Sharon Tate was one of five people murdered at a home on Cielo Drive in Los Angeles on August 9, 1969. The California Court of Appeal’s 1976 account says she suffered 16 stab wounds. Later correction by TIME clarifies that early reports misstated some details of her injuries.
What happened to Sharon Tate?
On August 9, 1969, a housekeeper returning to the Cielo Drive residence discovered five victims. The California Court of Appeal identified them as Steven Parent, found in a car near the entrance; Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger, found on the front lawn; and Tate and Jay Sebring, found in the living room. The court described the events as “two successive multiple homicides occurring in the City of Los Angeles during August of 1969.”
Tate was an actress and was eight months pregnant. The appellate opinion states that she suffered 16 stab wounds. People v. Manson, California Court of Appeal (1976).
What is established about Tate’s injuries?
Early TIME coverage included inaccurate claims that a breast had been cut off and that her stomach had been deliberately carved. In a retrospective correction, TIME said those claims were wrong: crime-scene photographs did not show a deliberate “X” carved on her stomach, and her breast had not been cut off. The retrospective also corrected an earlier omission, noting that coroner testimony indicated Tate was hanged as well. TIME’s retrospective and correction.
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The correction matters because sensational early accounts circulated details that the later record does not support. The court opinion provides the concise injury figure; the TIME retrospective identifies what its own earlier reporting got wrong.
How did the case connect Tate’s murder to the other killings?
The prosecution tried the Tate and LaBianca murders together as connected killings and a conspiracy. In summarizing the prosecution’s evidence and theory, the Court of Appeal described the case presented at trial; that account should not be treated as proof of an uncontested motive. The record supports distinguishing what the prosecution argued from what can be stated directly about Tate’s death and the victims found at Cielo Drive.
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What were the verdicts and later sentence developments?
In January 1971, a jury found Charles Manson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the Tate and LaBianca victims. Leslie Van Houten was convicted for the LaBianca killings, according to contemporary Los Angeles Times coverage.
The appellate opinion states that the jury imposed death sentences. It also addresses the effect of the California Supreme Court’s 1972 decision invalidating the death penalty. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records that Manson’s sentence was modified to life in 1977 and that he died in 2017. Those facts concern Manson and do not establish the current status of every other defendant. CDCR, November 19, 2017.
Why the victims should remain central
The case is often retold through its notoriety and through the perpetrators. The court record also identifies five people killed at Cielo Drive: Parent, Frykowski, Folger, Tate and Sebring. Keeping those names and the sequence of discovery in view offers a more accurate account than organizing the event around sensationalized descriptions of violence.
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