The TateLaBianca murders were a series of murders perpetrated by members of the Manson Family during August 810, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, United States, under the direction of Tex Watson and Charles Manson. The perpetrators first killed five people on the night of August 89: pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her companions Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent. The baby later died of asphyxiation in Tate's womb. On the following evening, with Manson allegedly displeased about the chaotic operation of these murders, the Family then also murdered supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.On the night of August 89, four members of the Manson FamilyWatson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabiandrove from Spahn Ranch to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, the home of Sharon Tate and her husband, film director Roman Polanski. The group murdered Tate, who was 8 months pregnant, along with celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring; coffee heiress Abigail Folger; aspiring screenwriter and Folger's boyfriend Wojciech Frykowski; and Steven Parent, an 18-year-old visitor. Polanski was not home that night as he was working on a film in Europe. Manson was an aspiring musician who had tried to get a recording contract with record producer Terry Melcher, who was a previous renter of the house at Cielo Drive along with musician Mark Lindsay and Melcher's girlfriend Candice Bergen.

The following night, the four killers from the previous night, as well as Manson, Leslie Van Houten and Steve "Clem" Grogan, committed two more murders, with Manson allegedly saying he would "show them how to do it".:176184,258269 After considering various options for additional murders,:258269 Kasabian drove the group to 3301 Waverly Drive in the Los Feliz neighborhood, the home of the LaBiancas;:2225,4248 Manson left with Atkins, Grogan, and Kasabian, while Watson, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten proceeded to kill the couple in the early morning hours of August 10.



The Manson Family (known among its members as the Family) was a commune, gang, and cult led by Charles Manson that was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The group consisted of approximately 100 followers, who lived an unconventional lifestyle with habitual use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. Most were young women from middle-class backgrounds, many of whom were radicalized by Manson's teachings and drawn by hippie culture and communal living.Soon after release from prison in 1967, Manson, who had been institutionalized or incarcerated for more than half of his life, began attracting acolytes in the San Francisco-area. They gradually moved to a run-down ranch, called the Spahn Ranch in Los Angeles County. The ranch burned down during a Southern California wildfire in September 1970. According to group member Susan Atkins, the members of the Family were convinced that Manson was a manifestation of Jesus Christ and believed in his prophecies concerning an imminent, apocalyptic race war.In 1969, Family members Susan Atkins, Tex Watson, and Patricia Krenwinkel entered the home of Hollywood actress Sharon Tate and murdered her and four others. Linda Kasabian was also present, but did not take part. Members of the Manson Family were also responsible for a number of other murders, assaults, petty crimes, and thefts.