AUTOPSIES OF STARS. Sharon Tate, this heartbreaking request she made to her killers just before she died

The story is known around the world and has already been adapted in multiple documentaries and filmsincluding the famous Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood released in 2019 with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Yet even 50 years after the fact, the story of Charles Manson and his cult, and especially the famous victims they have made, remains as morbidly fascinating as ever. It must be said that all the elements came together, on this night of August 8 to 9, 1969, to create a story worthy of the best screenwriters. Between the mysterious element of the sect, the innate glamor of certain victims and the violence of the act, the murders of the followers of Charles Manson have enough to continue to be talked about for many years to come. And among the group of people murdered, a victim was, at the time, not taken into account with the death of Sharon Tate.

A chilling autopsy report

Like many other American celebrities, the autopsy report of actress Sharon Tate, born January 24, 1943 and died August 9, 1969 at the age of 26, has been made public. On the documents, the 16 stab wounds she received are detailed by area of ​​the body affected. The American actress was stabbed four times in the chest, once in the abdomen, eight times in the back, once in the right forearm, once in the left forearm and once behind the right thigh. On his death certificate, the cause of death is therefore described by the doctor in charge of his autopsy as being due to multiple stab wounds to the chest and back, which punctured his heart, lungs and liver and caused massive bleeding.

A violence difficult to imagine, made even more appalling by the fact that when she was attacked, Sharon Tate Polanski was more than eight months pregnant. In two nights of carnage and chaos, the members of Charles Manson’s “family” therefore claimed not seven, but eight victims. It has indeed been established that if Sharon Tate’s baby had received immediate medical assistance after the crime, he could have survived despite the death of his mother, having almost come to an end. The life of the actress then portends great things, having married in January 1968 with the director Roman Polanski – convicted less than 10 years later of rape of a minor – and being installed in a house she adored in Los Angeles with, in parallel, a booming career. But that famous summer night, the dream turned into a nightmare…

A bloody attack

One of the factors that makes the crime of Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Linda Kasabian and Tex Watson so appalling is the lack of certainty concerning their real motivations. These members of the Manson Family, who then attacked the LaBianca couple, followed the precepts of their leader, Charles Manson, who had succeeded in enlisting them in his sect with racist foundations. Although there are many theories, the origin of this act of violence remains unclear, as does the reasons why they went after these particular people. Pretty fuzzy anyway to give the case a taste of incompleteness which has contributed to making it a kind of bloody myth known worldwide.

When the small group went, on the night of August 8 to 9, 1969, to the Polanski home to attack the four people present – Sharon Tate Polanski, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger – they tied Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring together by hanging a rope around their necks and placing them back to back. For their part, the couple formed by Wojciech Frykowski, a close friend of Roman Polanski, and his girlfriend Abigail Folger tried to defend themselves and were stabbed dozens of times by their assailants. A disastrous fate then experienced by Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring as well. According to the testimony of Linda Kasabian, who was part of the Manson family but did not participate in the murders, Sharon Tate begged her attackers to keep her alive until her child was born. Eight and a half months pregnant, the actress offered to become their hostage until the birth of his sona request that was not heard by her assailants… She would then have called her mother before the multiple stab wounds she received took her breath away forever.

It wasn’t until the next morning that the carnage was discovered by Winifred Chapman, Sharon Tate’s housekeeper. The police then also found the body of Steve Parenta young man who came to visit the caretaker of the property William Garretson who was shot in his car.

A half-hearted epilogue

On August 13, 1969, Sharon Tate was buried in California with her stillborn son in her arms. The latter was named Paul Richard, in homage to his grandfathers, and his name appears on the tombstone with that of his famous mother. For their part, the murderers have all ended up being arrested and imprisoned. Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009 from a tumor. Patricia Krenwinkel is still being held in California after 14 release denials. Tex Watson is also still being held after 17 release denials. Finally Charles Manson died of cardiac arrest following colon cancer on November 19, 2017 at the age of 83.