Helter Skelter: An American Myth

I'm nobody.

I'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo.

I'm a boxcar and a jug of wine.

You think that my mind is like your mind, but it isn't.

There's no need to feel guilty.

I haven't done anything I'm ashamed of.

Because we're outlaws.

Yeah, when you're in war, you're in war, mister.

Believe me, if I started murdering people,

there'd be none of you left.

- Friday night in Los Angeles,

a movie actress and four of her friends were murdered.

The circumstances were lurid.

- In a scene described by one investigator

as reminiscent of a weird religious rite...

- This was at the home of movie director Roman Polanski.

It was his wife... - Eight months pregnant.

- ...who was one of the victims.

- Bodies were scattered inside,

on the lawn and the driveway.

- The others were a male hairdresser,

the heiress to a coffee fortune, a writer,

and a boy just out of high school.

- A scene more tragic than any horror movie.

- Stunned the city and shocked the world.

- In all my years I have never seen anything

like this before.

- You all know it? - No.

- At 8:30 this morning, Winifred Chapman,

an employee, came to work at 10050 Cielo

and found several bodies in the house,

and immediately the police were notified.

The tentative identification of the persons are as follows.

Sharon Polanski,

Jay Sebring,

Wojciech Frykowski,

Abigail Folger,

and another man who is unknown.

- Where were the bodies found? All in one room?

- No, two of the bodies were found inside the house,

one in a vehicle, and two on the front lawn.

- We understand she was pregnant, is that correct?

- Yes, she is pregnant, but I'm not going to discuss how--

- Were any of the bodies badly mutilated?

- This I'd rather not discuss.

Was there anything scrawled

on the front door of that house in blood?

- I can't answer that question.

- Do you have any kind of an idea

of who might have done it?

Do you have any kind of APBs out, any suspects at all?

- No, the only person we have at this time is Mr. Garretson,

whom we are questioning, because he was on the premises

this morning when the maid arrived.

- Why is this case more complicated than other cases

that you can't comment?

What's the difference in this case?

- Well, how many cases and how many times do you have

five persons that are found murdered at the same time?

Living is what scares me.

Dying is easy.

- And a short time later, not far away,

a middle-aged couple was found murdered

in similar circumstances.

- The latest murders were discovered during the night.

The bodies of a man and his wife found in their home.

Leno LaBianca, a supermarket owner,

and his wife had both been stabbed to death,

repeated stab wounds.

On his body, the word "war" had been carved in the chest.

Then, with blood, the killer had scrawled the words

"death to pigs."

- Oh my God, it's happened again.

- The slaughter of innocent people.

- That set off a panic state in Los Angeles.

- People locked their doors at night.

People started arming themselves.

- We thought she was a British star.

Come to find out, she's an American all the time.

A beautiful young lady you're gonna be hearing a lot from.

She's in London filming "The Vampire Killers,"

a new film by director Roman Polanski.

Sharon Tate is the young lady's name.

- I was born in Dallas, Texas.

- And lived all of your life in America?

- Not really, I lived in Italy for four years.

- Why was that? - My dad's in the Army.

An Army brat made good, huh?

- Yeah, I try. - Oh, that's great.

And now you have a monster movie.

- And now--not really. - What's it called?

- It's called "The Vampire Killers," Roman Polanski.

Sharon?

Sharon?

Looking at him, not at me, okay?

- Looking at the husband? - Yeah.

- You know, uh-- - Yeah.

- Quiet in the back. - Turnover.

- During that period when I was in London,

I remember an instant when I was thinking,

"I'm happy now and I don't want anything else."

two top film folk got spliced,

and the present public turned out in force.

He is Polish-born director Roman Polanski.

She's American actress Sharon Tate.

And the huge public interest their wedding created

shows that the magic of motion pictures

is as strong today as ever.

After the ceremony at Chelsea Registry Office,

the mini-gowned bride and the mod-geared mate

made for the Playboy Club and a star-studded reception.

Bunnies lavished champagne

on some of the top names in show business.

Michael Caine keeping company

with very dishy Candice Bergen.

The bride will keep working.

Hubby says he wants a hippie, not a housewife.

That was the only serious

Tony Newley got the star set really shaking.

- California. Mean temperature 73 degrees.

The sun that never quits.

It acts on the unburned hydrocarbons

and oxides of nitrogen from auto exhaust.

Los Angeles County, with four million cars

and the odd bike suffers most because it's in a basin.

The breezes are balmy.

There's nothing to stir up that brown cloud

that can make your eyes tear.

85% of it attributed to cars.

The more general effect, our whole climate is warming up

because there's so much carbon dioxide in the air.

It's so heavy that it prevents the radiation of heat

from the Earth's surface.

Ahh, breathe in, city folk.

- This is where they lived, among the stables, barns,

and phony buildings of an old,

run-down movie location 20 miles from Los Angeles.

They called themselves "The Family."

- Back and forth, lugging their sleeping bags.

They just lived anywhere they felt like it.

With they're family.

- They were constantly taking dope,

and they just sit around all day

and sleep and got loaded.

- Police said they were a pseudo-religious cult.

The family's leader, Charles Manson--

- He's a good person. A very good person.

He's got a lot of peace.

- He was introduced to us as their idol and leader,

and he was always interested in music.

And everywhere he went, some of the girls kinda followed him

and laughed and talk and sang.

- Well, when I first met him, the man talked to me,

and he says, "Why don't you come up?"

"and the rules are that, you know, there is no rules."

"You just look at it, and just be beautiful with it,

and it's just beautiful to you."

- Yeah. - You know, and I love him.

His so-called power, which is-it only lies in his happiness.

That's what attracts people is he's completely happy.

- And warm. - Gentle.

He dances, he sings, he looks beautiful,

he looks happy, and this draws a lot of people,

just like people are drawn to little babies.

- That's all there is, that's all there is,

is brothers and sisters,

and Charles Manson is your brother.

- Morning. - Why?

- Sun's shining this morning. - It is.

- Yeah. - Well, what are your plans?

I have none.

Going to the desert.

- Desert? - Yeah.

- So you were 14, 15, 16 during that time?

I met him when I was 14.

He was kind of impish and playful, you know?

He could be funny.

He was in the circle playing music,

and he got up and offered me his root beer,

and gave me a big hug,

and "Come, join us in the circle."

We, you know, "We've been waiting for you."

It just all ended up seeming,

you know, like providence or something.

Spahn Ranch had been a movie set for lots of westerns.

And when we first saw it, that's what it was.

It was kind of a run-down movie set.

The corral was way to the left and there was a big barn.

There was the jail and there was a big saloon.

But there were rooms behind them.

And then there was the kitchen.

There was a band of, like, we called them outlaw shacks.

And then all the way to the right was George's house.

He was blind, and it definitely showed.

You know, the house was in as bad disrepair as,

you know, the facade.

It needed paint, inside and out.

And we cleaned.

You know, there was always tons of sweeping to do.

We mucked out the stalls.