Charles Manson and several of his followers went for a drive on Aug. 10, 1969, the day after the brutal killing of Sharon Tate and four others. Manson was displeased by the panic his disciples had shown following the previous night’s murders and wanted to teach them a lesson. After riding in the car for three hours, Manson told Linda Kasabian to drive to 3301 Waverly Drive, where supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary lived.
Manson and Tex Watson entered the home through an unlocked back door. They woke the sleeping couple and tied them up in the living room. Manson told Watson to cover the LaBianca’s heads with pillowcases. Manson then sent Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten into the house. Watson stabbed the 44-year-old Leno in the throat with a chrome-plated bayonet before stabbing 39-year-old Rosemary several times. Krenwinkel and Van Houten also stabbed Rosemary. The scene they left behind was gruesome. Rosemary was stabbed 41 times and her husband 12 times with the bayonet and 14 times with an ivory-handled fork. The word “War” was carved into Leno’s abdomen. On the walls “Rise,” “Death to Pigs,” and “Helter Skelter,” had been written in blood. The LaBiancas were discovered by Rosemary’s 15-year-old son about 19 hours after the murders.
Two days later the LAPD told the press they had ruled out a connection between the LaBianca and Tate homicides. Watson and Krenwinkel were arrested on Dec. 1, 1969, after a jailhouse informant reported Manson Family member Susan Atkins, who was being held on suspicion in another murder case, had confessed to being part of the Sharon Tate murders. Using another family member, Linda Kasabian, as their chief witness, the prosecution was able to secure convictions against Manson, Krenwinkel, Van Houten, and Watson. In 1971, each of them were sentenced to death. In 1972, California abolished the death penalty and the sentences were changed to life in prison. Manson died of a heart attack and colon cancer in 2017.
