# Sharon Tate Murder **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115 "2003-02-28T13:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/1 "2003-02-28T13:25:07Z")
Why did the Manson Gang murder Sharon Tate? I mean, besides the fact that they were nutballs. What was their twisted logic in killing her? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/2 "2003-02-28T13:34:12Z")
IIRC, the group was killing white people to incite a race war. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/3 "2003-02-28T13:42:20Z")
Additionally, Manson had been to the house before when it was occupied by Terry Melcher (Doris Day’s step son), who had told Manson that he (Manson) didn’t have the talent to make it as a singer/songwriter. IIRC, the fact that Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and the other victims were there was completely coincidental - they just happened to be in the house. The LaBianca murders were completely random. ---
**Author:** ![zigaretten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@zigaretten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zigaretten)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/4 "2003-02-28T14:18:32Z")
Well, here’s another take on it…………….on July 31 a good friend of Manson named Bobby Beausoleil (he was a member of Manson’s band) murdered a small time drug dealer by the name of Gary Hinman and, for reasons of his own, wrote the words “POLITICAL PIGGY” on the wall in blood. Beausoleil was arrested a couple of days later, mostly because he was stupid enough to be driving around in the victim’s car. A few days later (August 9 and 10) Manson and his folks kill the “Tates” and LaBiancas and write weird stuff on the wall in blood. Manson says they did it in order to convince the police that the Hinman murder was the work of some sort of serial killer (or killers) and thus free Bobby Beausoleil. The D.A. has his weird “race war” theory. Though believing Charles Manson is, in general, probably not a good idea; I’ve never been able to buy into the D.A.’s theory. So in this case, I tend to believe Manson. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/5 "2003-02-28T14:38:57Z")
As an aside to this I’ll relate an excerpt from an interview Tom Snyder did with Charles Manson a few years back. Manson told Snyder that he never killed anyone, and that he never ordered than anyone be killed. Said Manson, “If I started killing people, there wouldn’t be any of you left.” He said it with the straightest face and with the utmost conviction, but without the slight bit of drama or emotion. It was just as if he had said “It sure is cold in here.”. It was a really terrifying moment that someone could have that much hate in his soul. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/6 "2003-02-28T14:53:28Z")
I went to high school with the kid that was caretaker at the estate. He had slept through the whole thing in his cottage at the back of the property. He was arrested and then released. He won a pretty good sized lawsuit but blew all the money in the same fashion as a lot of rock stars at the time. Ya know how the 60’s were!!! ---
**Author:** ![TheLadyLion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d78d45/32.png) [@TheLadyLion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLadyLion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/7 "2003-02-28T15:23:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zigaretten \* > \*\*Manson says they did it in order to convince the police that the Hinman murder was the work of some sort of serial killer (or killers) and thus free Bobby Beausoleil. The D.A. has his weird ?race war? theory. Though believing Charles Manson is, in general, probably not a good idea; I?ve never been able to buy into the D.A.?s theory. So in this case, I tend to believe Manson. \*\* Well, according to “Helter Skelter,” written by Vincent Bugliosi, the aforementioned DA, Manson’s belief in the impending race war (which was apparently called Helter Skelter) was commonly discussed around the campfire at Spahn’s Ranch, where Manson and his group lived. There were a few females who had lived there and who were witnesses for the prosecution, including one of the women involved in the getaway after the Labianca murders. Both verified his talk about starting a race war, hiding out in the desert until it was all over with, then re-emerging to lead the world order. (Hey, nobody has EVER said Manson wasn’t a bit delusional… let’s be honest, he fancied himself a God-figure) So it never came across to me that this was solely Bugliosi’s theory. From what I remember, he had a hard time believing it himself, and wondered if a jury would buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharon-tate-murder/158115/8 "2003-02-28T18:39:09Z")
In Susan Atkins’ autobiography she says the same thing **zigaretten** said, that they were trying to imitate the Hinman murder so Beausoleil would look innocent. I think she said they wanted to make it look like black people had done it, but just to get Beausoleil off the hook, not to start a race war.