Crime Scene Houses 10050 Cielo Drive – The Manson Murder House

In 1969, on the date of August 9th, one of the most infamous crimes in American history took place at 10050 Cielo Drive, Beverly Hills. The Manson Murders, committed by members of the Manson family, would see five people slaughtered at the property. This included an 8-month pregnant Sharon Tate, actress, and wife of film director Roman Polanski.

THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE

The property at 10050 Cielo Drive was designed by renowned architect Robert Byrd in 1942 and completed in 1944. Sitting high above California’s Benedict Canyon, the 3,200 square-foot home and 2,000 square-foot guest house sat on a 3.3-acre plot.

Designed to look like a European cottage, it was first owned by the French actress Michele Morgan. She lived in the property until only 1945, before returning to France at the end of World War II.

In 1946, American actress Lillian Gish lived in the property while filming Duel in the Sun. After that period the ownership of the property is pretty sketchy. However, it is known that music and film talent manager Rudolph Altobelli bought the house for $86,000 in the early 1960s and then rented the property out.

Celebrity residents over the next few years included Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, George Chakiris, the American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders as well as a number of other famous faces.

In February 1969, the French-Polish film director Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate began renting the home from Altobelli. Just six months later, while Roman Polanksi was working in Europe, Sharon, her unborn child, and four other people would be slaughtered in the house. The property would quickly become one of the most infamous murder scenes in the history of the USA.

THE MURDERS

***Warning: This next section gets pretty graphic, scroll down to ‘The Convictions’ if you wish to avoid it***

On the night of August 8, 1969, movie actress Sharon Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant, her friend Jay Sebring, Polanksi’s friend and aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski and his lover Abigail Folger, heiress to the Folger coffee fortune, were together at 10050 Cielo Drive.

Music producer Quincy Jones, who was a friend of Jay Sebring, had also planned to join them that evening. Steve McQueen had asked Quincy Jones and Jay Sebring to view a rough edit of his movie Bullitt earlier that day. After watching the movie, Sebring and Jones arranged to meet that evening at Sharon Tate’s house. However, Quincy Jones forgot about meeting up, which probably saved his life.

Unbeknown to those in the property, four members of the Manson family were on the way to commit one of the most horrific crimes in American history. Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel were instructed by Charles Manson to go to the property and “totally destroy everyone in it, as gruesome as you can”.

To understand why Manson wanted everyone killed at this particular address is quite the story in itself. The short version of events is that music producer, Terry Melcher, who at the time lived at 10050 Cielo Drive, gave the semi-talented musician Charles Manson an audition, but rejected him.

This sent Charles Manson down the road of psychotic revenge. However, by the time of the murders, Melcher and his partner, actress Candice Bergen, had moved out of the property.

The longer version of events is even more incredible, a number of books go into far more detail, Helter Skelter being one of them.

Back to the night of the murders…… When the group arrived at the property, Tex Watson, who had been at the property at least once before, climbed the telephone pole and cut the phone line.

The group, fearing the electric gate might be alarmed, climbed a bushy embankment to the right of it, entering the grounds. It was at this time the first murder took place. Steven Parent, an eighteen-year-old student, had been visiting William Garretson who lived in the property’s guest house.

After coming down the drive in his vehicle, Tex Watson leveled a .22-caliber revolver at him. Watson then stabbed him, slashing him across the hand as he tried to defend himself, before shooting him four times in the chest and abdomen.

After making their way to the property, Watson cut the screen on one of the properties windows. He then climbed through the window and proceeded to let in Krenwikel and Atkins through the front door.

As Watson whispered to Atkins, a sleeping Frykowski awoke on the living room couch; Watson kicked him in the head. When Frykowski asked him who he was and what he was doing there, Watson replied: “I’m the devil, and I’m here to do the devil’s business.”

On Watson’s direction, Atkins found the house’s three other occupants and, with Krenwinkel’s help, forced them to the living room. Watson began to tie Tate and Sebring together by their necks with a rope he had brought and slung up over one of the living room’s ceiling beams.

Sebring’s protest of rough treatment of the pregnant Tate prompted Watson to shoot him. Folger was taken momentarily back to her bedroom for her purse, out of which she gave the intruders $70. After that, Watson stabbed the groaning Sebring seven times.

Frykowski’s hands had been bound with a towel. Freeing himself, Frykowski began struggling with Atkins, who stabbed at his legs with the knife with which she had been guarding him. As he fought his way toward and out the front door, Watson caught up with Frykowski and struck him over the head with the gun multiple times, stabbed him repeatedly, and shot him twice.

Around this time, Kasabian was had been keeping a lookout, was drawn up from the driveway by “horrifying sounds”. When she got to the house, in a vain effort to halt the massacre, she falsely told Atkins that someone was coming.

Inside the house, Folger had escaped from Krenwinkel and fled out a bedroom door to the pool area. Folger was pursued to the front lawn by Krenwinkel, who caught her, stabbed her, and finally tackled her to the ground. She was then killed by Tex Watson, who stabbed her 28 times. As Frykowski struggled across the lawn, Watson murdered him with a final flurry of stabbings. Frykowski was stabbed a total of 51 times.

Inside the house, Tate pleaded to be allowed to live long enough to have her baby and offered herself as a hostage in an attempt to save the life of her unborn child. At this point, she was stabbed 16 times by either Atkins, Watson, or both of them.

Manson had told the women to “leave a sign … something witchy”. Using the towel that had bound Frykowski’s hands, Atkins wrote “PIG” on the house’s front door in the blood of Sharon Tate before leaving.

THE CONVICTIONS

Despite not actually taking part in the murders, Charles Manson was sentenced to death, when the state of California repealed the death penalty this was changed to life in prison. Manson died in prison in November 2017 at the age of 83.

Tex Watson was sentenced to death, his sentence was also changed to life in prison when California repealed the death penalty. Now in his 70s, he remains in prison at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.

Susan Atkins was sentenced to death, changed to life in prison when California repealed the death penalty. She died in prison from illness in September 2009, she was 61 years old.

Patricia Krenwinkel was also sentenced to death, later changed to life in prison. Now in her 70s, she is currently incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino, California.

Linda Kasabian, who had waited in the car down the drive and tried in vain to stop the killings, agreed to testify against the Manson family in exchange for full immunity. She stood in the witness box for 18 days, her testimony was believed to be the key factor in charging Charles Manson.

She would later move to New Hampshire, hounded by the media she changed her name and moved west. In 2009 she did an interview with Larry King, wearing a disguise and low-lighting to hide her identity.

THE HOUSE AFTER THE MURDERS

Just three weeks after the murders, not put off by the gruesome scenes that had taken place there, owner Rudolph Altobelli moved into the property and would live there for the next 20 years. When talking about his home he was quoted as saying he felt “safe, secure, loved and beauty.” In 1989 he would eventually sell the property for $1.6 million.

The last resident of the property was Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails. He moved into the property in 1992 and set up a recording studio there called “Pig”. A reference to the Manson Murders in which one of the killers (Susan Atkins) wrote the words “Pig” on the front door in blood.

However, Reznor would move out of the house in 1993 stating “there was too much history in that house for me to handle.” Reznor took the “Pig” front door with him when he moved out, installing it at Nothing Studios, his new recording studio/record label headquarters in New Orleans.

In 1994, the house was eventually demolished and replaced with a vast new mansion. The new home looks very different to the house Sharon Tate was murdered in. It was also given the new street address of ‘10066 Cielo Drive’ in an attempt to forget the awful murders that took place there.

THE HOUSE OVER THE YEARS

Over the years, 10050 Cielo Drive didn’t change much on the outside. However, with so many owners over the decades, the interior was constantly changing.

THE NEW HOUSE

After 10050 Cielo Drive was torn down, a new mansion was built on the site. The new property looks nothing like the property Sharon Tate was murdered in. The property was also given a new address, ‘10066 Cielo Drive’.

The current owner of the house is Jeff Franklin, a Hollywood producer known for producing shows such as Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper.