The sister of the ‘Manson Family’ victim Sharon Tate has revealed she said ‘a prayer for his soul’ after learning that cult leader Charles Manson had died.
Manson, who died of natural causes aged 83 on Sunday, masterminded a savage killing spree in the late 1960s in Los Angeles that shocked the world.
News of his death was confirmed by Debra Tate, the sister of his most famous victim, actress Sharon Tate who was pregnant with film director Roman Polanski’s baby when she was stabbed to death by his followers in 1969.
Debra Tate (left), the sister of Charles Manson’s most famous victim, Sharon Tate, said that she said ‘a prayer for his soul’ after learning that the cult leader had died in prison on Sunday. Sharon Tate (right) was brutally murdered by Manson’s followers in 1969
Tate said she received a call from a prison official informing her of Manson’s death.
She said she has never wished ill will on the convicted killers, adding that she will ask for ‘forgiveness’ on Manson’s soul, as she did when cult member Susan Atkins of brain cancer died in 2009.
Tate was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with film director Roman Polanski’s baby when she was stabbed to death
‘My cross in my bedroom still has the flowers that I slipped into Jesus’s feet when Susan died,’ she told People. ‘I cried a tear and I asked for forgiveness on her soul. I’ll do the same thing when Charlie dies.’
Tate said that she is determined to keep Manson’s followers behind bars, but believes that God will take care of their souls when they die.
‘These are sociopaths,’ she says. ‘They’re no less violent today than they were then.’
Manson died from natural causes at 8.13pm on Sunday at a Kern County hospital, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Earlier this week it was reported he was on his death bed in hospital and sources claimed ‘it’s just a matter of time.’
The 83-year-old had been behind bars for more than four decades, since 1969, after he ordered members of his cult – which he dubbed ‘the family’ – to go on a murderous two-day rampage.
Three of followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten killed seven people: pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Steven Parent and Jay Sebring.
Cult leader Charles Manson (pictured left in August 2017 and right in October 2014) has died aged 83
Charles Manson is being escorted to his arraignment in 1969 and remained behind bars until his death
He had ordered his family members to slaughter Tate, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and three of her friends at her home above Beverly Hills.
Stephen Parent was a fifth unfortunate victim that night. He had driven to the property to see if caretaker William Garreston wanted to buy his AM/FM Clock radio, and had stayed on for a beer at the guest house. He was shot multiple times when he wound down the window at the electric gate as he left.
The following night the Family butchered small business owners Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, in their home in Los Angeles.
The murders were carried out in upscale, mostly white neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to blame the crimes on African Americans, in the hope of sparking what he termed a ‘Helter Skelter’ race war.
Manson was also later convicted of the slayings of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald ‘Shorty’ Shea.
Victims: (top row left to right) Voytech Frykowski, Sharon Tate, Stephen Parent, (middle row left to right) Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Gary Hinman, (bottom row left to right) Leno LaBianca, Rosemary LaBianca, Donald Shea.
Manson and three of his followers, Susan Atkins (left), Patricia Krenwinkle (center) and Leslie Van Houten (right) killed seven people: pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Steven Parent and Jay Sebring
She said she has never wished ill will on the convicted killers, adding that she will ask for ‘forgiveness’ on Manson’s soul, as she did when cult member Susan Atkins of brain cancer died in 2009. Atkins is pictured above before her death
‘Each one of these people and myself now have are spirits or our wills are slightly entangled,’ Tate told People of Manson and his followers.
Tate, the only surviving member of her family, attends all Manson-related parole bids and led efforts to block parole for Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who was sentenced life in prison for helping kill Rosemary and Leno La Bianca.
Although Van Houten denied she was there the night Sharon Tate was murdered, Debra stood with members of the La Bianca family as they turned in copies of petitions to block her parole in June of 2016.
Van Houten admitted during her parole hearing she would have killed babies if Charles Manson had given her that order.
Manson was convicted of murder even though he did not physically take part in the crimes.
Prosecutors proved he incited his followers to commit the murders though.Manson and his ‘family’, including Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Van Houten were sentenced to death in 1971 for the Tate-LaBianca murders.
The sentences were later commuted to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty.