Episode Transcript
Amanda A: The year was 169. The world watched as Neil took one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind. Nixon was preparing to take office. Watergate would come. Just a few years later, more than 350,000 rock and roll fans flocked to a small farm in upstate New York. The United States Air Force closed Project Blue. Look. And The Government Claimed it would no Longer Investigate UFOs. 250,000 protesters marched on Washington in protest of the Vietnam War. For the first time ever, people began asking how to get to Sesame Street. Robert Redford became known as the Sundance Kid, and the average house would set a buyer back about $15,550. You would think that would be enough to close out the year, but you would be wrong. On August 9, one man and three women did the unthinkable and committed a crime so jolting, it would still be analyzed 54 years later. Hey, there all you true crime fans. I'm Amanda.
Kori: And I'm Corey.
Amanda A: And welcome back to Colorado Crime. You guys know the drill. We're just two best friends who want to chat about all things true Crime. This week, we will discuss at length the victims in this case. Sharon Tate, jay Sebring, Voitek Frykowski. Abigail Folger. Stephen Parent. Leno LaBianca. And Rosemary LaBianca. As always, listener discretion is advised. Before we go down a very dark path, let's start with a joke. So we all remember that even in the darkest of moments, there's still light to be found.
Kori: What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo?
Amanda A: My gosh, I don't even know. What?
Kori: A pouch potato. Because he lives in a pouch. For all you people who didn't get that, I explained it. It's weird. Now the joke is not funny. Never mind.
Amanda A: I love it. That one's so cute. Thanks for doing these every week. And that one was super cute. I really liked that one. I especially enjoyed it.
Kori: You're welcome.
Amanda A: All right, well, do you have anything that you want to mention, or do you want to just jump right in?
Kori: I do have a little update about Rex Howerman, the alleged Long Island serial killer. They did match his DNA formally to the pizza that they recovered from his trash, so it's not looking so good for him. And he has court again on November 15.
Amanda A: I hope they get him.
Kori: Me, too. They're looking like they're going to have enough evidence to maybe try him for a fourth murder. Not just the three murders, so hopefully oh, wow. Yeah. Very interesting. Very interesting.
Amanda A: Did you see the little girl who went missing in New York? Charlote?
Kori: I did not.
Amanda A: Yeah, she went missing. They were oh, and she went missing, and she was actually found alive. She was found in a cupboard. But the defendant in the case, I guess, left a piece of mail, like a ransom note in their mailbox and already watching the house. So they went and recovered it, found fingerprints and went and arrested the guy. Yeah.
Kori: Criminals are not getting smarter.
Amanda A: No, but that poor little girl, she was nine years old.
Kori: No, that sucks.
Amanda A: That's just so heartbreaking to me.
Kori: At least she was found alive.
Amanda A: Yes, and apparently she knew she was being rescued, so that's good, too. Yeah, but it's just awful. People suck.
Kori: They do suck. And I don't know why you'd want to kidnap children.
Amanda A: What's that?
Kori: I said I don't really understand why you'd want to kidnap children.
Amanda A: No, well, because people are sick and disgusting.
Kori: Yeah, I get that part, but kids are, like, a lot. I'm not trying to be mean, but you really want to be stuck with that the whole time? Person who has no small children?
Amanda A: I know. Mine are, like, on the verge of not being super small anymore.
Kori: That's nice.
Amanda A: It is, but it's do.
Kori: Their own thing goes so fast. It does.
Amanda A: All right, well, without any further ado, let's get started. We are going to start by discussing the victims in the case, and then in the next episode, we'll get into the actual crimes and the crime scenes and the autopsies. So, as always, guys, listener discretion is advised.
Kori: Sharon Tate was born January 24, 1943, in Dallas, Texas. Two parents, Paul and Doris Tate. Sharon was the oldest of three daughters. At six months old, Sharon won her first pageant, miss Tiny Tot of Dallas pageant, but her parents had no plans to put her into show business. In fact, Sharon was incredibly shy. Friends and family described her as such, and she remained shy even after her film career took off. Sharon's father was in the military and the family moved a lot. By the time she was 16, the family had lived in six different cities. She attended elementary school in Pasadena, Texas, then moved to Richland, Washington for some of high school, then back to El Paso, Texas, before finally moving to Italy, where she graduated in 1961. That's cool.
Amanda A: I know, right?
Kori: It was no secret that Sharon was beautiful. In 1959, she was named Miss Richland. She had planned to compete in Miss Washington in 1960, but was unable to due to her family living in Italy with her family. Relocating to Verona, sharon learned that she had become a local celebrity due to the publication of a photograph of her in a swimsuit on the COVID of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. She discovered a kinship with other students at the American school she attended in nearby Vicenza, recognizing that their backgrounds and feelings of separation were similar to her own and for the first time in her life, began to form lasting friendships. The film Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man was being made nearby with Paul Newman, Susan Strasberg and Richard Byrmer. Sharon and some of her friends heard about this and landed parts as film extras. Bymer noticed the beautiful Sharon in the crowd and introduced himself, and the two dated during the production of the film Bymer even encouraged Sharon to pursue a film career. In 1960, Sharon was employed by the singer Pat Boone and appeared with him in an episode of the television series The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, which was filmed in Venice. Later that year, when the Barabbas film was being filmed near Verona, Sharon was once again hired as an extra. Actor Jack Palance was impressed by her appearance and attitude. He even arranged a screen test for her in Rome. Sharon returned to the United States alone, saying that she wanted to further her studies but tried to find film work. After a few months, Doris Tate, who feared for her daughter's safety, suffered a nervous breakdown and her daughter was persuaded to return to Italy. The Tate family returned to the United States in 1962 and Sharon moved to Los Angeles, where she contacted Richard bymer's agent Harold Gefsky. After their first meeting, Gefsky agreed to represent her and secured work for her in television and magazine advertisements. In 1963 he introduced her to Martin Ranzoff, director of Filmways Incorporated, who signed her to a seven year contract. She was considered for the role of Billy Joe Bradley on CBS's sitcom Petticoat Junction, which was funny, but Ranzoff believed that she lacked confidence and the role was given to Janine Riley. Ranzoff gave Sharon smallports in Mr. Ed Also Funny and the Beverly Hillbillies Hilarious to help her gain experience but was unwilling to allow her to play a more substantial role. Mr. Randolph didn't want the audience to see me until I was ready, Tate was quoted in a 1967 article in Playboy not Funny. During this time, Sharon met the French actor Philippe For Qua and began a relationship with him. In 1963. They became engaged, but their relationship was volatile and they frequently argued. Career pressures drove them apart and they broke up the next year in 1964. Also in 1964, she met J. Sebring, a former sailor who had established himself as a leading hairstylist in Hollywood. Sharon later said that Sebring's nature was especially gentle but when he proposed marriage, she declined. She said that she would retire from acting as soon as she married and in that time she intended to focus on her career. Sharon continued to audition and screen test but her shyness held her back from landing any leading lady roles until late 1965 when her agent finally gave Sharon her first major role in a motion picture in the film Eye of the Devil. Sharon and Jay traveled to London to prepare for filming and her agent arranged for the production of a short documentary called All Eyes on Sharon Tate to be released at the same time as Eye of the Devil. It included an interview with Eye of the Devil director Jay Lee Thompson who expressed his initial doubts about Sharon's potential with the Comet quote. We even agreed that if after the first two weeks Sharon was not quite making it, we would put her back into cold storage. But added that he soon realized that Sharon was tremendously exciting. Sharon played Odell in the film, a witch who exerts a mysterious power over a landowner and his wife. Although she did not have as many lines as other actors, sharon's performance was considered crucial to the film, and she was required more than other cast members to set an ethereal tone. Her co stars described her as a, quote, great discovery, end quote. And that with, quote, a reasonable amount of luck, end quote. Sharon would be a great success. After filming, Sharon remained in London, where she immersed herself in the fashion world and nightclubs. It was around this time that she would meet her future husband, Roman Polanski. Roman is a character in and out of himself, but we won't get into his life after Sharon's death. Just know it involves some trouble with statutory rape.
Amanda A: Yeah, he wasn't a very good guy.
Kori: No, he wasn't, but he's very famous anyway. Sharon met Roman and it was anything but love at first sight. Roman was preparing to film the Fearless Vampire Killers with Sharon's agent. Roman was positive that he wanted a redhead lead, a specific redhead lead, Jill St. John. She was an established actress who was known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl. Sharon's agent assisted that Sharon be cast, and after she read for the role, Roman agreed that the part was hers, but only if she wore a red wig. The initial filming was far from perfect. One scene had 70 takes. Roman was annoyed at first, but as Sharon's acting developed, so did Roman's feelings for her. After the filming was done, Sharon moved into Roman's London apartment. JC. Ring flew to London and insisted on meeting Sharon's new love interest. Friends of Jay reported that he was, quote, devastated, end quote. But he remained Sharon's closest confidant. Sharon then traveled back to the US. To film. Don't make waves. She wore no more than a bathing suit during the film and began sarcastically referring to herself as sexy little me. The film didn't do well in the box office, and Sharon was disappointed in the film itself. Roman returned to the US and began to work on the script for Rosemary's Baby, which is a very good movie. He had wanted to cast Sharon, but felt it was inappropriate due to their relationship. Since no one had suggested Sharon, the role went to Mia Farrell also.
Amanda A: That's a whole nother deep dive.
Kori: There's a lot happening in this episode. Sharon was a regular on set, though always visiting Roman. She was photographed often, which generated a lot of publicity for both her and the film. In 1967, an article about Sharon and Playboy began, quote this is the year that Sharon Tate happens, end quote and included six nude or partially nude photographs taken by Roman Polanski during the filming of The Fearless Vampire Killers. Then Sharon signed to play a major role in the film version of Valley of the Dolls. A book version was a bestseller and the movie adaptation was highly anticipated. Sharon knew this role would push her budding career even further, but she confided in Roman that she did not enjoy the book nor the script. Sharon was cast as Jennifer North, an aspiring actress admired only for her body. Sharon was actually treated and viewed similarly to her character, and a magazine look published an unfavorable article about the three leading actresses describing Tate as, quote, a hopelessly stupid and vain starlet. End quote. She was set to act aside Patty Suk, Barbara Parkins and Judy Garland, who was later replaced by Susan Hayward.
Amanda A: So, side note, unfortunately, this was the judy Garland was suffering from severe health problems and would actually pass away on June 22, 1969 in London from an accidental overdose. And it's totally not true crime related, but Judy Garland had such a tragic life, and as I was researching, like, I went down the craziest rabbit hole and it's so sad. So if you guys have time and you guys are interested in old Hollywood, you should totally look into the life and such a Judy Garland. Yeah.
Kori: And I love Mother.
Amanda A: You know, she is Liza Minnelli's mother. I love Judy Garland. The wizard of Oz is my all time favorite movie.
Kori: She just had a really serious drug problem.
Amanda A: She did.
Kori: That was created in the 1960s.
Amanda A: Oh, yeah. Well and it was created by Hollywood. Most of them were as Dorothy. She was a lot older than Dorothy was in the book and they wanted to keep her young looking, and so they just treated her terribly. And when she did pass away, she was basically it's just it's sad. It is. I'm sorry.
Kori: Anyway, that's okay. Back to Sharon Tate. After filming wrapped Sharon confided in Barbara Parkins that she was madly in love with Roman Polanski. She was even quoted in the New York Sunday News saying, quote, there's no doubt that Roman is the man in my life. End quote. On January 20, 1968, the couple were married in Chelsea, London. The two were deliriously happy. Aside from Roman's infidelity, Sharon really struggled to accept this as a part of her marriage, but had promised Roman that she would not change him. Photographer and friend Peter Evans quoted Sharon as saying, quote we have a good arrangement. Roman lies to me and I pretend to believe him. End quote. Roman told Sharon that he wanted to be married to a hippie, not a housewife, and the couple left London and headed for Los Angeles. They began to run in the same circles as some of the Hollywood's hottest joan Collins, mia Farrell, warren Beatty, jane Fonda, steve McQueen and the mamas and the papas. And record producer Terry Milcher and his actress girlfriend, Candice Bergen.
Amanda A: She's from Sweet Home, Alabama.
Kori: Anne Murphy Brown.
Amanda A: Yes, Anne Murphy Brown.
Kori: J Sebring was a constant companion to the couple, as was Voitek Frykowski, who Roman had known since he was a young boy in Poland. Voitek was dating coffee arius Abigail Folger at the time, and she began to spend a lot of time with the couple as well. Roman and Sheeran began staying at the Chateau Maramont in Los Angeles for a few months until they arranged to rent Patty Duke's home in Beverly Hills. The Polanski house was often full of strangers, and Sharon regarded the casual atmosphere as part of the, quote, free spirit end quote of the times, saying that she did not mind who came into her home and her motto was, quote, live and let live, end quote. Her close friend Leslie Karen commented that the Polanskis were too trusting, quote, to the point of recklessness, end quote and that she had been alarmed by it. To be completely fair, it was the time. Hollywood was a nicer, safer place in 1968. Sharon became pregnant towards the end of 1968. Then the couple moved to the infamous 10 00:50 CLO Drive on February 15, 1969. This home had previously belonged to Terry Melter and Candace Bergen, but Sheeran was thrilled when she learned the home was available. She referred to it as her, quote, love house, end quote and the couple continued to host large parties. But friends worried about the strange people. They began showing up. In March of 1969, Sharon traveled to Italy to begin filming her latest film, a comedy titled the 13 Chairs and Roman went to London to work on the Day of the Dolphin. Voitek Frykowski and Abigail fulter moved into the Sielo Drive home while the pulkanskis were away. After Sharon finished filming, she met Roman in London. She was photographed in the couple's apartment opening baby gifts before returning to Los Angeles on July 20, 1969. Roman was set to return on August 12, 1969, just in time for the birth of his first son. He asked Voitech and Abigail if they would stay with Sharon until he returned home, which they agreed to. Before we discuss the awful crimes committed against Sharon Tate, her friends and the La Biancas, we are going to discuss the other victims.
Amanda A: Thomas John Coomer was born October 10, 1933. He would later be known professionally as J. Sebring. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama to accountant Bernard Coomer and his wife, Marguerite. He grew up with one brother and two sisters in a middle class home in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Detroit Catholic Central in 1951 and went on to serve in the Navy for four years. During his service, he fought in the Korean War. After he was done in the Navy, he moved to Los Angeles and became J. Sebring. In Los Angeles, Jay attended beauty school and opened a salon on Fairfax Avenue. Jay cut hair for 13 hours a day sleeping in the back of his salon but was struggling financially. He invented, quote, a whole new way of cutting men's hair, end quote. He began shampooing his clients before styling it, cutting their hair with scissors instead of clippers and using blow dryers. His breakthrough came when he met actress Barbara Luna at a party. She told friend and singer Vic Damone about her new stylist and he flew Jay out to Las Vegas for a trim. Could you imagine?
Kori: That'd be sweet.
Amanda A: That would be so cool. Vic Demone liked Jay so much, he shared his new hairstylist with friend Peter Lawford and Frank Sinatra. From there, Jay's career took off. His techniques are still being taught, even 40 years later. While most barbers were charging one to $2 per haircut, jay was charging 50 or more. Warren Beatty and Steve McQueen became regulars of his. Jay flew to Vegas every three weeks to cut Frank Sinatra in Sammy Davis Jr's hair Problematic, producer Kirk Douglas, which is a story for a whole nother day, and it involves the Black Dahlia. He requested Jay to do the hairstyling for the movie Spartacus. Jay's Business sebring International began to flourish. He had several profitable salons in West Hollywood, New York and London. Jay was even attributed to the start of Bruce Lee's career. Jay and Bruce met at an international karate championship in 1964. Jay went on to introduce Bruce to his friend and producer Bill Dozier, who started Bruce Lee's career when Bruce was cast in the original Green Hornet. Jay had no plans or intentions of becoming an actor himself, but he was cast in a 1966 episode of the TV series Batman, playing a character named Mr. Ocean Bring. He also appeared in an episode of The Virginian where he played a barber. Jay was profiled in the 1967 cult documentary Mondo Hollywood, where Bobby Busele was also seen. Bobby would not be present for the Tate or Lobbyanca murders, however, as he was already in custody for the murder of Gary Hinman at the time of the crimes. So how did a successful hairstylist end up murdered with one of Hollywood's hottest stars? Well, back in 1964, Jay was introduced to Sharon Tate by a journalist and the two began a relationship. Jay had even purchased a home in Benedict Canyon, the same area where he would be killed just a few short years later. The home had previously belonged to Sally Forrest and prior to that belonged to Paul Byrne, who was the late Jean Harlow's husband. After Sharon began dating future husband Roman Polanski, she broke off her romance with Jay, but continued their friendship. Jay even flew to London with Sharon to meet Roman while he filmed The Fearless Vampire Killers. Roman Polanski later regarded Jay as a very lonely person who thought of Roman and Sharon as his family. The summer before his death, he was introduced to Voitek Frykowski and his girlfriend, coffee heiress Abigail Folger. The couple became good friends with Jay, and Abigail even invested into Jay's hair care products for men. Jay had joined Voitek, Abigail and Sharon for dinner on the night of the murders before returning to the Sielo Drive home where their lives would end.
Kori: Voitek Frikowski was born in Poland on December 22, 1936 to textile entrepreneur entrepreneur J. Frakowski and his wife, Sophilia stefanowska Voitek met Roman Polanski when the two were boys. Voitek had a reputation for being trouble and Roman was working the door to a dance where he was not going to allow Voitek into. A fight could have started between the two, but somehow they ended up going for drinks instead and their friendship grew from there. The pair regularly partied together, drinking heavily. This proved to be a problem with Voitek's attitude. After the murders, roman was quoted as saying, quote beneath his tough exterior, Voitek was a good natured soft hearted to the point of sentimentality and utterly loyal. After World War II, finding work in Poland became very difficult. Voitek earned a chemistry degree but gravitated towards Roman's filmmaker friends. Voitek was an uncredited financier in Roman's film Mammals. Roman then filled knife in the water and traveled to the United States for the first time. Voitek followed and landed a lifeguard role in the film. Due to his excellent swimming skills, he never really wanted to pursue acting but did try his hand at writing. However, none of his scripts were ever picked up.
Amanda A: Just know I would never in 5 million bajillion years be cast as a lifeguard for my excellent swimming skills, just so you know.
Kori: Me neither. Voitek lived off an inheritance from his father's illicit currency exchange business and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. He was known among international socialite circles for his wild partying and appetite for women. Voitek married twice and had a son named Bartek. One of his marriages was to the famous Polish writer Agneski Oseka. Eventually, the money dried up. Broke and aimless, Voitek set his sights on a fresh start. He left Poland in 1967 and after spending some time in Paris, he moved to the United States. After voitech was in the US. For a bit, he was introduced to Abergail Folger. Way to hit your wagon. By August of 1968, the couple decided to move to Los Angeles together and rented a house off of Mole Holland Drive. Molehulland Drive features some of the most exclusive and expensive homes in the world, housing many celebrities. Voitek loved living this life of luxury, but he had no job, no inheritance and was basically broke. He and Abigail's relationship was tumultuous at best. He was using Abigail What living off of her fortune. Shocking, reports surfaced that the two were experimenting more and more with drugs from marijuana to cocaine. Voitech held a brief job with Paramount as a set constructor but was unhappy with the work and quit. On April 1 969, voitech and Abigail moved into the 10 00:50 CLO Drive to house sit while Sharon and Roman were away on business. By August, the couple was clearly unhappy. They fought constantly and were using drugs more frequently. Regardless, the couple stayed together and continued to host parties at the home on CLO Drive. Sharon returned home at the end of July, but Roman asked Voitek to stay at the home until he could return home to be with his wife.
Amanda A: Abigail Anne Folger was born on August 11, 1943 to parents Peter and Inez. She had one younger brother, Peter Jr. Who was born in 1945. In 1952, Inez filed for divorce and the couple shared custody of their two young children. Peter Senior would later marry his secretary, Beverly Mater. On June 20, 1960. The couple shared one daughter, Elizabeth. After Abigail's death, Peter and Beverly moved out of the family home as it became too difficult for Peter to live there. Abigail was born in San Francisco. At the time of her birth, her father was a chairman and president of Folger's Coffee Company. Abigail grew up very privileged, attending only the best schools and associating with the hottest crowds. But Abigail didn't skirt by on her family's fortune. From a young age, she took an interest in art, poetry and piano. She graduated from high school with honors in 1961. She attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the fall of that year. During her time at Radcliffe, abigail became an active member of the school's Gilbert and Sullivan Players, a musical theater group. While Abigail was a freshman at Radcliffe, she had her, quote, coming out party. The party was hosted on December 20, 161 at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. There she made her debut into San Francisco's high society. Her debutante ball was the highlight of the season and she wore a yellow Christian Dior dress that she had purchased in Paris the summer before. She then graduated with honors in 1964. After she graduated, she enrolled in Harvard and started classes in the fall of the same year. She graduated from Harvard with a degree in art history in 1967 and began working for the University of California Art Museum in Berkeley, California as a publicity director. In September of 1967, she made the move to New York. She accepted a job as a magazine publisher. She left that job and went to work for Gotham Bookmark. Her income from her inheritance alone was $130,000 annually. In today's money, that would be roughly $1,195,011.
Kori: I think I could live on that a year.
Amanda A: Like a guess.
Kori: I mean, I could live on $130,000 a year, right? I mean, quite frank, frankly.
Amanda A: I know. We just need parents that would create a coffee company, right?
Kori: Why don't our parents do anything cool?
Amanda A: I know. Usually I would say money is wasted on the wealthy, but I actually feel like she would have gone on to do really good things with her life.
Kori: Probably. Maybe she would have fixed Folgers and made it a better coffee, right? No offense to all the people who drink Folgers, blah, blah, blah, but it's a terrible coffee. So many better coffees. I just think plug to Bones Coffee bones Coffee is very good in case.
Amanda A: You want to sponsor us. Bones Coffee? Yeah, but we're not sponsored.
Kori: We're not?
Amanda A: But we'd love to be by Bones Coffee. That'd be fine with us. So in December of 1967, polish author Jersey Kaczynski, who was married to Mary Howard Ware, an American steel heiress who ran in the same social circle as Abigail, introduced her to Voitek Frykowski. At the time, he did not speak English, but both he and Abigail were fluent in French and she became his tutor. The two moved in together and she began supporting him financially. Abigail volunteered for the Los Angeles County Welfare Department in 1968. When she moved back to California, she rented a car and the couple moved across the country. To start anew abigail rented a home for the couple on Woodstock Road across the street from singer Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas. Abigail, having no car, bought herself a brand new 1968 Yellow Firebird. Her mother did charity work for the Height Ashbury Free Medical Clinic in San Francisco. At the time, many women of the Manson family were being treated at the facility. Abigail spent day after day, from dusk to dawn in the ghettos of Los Angeles volunteering with children in the area. Soon, the work began to take a toll on Abigail's mental health and she began battling depression. Abigail also did some political volunteering. She donated both time and money towards New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy's campaign. However, his campaign ended abruptly when he was assassinated in Los Angeles on June 6, 1968. On March 23, 1969, abigail, Voitek and Jay were at a party at this Yellow Drive home hosted by the Polanskis. Among other guests was Sharok Hatami, an Iranian photographer. He noticed a strange man walking around the property who made him feel uneasy. He went outside to confront the man who said he was looking for Terry Melcher, a name that Sharoque did not recognize. Sharoque made it clear to the man that the home of the Polanskis and no one by the name of Terry Melcher lived on the premises. During the trial, Shroak identified the man as Charles Manson. The couple began moving their belongings out of the Sielo Drive home and back to their home on Woodstock Road. In early July of 1969, Sharon was set to return home and they wanted to have the home ready for her. But Roman asked if the couple would stay and keep Sharon company until he returned on August twelveTH. As she was in her very late stages of pregnancy, the couple was happy to do so. August 8, 1969 was a typical day for Abigail. She purchased a yellow bike that was scheduled to be delivered to the home on Cielo Drive. Later that afternoon, the couple joined Sharon, Joanna Pettit and Barbara Lewis for lunch on the front patio of the Sielo Drive home. And then she. Headed out just around 345 for an appointment she had scheduled. The couple joined Jay Sebring and Sharon Tate for a later dinner at El Coyote Mexican restaurant. When the group returned home, Sharon and Jay went to Sharon's bedroom. Voitek fell asleep on the sofa, and Abigail retired to her bedroom to call her mother and confirm their weekend plans. She was scheduled to fly to San Francisco on Saturday morning to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Abigail Folger was killed two days prior to her 26th birthday. The four friends faced a night of terror together for the sheer amusement of the Manson family. The killings were not quick, they were not pain free and they were not necessary. There was another person who was murdered at the CLO Drive Home, someone who had no connection to the celebrities or to the Manson family.
Kori: That was Stephen Earl parent. Stephen Earl Parent was born in California on February 12, 1951. He grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte. El Monte was known as friendly El Monte. The town was only 30 miles away from Beverly Hills, but a world away in 1969. He was just 18 years old when he was shot to death by Tex Watson in the driveway of the Salo Drive Home. As he was leaving, stephen was born to Wilfred and Juanita Parent. He was the oldest of four children. He had a younger sister named Janet and two brothers named Greg and Dale. Stephen was six foot tall and had medium length red hair. He had just graduated from Arroyo High School in June. He was planning on attending Citrus Junior College in September. Stephen had a few run ins with the law, mostly petty theft charges, and had spent some time in a youth correctional facility. While he was there, he tested at a near genius level for electronics. According to Janet, Stephen was fascinated by electronics and mechanics, and he stole several radios, bringing them home and tearing them apart to understand how they worked. Stephen was also a hard worker. He was working two jobs before his murder. During the day, he worked as a delivery boy for Valley City Plumbing, and at night, he worked as a salesman at Jonas Miller Stereo. Stephen was saving up as much money as he could to help pay for school, which is what led him to the CLO Drive Home. On that August evening, Stephen met William Garrettson. While William was hitchhiking, william worked for Rudy Ottobello as the caretaker of the CLO drive home. Stephen stopped by the home to sell William a Sony Am FM digimatic clock radio. On his way to the guest house, Stephen saw Abigail Folger in her bedroom prepping for her birthday weekend. He continued on and saw Sharon Tate in her bedroom chatting with Jay Sebring about how excited she was for her husband to return and for them to bring their new son into the world. Stephen arrived at William's guest home around 11:45 p.m., william decided that he was not interested in purchasing the radio, but the two boys enjoyed a beer together before Stephen left. Around 12:15 a.m., Stephen got into his father's 1966 AMC Ambassador and began down the driveway to the gated entrance. He stopped to push the button to open the gate, and when he was met by a large man, Tex yelled Halt. And Stephen saw that he was carrying a. 22 revolver and a buck knife. Steven pleaded, quote please don't hurt me. I won't say anything, end quote, and raised his arm to protect himself. This was when tech slashed the watch from Stephen's wrist and shot him in cold blood. Stephen's body was found slumped over in the car without any identification. His family wasn't made aware of his death for 12 hours after. It was actually Steven's parish priest, Reverend Robert Byrne, who identified his body after he was informed by a reporter. The license plate of the car was never referenced against the Motor Vehicle Department records, which led to the delay. Finally, after the parents arrived home from dinner, they were contacted by a Los Angeles County deputy and told to contact the coroner. As they suspected Stephen was murdered. Stephen's father called and was later told by the coroner, quote Your son had apparently been involved in a shooting, end quote. Is he dead? His father asked. We have a body down here and we believe it's your son. Wilford began listing physical characteristics and the coroner confirmed it was Stephen. The parent family was outraged at the lack of coverage their son's death received. I would be too. Stephen was completely overshadowed by the other famous victims. When asked why it took so long to identify the next of kin, lieutenant Robert Madlock said at the time we first found the parent car at the scene, we were going over 14 different directions at once. So many things had to be done. I guess we just didn't have time to follow up on the car registration. Janet Parent has spoken at parole hearings for the Manson Family against a release. She spoke at Susan Atkins as well as Tex Watkins.
Amanda A: William Garrison was left alive and untouched in the attacks. He was arrested on suspicion of the crimes, but when questioned, he was unaware of the murders. He was found asleep in the guest home behind the main house. Police walked a shirtless William, by the bloodied bodies of Voitek Frykowski, abigail Folger and Stephen Parent. Originally, he claimed he did not hear any commotion outside as he was listening to music all night. He was given a polygraph test and was found clean in regards to not participating in the crimes, yet muddy as to him having heard anything. In July 1999, a televised program was released on e where William changed his story and claimed that he had actually seen and heard the attacks. He claimed to have heard fireworks coming from Stephen parents'car, but assumed that Stephen was playing a prank on him as he was leaving. He then heard a woman scream near the pool but assumed that the woman was being thrown into the pool. As it was a Friday night and the group was known to host parties. He did not elaborate as to why he withheld this information. Speculation and theories about William suggest that he was using drugs and did not want to be in trouble. He was the prime suspect in the case until his polygraph cleared him. It is worth noting that he was in custody during the La Bianca murders that occurred the night after the Tate murders. Initially, police did not connect the two crime scenes.
Kori: Pascalino Antonio La Bianca was born in Los Angeles, California to Italian immigrant parents Antonio and Karina. His family called him Lino. His father owned two grocery stores gateway Ranch Market and State Wholesale. Grocery company. His mother stayed home and cared for Leno and his two older sisters, Emma and Stella. In high school, Leno excelled. He was even able to skip a grade. He ran track and earned the nickname Flash. Leno worked and helped Gateway Ranch Markets. At the time, he was dating a girl named Alice Schofield. In 1940, Leno's father purchased a home on Waverly Drive and the family moved to the Los Felice district of La. Leno missing Alice forged his father's signature on a change of address form so he could return to Franklin High School and Ellis. After graduation, Leno enrolled in Los Angeles City College and began studying business administration. After one semester, he transferred to the University of Southern California and he made the switch from Gateway Ranch markets to State Wholesale grocery company. Around this time, World War II began and Leno was drafted into the army in November of 1943. In December of 1943, he became engaged to Alice and the couple were married in March of 1944. Leno served in Europe beginning in September of 1944 and returning home two years later. In March of 1946, the couple welcomed three children together karina Jane in the spring of 1948, anthony Carl, December of 1951 and Louise in September of 1955. Leno became the president of both grocery businesses. In 1951, after the passing of his father Antonio, he moved his growing family into the home on Waverley. But Alice and Leno had drifted apart. The couple were divorced and moved into separate apartments in 1955. Divorce didn't seem to stop Leno. He was pushing forward and focusing on his career. He sold State Wholesale Grocery Company and put all his time and effort into the expansion of Gateway Markets. He also graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in finance in 1958. Leno met Rosemary while she was working as a waitress. The couple married in 1960 in Caramel, California. He began to distance himself from the grocery business and filled his time with thoroughbred horses. It had always been Leno's dream to race and breed them. So he did. The couple purchased a home in Los Felice that had belonged to Walt Disney, but they sold that home a year before the murders. Leno then purchased his childhood home on Waverly Drive for his mother. Leno, Rosemary and her son Frank all moved into the home. While living in the home on Waverly, the family began noticing strange things. They would come home and items would be missing. One time they came home and their dogs were outside, but they knew they had left the dogs inside. This seemed to happen more and more during the summer of 1969. It was later learned that the Manson family had creepy crawled several homes in the area. A creepy crawl, as the Manson family called it, was their practice of secretly entering homes without harming anyone and leaving only trace evidence. They did this as a reminder that the sanctity of private at homes had been breached.
Amanda A: Isn't that creepy?
Kori: Yeah.
Amanda A: That would really unnerve me.
Kori: Right? You just come in and all your stuff's rearranged just enough that you're like, yeah, did I put my glasses there?
Amanda A: Right? Or to come home to your dogs.
Kori: Being out right when you knew you left them?
Amanda A: Right. Like, we never leave our dogs out. If we came home and our dogs were outside, clearly somebody was inside. Luna can only open the doors to go in. She can't open them to go out.
Kori: We leave our dogs inside too. Our dogs are kenneled because otherwise Franklin has separation anxiety and likes to throw a temper tantrum and peel on all our stuff.
Amanda A: Oh, that's mean.
Kori: Yeah. So he has to stay in a kennel.
Amanda A: What a little brat. Luna just graduated from hers.
Kori: Really? Yeah.
Amanda A: She's like not a baby anymore and she doesn't even have puppy food anymore. It's so sad to we used to.
Kori: Leave Franklin out, but then we would come home to pee. And so now yeah, it's like, sorry, buddy, now we have to stay in a cage and Benson stays in a cage. Their their show of solidarity. And then Dexter gets to stay out because he's like a hundred, so he does whatever he wants. He's an old man.
Amanda A: You be nice to my best friend Decky. Don't you call him an old man.
Kori: He is very old sometimes.
Amanda A: Don't say that.
Kori: Sometimes when we get home from places, he doesn't even know you're home until you go into the bedroom and you're like, excuse me, sir. He's like, oh, hey, fancy seeing you here. You guys are home.
Amanda A: That's funny.
Kori: But yeah, I would be real mad if I came home and found my dogs out.
Amanda A: Yeah, it's just creepy. Ruth Catherine Elliott didn't have a fairytale childhood. It's believed that she was born in Mexico on December 15, 1929. Her parents, who were said to be Americans, either abandoned her or died regardless. Ruth grew up in an orphanage until she was eight years old. Then she was adopted by a California couple and given the name Rosemary Harmon.
Kori: Okay, I have a little problem with that. She was eight. It's not like she was six months old and didn't really know her name. She had eight years of being Ruth.
Amanda A: Yeah. And they were no, you're Rosemary.
Kori: We're changing it to Rosemary.
Amanda A: Yeah.
Kori: That's very confusing.
Amanda A: Poor child, right. I know. An eight years in an orphanage is a really long time.
Kori: It really is.
Amanda A: In the late 1940s, rosemary met Frank struthers while she was working as a car hop at the brown derby drive in. The couple married shortly after. During their marriage, they welcomed two children a daughter named Susan, who was conceived out of an extramarital affair in 1948, and a son named Frank, who was born in 1955. By 1958, Rosemary and Frank's marriage was over, and they filed for divorce. A year later, she met Leno. Rosemary got along great with Leno's kids. The four children were all around the same age, and Karina, who they called Corey, really liked Rosemary's sense of style. Rosemary loved fashion. She had always had an eye for it. It was this love that led her to enter the business world. She took a 1957 Ford truck that was previously used for gateway markets and turned it into a mobile dress shop named boutique carriage. It was a huge success. Rosemary and her business partner opened a brick and mortar store within the gateway market plaza. They continued to offer the hottest trends, and the business flourished. Rosemary began investing her earnings in stocks and commodities, and in the snap of a finger, she became a self made millionaire. The break ins really began to scare the family. In May of 1969, just months before the murders, corey wrote in her diary, quote, we haven't had any more robberies, but every time I come home, I expect to either find someone in the house or something missing. I think the police have stopped working on the case and we haven't heard anything from the insurance company. End quote. On August 1969, leno, Rosemary and Susan drove to lake isabella to pick up Frank from a week long vacation with his friend. When they arrived, Frank was having so much fun that they decided he could return home the following day with his friend's family. After dropping Susan off and stopping at a newsstand, the couple arrived at the home on waverly drive around 01:00. A.m reports of Sharon Tate's murder riddled the newspapers. It was huge news. Rosemary was so upset that something so horrendous could happen so close to them. Leno ended up falling asleep in the living room while Rosemary went to sleep in her bedroom. And that, my friends, is where we're going to leave this episode. We'll pick back up with part four where we will discuss the crime scenes and the autopsies. Thank you so much for joining us today. Make sure that you send in your questions if you haven't already. Please subscribe so you can be notified every time we upload. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. We love doing listener shoutouts, so make sure you leave us a comment or a review. New episodes are released every Friday at 10:30, a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Please follow us on Instagram at Colorado Crimepod or on Facebook at the Colorado Crime Podcast or on YouTube at Colorado Crime Podcast. For information on next week's episode, as well as other true crime happenings, we hope that you have a beautiful day wherever you are, and as always, stay.
Kori: Safe until next time podcastians have the weekend you deserve and shout out to Brenda. Her birthday is on Friday. Thursday.
Amanda A: Happy birthday, Bren.
Kori: Yeah, her birthday is on the fifth, so Thursday. She'll be probably hearing this on Friday, so happy birthday, Brenda.
Amanda A: Happy birthday, Bren.
Kori: Happy birthday.
