Some of the published photographs of Tate were allegedly taken at a Satanic ritual, but were later proven to have been production photographs from Eye of the Devil. Some newspapers began to speculate on the motives for the murders. Police accepted his explanation and he was allowed to leave.Ĭuriosity about the victims led to the re-release of Tate's films, achieving greater popularity than they had in their initial runs. Garretson said he had no involvement in the murders and did not know anything that could help the investigation. He said that Parent had visited him at approximately 11:30 p.m. As the first suspect, he was questioned and submitted to a polygraph test. Garretson lived in the guest house which was located on the property, but a short distance from the house, and not immediately visible. Police took the only survivor at the address, the caretaker William Garretson, for questioning. The coroner's report for Tate noted that she had been stabbed sixteen times, and that "five of the wounds were in and of themselves fatal". All of the victims, except Parent, had been stabbed numerous times. On the front lawn lay the bodies of Frykowski and Folger. Inside the house, the bodies of Tate and Sebring were found in the living room a long rope tied around each of their necks connected them. Police arrived at the scene to find the body of a young man, later identified as Steven Parent, shot dead in his car, which was in the driveway. In the evening, she went to her favorite restaurant, El Coyote, with Sebring, Frykowski and Folger, returning at about 10:30 p.m.ĭuring the night, they were murdered by members of Charles Manson's "family" and their bodies discovered the following morning by Tate's housekeeper, Winifred Chapman. Her younger sister, Debra, also called to ask if she and their sister, Patti, could spend the night with her, but Tate declined. In the afternoon, Polanski telephoned her.
She entertained two friends, actresses Joanna Pettet and Barbara Lewis, for lunch at her home, confiding in them her disappointment at Polanski's delay in returning from London. On August 8, 1969, Tate was two weeks from giving birth.