could get to anyone. Security was increased across Los Angeles. Gun sales skyrocketed, people stopped trusting neighbors. The peace and love of the nineteen sixties died that night in Benedict Canyon, but the killers weren't done. Twenty four hours later, they'd kill again. We'll be right back with the LaBianca murders the second night.

19:34 The victims who never knew why they died. August ninth, nineteen sixty nine, evening spawn Ranch, Charles Manson assembled his followers. Night had gone well, Tonight would be better. This time Manson would come along show them how it's really done. He picked his crew, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Crenwinkle, Leslie van houghten nineteen, relatively new member hadn't killed anyone yet, Linda Kasabian again, Steve Clem Grogan seventeen. They piled into a car. Manson drove told them they were going to find victims. Random victims make it look like a copycat of the Tate murders, make police think black militants were on a killing spree. Helter skelter. Manson drove around Los Angeles for hours looking for the right house, the right targets passed, several homes, kept going, eventually wound up in Los Filey's neighborhood, three three hundred and one Waverley Drive, nice house, middle class area, lights on inside perfect. Manson and Tex got out, entered the house through an unlocked door.

20:58 This was Manson's first time actually entering a victim's home. He'd sent others before. This time he wanted to demonstrate his power Inside. Leno la Bianca, forty four, and his wife Rosemary, thirty eight, were home. They'd been out of town visiting family, just returned watching TV, relaxing. After a long drive, Manson and Text appeared, guns drawn, don't move don't scream. We're not going to hurt you. We just want money. Leno complied, stood up, hands raised. Rosemary panicked but stayed quiet. Manson was calm, polite, even told them to relax. Said his friends were burglars, just wanted cash and valuables. Nobody would get hurt. Leno said he had money in his wallet, Rosemary had jewelry. Take whatever you want, just don't hurt us. Manson tied Leno's hands behind his back, text tied Rosemary's hands, covered their heads with pillowcases, tied their necks loosely. Reassured them stay calm. My friends will come in, take what they want, then we'll leave. You'll be fine. Manson walked Rosemary to the bedroom, closed the door, left her there, came back to the living room, where Tex was guarding Leno. Manson turned to text, whispered, make sure they don't scream. Then Manson left, walked out the front door, went to the car where the others waited.

22:21 Told them there are two people inside. Kill them. Make it look witchy like last night, right on the walls. Make it horrible. Leslie Van Houghten asked if she had to. Manson said yes, told her it was time to prove herself, to show she was committed to the family. To helter skelter text Susan, Patricia, and Leslie entered the house. Manson drove away, left them to finish the job, took Linda Kasabian with him, sent her to another house to commit a solo murder test her loyalty. She couldn't do it, just knocked on a wrong door and left. Manson was disappointed, but didn't push it back. At three three zero one Waverley Drive, the killing began. Leno LaBianca was sitting on the couch, tied up pillowcase over his head, couldn't see his attackers. Tex stabbed him twelve times. Leno screamed, struggled, tried to fight despite being bound. Rosemary heard the screaming from the bedroom, knew what was happening, tried to escape, broke through the door, fought back, swung a lamp at the killers. Patricia and Leslie tackled her, held her down, stabbed her repeatedly forty one times. Rosemary kept fighting, kept screaming, refused to die easily, finally stopped moving. Texts returned to Leno's body, stabbed him more times, total of forty one stab wounds. Then took a carving fork from the kitchen,

23:51 stabbed it into Leno's abdomen, left it there. Took a knife, carved the word w A R into Leno's stomach, letters deep grotesque, Using Leno and Rosemary's blood, The killers wrote messages on the walls living room death to pigs written in blood, Kitchen rise written on the refrigerator door in blood, another wall Helter Skelter Manson's misspelling of Helter skelter, the blood message that would eventually connect these murders to the Tate murders and to Charles Manson. Then they left, took showers, ate food from the Labianka's refrigerator, hitchhiked back to spawn ranch, told Manson it was done. August tenth, nineteen sixty nine, afternoon, Leno Labianka Junior, Leno's son from a previous marriage, arrived at his father's house, planning to watch the Dodgers game together.

24:49 Knocked on the door, no answer, noticed newspapers piling up. Strange walked around the house, looked through windows, saw nothing. Something felt wrong. He called police. Officers arrived, entered the house, found Leno's body in the living room, carving fork in his abdomen, war carved into his stomach, blood everywhere. Found Rosemary in the bedroom, stabbed forty one times, blood messages on the walls. Detectives immediately noticed similarities to the Tate murders. Pig at the Tate house, death to pigs at the Labianka house. Helter skelter clearly connected, same killers. But who and why Leno and Rosemary Labianka were strangers to Charles Manson.

25:36 Hadn't wronged him, weren't famous, weren't connected to the entertainment industry. Just a middle aged couple living in Los Fales. Random victims, wrong place, wrong time home when Charles Manson drove by looking for people to kill. Leno Labianka forty four years old, owned a chain of grocery stores, successful businessman, loving father, grandfather involved in his commit unity. Should be ninety nine today, should have retired, should have watched his grandchildren grow up. Rosemary LaBianca thirty eight years old, co owner of a dress shop, entrepreneur, stepmother to Lino's children, kind, generous, should be ninety three today. Should have built her business, should have had decades more life. They died for nothing, murdered by strangers acting on orders from a delusional cult leader who believed killing them would start a race war. Make it make sense. Seven people dead in two nights, five at Colo Drive, two at Waverley Drive, all because Charles Manson wanted to be famous, wanted to prove he was important, wanted to punish a world that rejected him. The investigation intensified.

26:48 LAPD knew these murders were connected, same methods, same messages, same brutality, but they had no suspects, no leads, no witnesses who could identify the killers. It would be months before they connected it to the Manson family, months before they realized Charles Manson, failed musician living at Spahn Ranch, had orchestrated the murders months before they arrested him and his followers. But eventually justice came, and when it did, the trial became one of the most bizarre in American history. That's Day one of our Manson Family series. Seven people murdered in two nights. Sharon Tate twenty six, eight and a half months pregnant, Jay Sebring thirty five, Abigail Folger twenty five, Woychek Fraikowski thirty two, Stephen Parent eighteen, Leno Labianka forty four, Rosemary Labiyanka thirty eight. Charles Manson ordered the murders, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Crenwinkle and Leslie Van Houghten carried them out all to start a race war based on Beatles lyrics. Tomorrow the arrests, the trial, Manson's court room antics, the three female followers who carved x's into their foreheads, and the guilty verdicts that put them all on death row. I'm reed, Carter, this is celebrity trials.