As tragic as the murders of Sharon Tate and her friends were, they have come to overshadow the
Manson Family's next night of terror. It was the murder of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca that
plunged Los Angeles into fear and paranoia. This is the messed up truth of the LaBianca murders.
As documented by Linda Kasabian's testimony, Charles Manson called her, Patricia Krenwinkel,
and Leslie Van Houten to the bunkhouse at the Family's hideaway at the Spahn Ranch after dinner
on the evening of Saturday, August 9, 1969. Noting that Manson instructed the young women
to bring along a change of clothing, Kasabian, who had been the lookout for the Tate killings,
became uneasy knowing that she would again be sent on a murderous mission. Manson told them,
"Last night was too messy. This time I'm going to show you how to do it."
With Manson at the wheel, the participants in the Cielo Drive massacre, Charles "Tex" Watson,
Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, and Kasabian,
along with Van Houten and Steve "Clem" Grogan headed out in search of their next victims.
After several false starts, the Family at last wound up at a house in Los Feliz. Armed with
a pistol, Manson exited the car and made his way up the home's long driveway alone.
One of the Manson's Family's favorite pastimes was an activity they called "creepy crawling."
Family members would enter a home under the cover of night and silently creep and
crawl from room to room, rearranging the sleeping occupants' possessions.
During Manson's trial, Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi surmised that
the creepy crawls were merely dress rehearsals for murder.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, August 10, 1969, Manson slipped into the home of Leno
and Rosemary LaBianca to survey the scene. According to Charles "Tex” Watson's memoir
Will You Die For Me?, Manson returned to the car moments later and summoned Watson to come
with him. Rousing Leno LaBianca from his sleep, Manson held a gun on the grocery store president,
assuring him that he wasn't going to be harmed. Manson stated he was after money and nothing else.
Watson bound LaBianca's hands behind his back while Manson went to the bedroom
to retrieve Rosemary. Further assuring the frightened couple that they wouldn't be hurt,
Manson left the house with Rosemary LaBianca's wallet. Moments later,
Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten entered the LaBianca home with orders to kill.
As Manson's followers were left to their bloody work, Charles Manson,
Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Steve "Clem" Grogan left the scene.
According to Bugliosi’s book Helter Skelter, Manson gave Kasabian Rosemary LaBianca's
wallet and instructed her to wipe off any incriminating fingerprints and remove the change.
LaBianca's drivers license and, most importantly, her credit cards were to remain untouched.
Manson explained that he was going to drive to a predominantly Black neighborhood,
where Kasabian was to toss the wallet on the sidewalk. Explaining that a person of color would
find the wallet and use the credit cards, Manson hoped that the press and the authorities would
blame the murders on the Black Panthers. With the blame deflected from the Family and placed on the
Black political organization, Manson believed that the country would edge nearer to "Helter
Skelter," an apocalyptic race war from which Manson and his followers would emerge as victors.
Inexplicably, Manson changed his mind at the last minute and instead drove to a nearby gas station,
where he instructed Kasabian to leave the wallet in the women's restroom. Kasabian,
now fearful after two nights of murder, instead hid LaBianca's wallet inside a
toilet tank rather than leaving it where it could be easily found. A key piece of evidence,
the wallet was finally discovered four months after the August 10 killings.
According to Los Angeles Deputy D.A. Vincent Bugliosi,
investigators were initially reluctant to link the LaBianca and Tate murders. At the time,
the police regarded the LaBianca killings as a copycat crime. Regardless of the official
position of the authorities, the general public could easily see the parallels in the crimes.
Gripped by fear, Los Angeles held its breath waiting for the next round of gruesome slayings.
On the 50th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders, Linda Deutsch,
the Associated Press reporter who broke the story of the Cielo Drive killings,
described the mood of the city to Tara Brown of 60 Minutes Australia.
"You had a city that was in lockdown.
People were buying alarm systems for their houses. People carried guns."
Deutsch continued to say,
"...[people] were sure that they were targets. And then when the LaBiancas were killed,
that sort of cemented the idea that there were mad killers on the loose."
Vincent Bugliosi told KABC-TV in 2015,
"There was a lot of fear in L.A. The sale of guard dogs and guns rose dramatically
overnight [...] particularly in the movie colony. They were just terrified."
On August 16, 1969, authorities raided Spahn Ranch
and arrested Manson and 25 Family members. Charged with auto theft,
Manson was released when it was discovered that the arrest warrant had been misdated.
As documented in Helter Skelter, Susan Atkins, jailed at the Sybil Brand Institute after being
implicated in the earlier murder of music teacher Gary Hinman, leaked details of the
Tate-LaBianca crimes to fellow inmates, who, in turn, alerted authorities. Charged with murder,
Manson, Tex Watson, Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten were sentenced to death.
In exchange for immunity, Linda Kasabian became a witness for the prosecution. Her testimony
was instrumental in convicting Manson and his followers. As reported by Rolling Stone, Steve
Grogan was sentenced to life imprisonment for the Family's murder of ranch hand Donald "Shorty"
Shea . Paroled in 1985, Grogan is the only one of the killers who's been released from prison.
In 1972, California abolished the death penalty. The sentences of murderers were commuted to life.
Susan Atkins died of brain cancer in 2009. Charles Manson, suffering from colon cancer, died of
cardiac arrest in 2017. As of this video, Watson, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten remain in prison.
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