40 years ago today. Manson murders.

Above: Charles Manson

In the early hours of August 9, 1969, actress Sharon Tate - wife of director Roman Polanski - and 5 other people (including Hollywood hairdresser Jay Sebring, Sharon's unborn child and Abigail Anne Folger, heir to the Folger coffee fortune) were horrifically slaughtered (that's to put it mildly) high atop Benedict Canyon, overlooking Bel Air, Californina, by members of the Charles Manson gang. The next day two more people were slaughtered. For three months the city of Los Angeles was in a death grip. Which celebrity or prominent person would be next?

There's a ton of information on the Internet about Manson and the killings. One of the better websites is Cielo Drive (the name of the street the house Tate was killed at). I've also blogged about Sharon before under "Women Celebs I Love" . Steve McQueen carried a gun to Jay Sebring's funeral. Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme is set to be paroled for trying to shoot President Gerald Ford. Manson wrote a song with Dennis Wilson and The Beach Boys. Fascinating stuff. Oh - don't forget Susan Atkins' artwork. Atkins was one of the killers - she helped kill Tate, wrote the infamous "PIG" on the door of the Cielo Drive house and then bragged to cellmates about the murders, which eventually led to Manson and the other's convictions.

Above: 10050 Cielo Drive, 1969.

If interested, here's a retrospect on the Manson murders from Newsweek, including an interview with chief prosecutor on the case, VincentBugliosi. I lived in Bel Air for seven years. The couple I worked for - their youngest son - his house was right next door to the property on Cielo Drive (still is, unless he moved). The original home that Tate and the others were murdered in was razed a number of years after the tragedy and this huge monstrosity of a mansion was built in it's place. On spec. No one will touch it. Even realtors. I've been up there. Eerie. I had wanted to go up and visit the property early this morning - see if I could "hear" or "see" anything - but I'm in Santa Barbara. Maybe it was better that I didn't.

I don't mean to give credence to this nut job, but I found this interesting video on Manson from a few years ago.