Fifty-one years ago today Cincinnatians awoke to the news of not one, but two, forces of nature. One in their backyard the other across the country in Los Angeles, California. Not only were they able to see photos of the extensive damage around the area after experiencing an overnight tornado but they were also alerted to the grisly details of the murder of actress Sharon Tate along with four others. The bodies of the five victims had been discovered at Tate’s home on Cielo Drive in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles.
Eventually this case, featured here as a cover story, would become the first in a pair of absolutely brutal slayings commited by Charles Manson’s devoted followers often referred to as the “Manson Family.” These murders are known as the Tate–LaBianca murders and were named for Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Tate was one of five people murdered at her home on Cielo Drive during the overnight hours of August 8–9, 1969. Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were a married couple, who would also suffer the same fate the following evening in their home on Waverly Drive. The anniversary of which happens to be fifty-one years ago, tonight.
Two seperate crime scenes, just a day apart, that are described as some of the most horrific ever seen by investigators and will forever go down in the annals of true crime as truly grotesque and inhumane.
A force of nature is defined as a mighty natural force which is beyond human control or a thing or person that exhibits qualities which appear to be beyond outside control.
On that day Cincinnatians were reminded of two dangerous forces of nature, both the tornadic variety and one propagated by our own native son, Charles Manson. He was born right here in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 12, 1934.
You can check out my stories on both the Tate and LaBianca murders linked here:
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