August 9th, 1969
Via New York Times front page
“HOLLYWOOD STARS, DIRECTOR AMONG FOUR FOUND BRUTALLY MURDERED IN POLANSKI HOUSE” [1]
Timeline of events
Evening of August 8th, 1969
Jill St. John, husband Roman Polanski, aspiring screenwriter (and friend of Polanski) Wojciech Frykowksi, actor Robert Wagner, and Wagner’s wife, actress Marion Marshall, as well as actress Raquel Welch, Wagner’s co-star a year earlier in
The Biggest Bundle Of Them All, are spotted out for dinner at Mexican restaurant El Coyote. Frykowski is photographed with Welch, his date for the evening, after his split from coffee heiress Abigail Folger some months prior.
Following dinner, Marion Marshall left to check in on her daughter with Wagner, Katie. Wagner wishes to discuss a film project with Polanski that would have been the director's follow-up film to
Rosemary's Baby.
Welch, who is not feeling well after dinner, declines an offer to join the others at the house for a late-night party.
10:30 PM: Polanski, St. John, Wagner, and Frykowski head back to the Polanski residence at 10050 Cielo Drive. Marshall calls about 10:50 PM to tell Wagner that their daughter Katie is feverish and that she won’t be coming by, but not to worry. It’s the last Marshall will talk to her husband.
After Midnight
Following orders from failed musician turned cult leader Charles Manson, Manson Family follower Tex Watson takes Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to "that house where Terry Melcher used to live with Candice Bergen" and told them to "totally destroy everyone in [it], as gruesome as you can."
Cut to August 10th, 1969
Following the murders of Roman Polanski, Jill St. John, Robert Wagner, and Wojciech Frykowksi, The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, a wealthy Los Angeles business couple.
April 9, 1970
Charles Manson is sentenced to death. In 1972, California bylaws are changed to life imprisonment. Foul play was suspected but never confirmed. The three followers would spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
September 25, 1984
While imprisoned at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, Charles Manson dies after being severely burned by a fellow inmate who poured paint thinner on him and set him alight. The prisoner, Jan Holmstrom, explained that Manson had objected to his Hare Krishna chants and had verbally threatened him.
From Sam Westwood's Hollywood (2016)
Sam: That, uh, freaked me out. I kind of wondered,
you know, if all this was worth it.
I was shooting 'The Grifters' when the murders happened. Used to not lock my doors unless I was gone. After that,
everyone was getting security put in. I usually took people in that seemed trustworthy. An actress that was staying at the beach house moved out and
Harris---things were not going well with his career, so I let him stay there for a while.
The interviewer asks about rumors that Sam was on the Manson hit list
Sam: No. there is
no basis for that. It doesn't
even make sense. I met Robert Wagner
once at a party but never knew anyone else in that circle. Same with rumours I knew some of the Manson family members from the beach
or was invited to Polanski's house that night. Any of the hippies I
did know were really harmless people who
weren't part of the Manson crowd.
[1]
Steven Parent doesn't show up at the guesthouse that night to talk to caretaker William Garretson about a clock radio.