Video: 'MANSON AND WOMEN FOLLOWERS COURT APPEARANCE - 1971' (film shot Jan. 25, 1971)
(Monday, January 25, 1971, just before noon PST) — Serial killer Charles Manson and three young women among his “Manson Family” followers were found guilty today of the brutal August 9-10, 1969, home invasion Tate-LaBianca murders that resulted in the deaths of seven people in Los Angeles.
The jury delivered its verdict following more than 42 hours of deliberation that had been spread over nine days.
The defendants showed virtually no emotion as the clerk of the court read the verdicts. But as they were being led from the heavily guarded courtroom, Manson again said that he had been denied the opportunity to present a defense and told Superior Court Judge Charles H. Older, “You won’t outlive this, old man.”
Manson and two of the women — Susan Atkins, 22, and Patricia Krenwinkel, 23 — were each convicted on seven counts of murder in the first degree. The fourth defendant, 21-year-old Leslie Van Houten, was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder. All four were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.
A fifth defendant in the case, Charles “Tex” Watson, would be tried separately and convicted. All five defendants would be sentenced to death, but those sentences would be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole after the state Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional.
Video: 'Charles Manson Followers React to Verdict | From the Archives | NBCLA'
Five of the murders took place at the Benedict Canyon home of the actress Sharon Tate. The two other victims Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, were killed at their home in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles.
Tate, the wife of the filmmaker, Roman Polanski, and eight months pregnant, was stabbed 16 times. The other victims at the Tate residence were: Abigail Folger, 26, a wealthy coffee heiress who was stabbed 28 times; Thomas John Sebring, 35, a Hollywood hair stylist, who was stabbed seven times and shot once: Voyteck Frykowski, 37, a friend of Polanski’s who was stabbed 51 times, shot twice and struck 13 times on the head, and Steven Parent, 18, a student who was shot four times and stabbed once.
At the LaBianca residence, Leno LaBianca, 44, a wealthy supermarket owner, was stabbed 26 times. His 38-year-old wife, Rosemary, was stabbed 41 times. According to a coroner’s report at least 13 of her wounds were inflicted after death.
Although the motive for the murders was disputed by Manson, the Los Angeles County district attorney believed that Manson intended to start a race war.
The prosecution contended that, while Manson never directly ordered or participated the murders, his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy.
