Leno LaBianca
Encyclopedia
Pasqualino Antonio "Leno" LaBianca (August 6, 1925 – August 10, 1969) and his wife Rosemary LaBianca (December 15, 1930 – August 10, 1969) were victims of the Manson Family murders
.
to parents who divorced. Her birth name was Ruth Katherine Elliott. Her mother took her and her brother, William, to live with her, and her father took her two older sisters.
However, her mother was not able to support her two children and placed them in an adoption home. Ruth and her brother were separated at the adoption home when Ruth, age 8, was adopted by the Harmons, a California couple in Fullerton
, who had lost their own daughter to disease. The Harmons renamed her, after their deceased daughter, and thus Ruth became Rosemary.
Rosemary eventually met a man named Frank Struthers and the couple married in 1953, a union that produced two children, Suzan and Frank Jr. Rosemary and Frank divorced in 1956.
Rosemary met Leno LaBianca in 1959 while working at the Los Feliz Inn.
, California to Italian
immigrant parents. He was called Leno by his family. His father, Antonio, owned two grocery businesses: Gateway Ranch Markets and State Wholesale Grocery Company. The latter purchased food at wholesale
prices and distributed it to a group of grocers. LaBianca's mother, Corina, stayed at home taking care of Leno and his two older sisters, Emma and Stella. At Franklin High School
, Leno was an exceptional student, which led him to skip a grade. He was also active in his school's track
team, earning him the nickname "Flash." People constantly mispronounced Lino's name, so he decided to change the spelling from "i" to "e." From then on, he was known as "Leno." Outside of school, Leno worked for his father at Gateway Ranch Markets and spent time with his girlfriend, Alice Skolfield.
In 1940, Leno's father bought a house on Waverly Drive and moved the family to the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. Leno, missing his girlfriend Alice, forged his father's name on a change of address form and went back to Franklin High School to be with Alice.
After graduation, Leno enrolled in Los Angeles City College
studying Business Administration and began working for State Wholesale Grocery Company. After one semester at Los Angeles City College, Leno transferred to the University of Southern California
and went to work at Gateway Ranch Markets.
In November 1943, Leno was inducted into the Army
. The following month, he and Alice became engaged, and were married in March 1944. In September, LaBianca was ordered to Europe to serve in World War II
. He returned home in March 1946.
Leno and Alice's first child, Corina Jane LaBianca, was born in the spring of 1948. In 1951, Leno was elected to the Board of Directors and was named Vice President of both Gateway Markets and State Wholesale Grocery Company. That December, Leno and Alice had their first son, Anthony Carl LaBianca. The same year, LaBianca's father, Antonio, died making Leno the President of both grocery companies. He then moved his family into the house on Waverly Drive.
By 1955, Leno and Alice had grown apart and separated in January. Both moved out of the Waverly Drive house and found apartments in the Los Feliz area. In September, Leno became a father for the third time when Alice gave birth to Louise LaBianca. Alice and Leno officially divorced in 1955.
with a degree
in finance
. In 1958, LaBianca met Rosemary while she was working as a waitress. The two fell in love and were married in 1960 in Carmel, California.
Leno had begun living out his dream of breeding and racing thoroughbred horses and began distancing himself from the grocery business. In 1967, Rosemary and a partner began a successful high-end women's clothier
called the Boutique Carriage. The couple bought a home in Los Feliz that was previously owned by Walt Disney
, but sold it in 1968. The same year, Leno bought the Waverly Drive home that he had grown up in from his mother and settled in with Rosemary and her son, Frank.
In the summer of 1969, a number of odd occurrences frightened the LaBiancas. The couple noticed when they returned from being away, items from their home were missing and their dogs were outside the house when they had been left inside. It was later learned that Manson and his "family" members had "creepy-crawled" several houses in the area while the residents were away.
to pick up Rosemary's 15-year-old son Frank, who was spending a week vacationing with a friend. Earlier in the week, Leno had driven up to the lake and dropped off his boat for the boys to use. Frank was having such a good time that the LaBiancas decided to let him stay another day and return to Los Angeles
with his friend's family. At around 9 p.m., Leno, Rosemary and Suzan left Lake Isabella and headed back to Los Angeles.
On August 10, 1969, around 1 a.m., the LaBiancas arrived in Los Angeles. After dropping off Suzan at her Los Feliz apartment, they stopped at a newsstand on the corner of Hillhurst and Franklin streets. Leno, a regular customer, was recognized by the newsstand owner, John Fokianos, who readied a copy of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Sunday edition, and a racing form. Fokianos and Leno briefly discussed the Tate murders, which had occurred the previous night. Sharon Tate
, an actress and pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski
, had been murdered along with four others in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 9, 1969 at her home on 10050 Cielo Drive
in Benedict Canyon. Talk of the recent murders disturbed Rosemary. Fokianos was the last person, aside from the killers, to see the LaBiancas alive. After arriving home, Rosemary retired to her bedroom, while Leno fell asleep in the living room while reading the sports page.
, the leader of the Manson "family," orchestrated the murders for the sake of Helter Skelter
, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks
and whites
. Displeased with the previous night's messy events at the Tate residence, Manson insisted on accompanying the next Helter Skelter mission, which he scheduled for August 10. The four "family" members who had participated in the Tate murders, Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins
, Patricia Krenwinkel
and Linda Kasabian
, were again summoned by Manson along with another Family member Leslie Van Houten
. Manson ordered Kasabian to cruise the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, in search of potential victims, before settling on the home of the LaBiancas.
Manson had a previous connection to Waverly Drive. In March 1968, Manson and other "family" members had attended a party at the home of Harold True. True's house was located at 3267 Waverly Drive, next door to 3301 Waverly Drive, the LaBianca's house.
In the early morning hours of August 10, 1969, Manson family members entered the LaBianca house. Manson and Watson awoke a sleeping Leno LaBianca, on the couch in his living room, at gunpoint. Leno was assured by Manson and Watson that he would not be hurt and that they only intended to rob him. Manson removed a leather thong from his neck and had Watson use it to tie up Leno's hands. Leno was then asked if there was anyone else in the house. He told Manson and Watson that his wife, Rosemary, was in the bedroom. Manson went to the bedroom and awoke Rosemary. He allowed her to put a dress on over her nightgown before leading her into the living room where Watson had Leno tied up. Manson and Watson reassured the couple that they wouldn't be hurt, and were just being robbed. After collecting all the cash in the house, Manson ordered Watson to take Rosemary back to her bedroom where Watson placed a pillowcase over her head, wound a lamp cord around her head, and gagged her with the lamp cord. He told her to stay quiet and remain in the room. Watson returned to the living room and Manson then left the house. Within a few minutes, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel entered the residence and were instructed by Watson to go to the bedroom.
Watson then began stabbing Leno repeatedly, only stopping briefly when Leno screamed, "Stop stabbing me!" Rosemary, hearing her husband screaming, began screaming and flailing around the room, still blinded by the pillowcase on her head. Krenwinkel and Van Houten called Watson for help. Watson left the badly bleeding Leno in the living room, and entered the bedroom to find Rosemary swinging the lamp still attached to the cord used to gag her. Tex lunged forward and stabbed her until she fell to the floor. By the time the stabbing ended, Watson, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten had stabbed Rosemary 41 times.
Leno was still alive when Watson came back to the living room and the stabbing resumed. After Watson finished stabbing Leno, one of the family members carved the word "WAR" into Leno's stomach. Krenwinkel then stabbed him a number of times and left a carving fork protruding from his stomach, and a steak knife from his throat. The girls then wrote messages in Leno's blood. "Death to pigs" and "Rise" were written on the living room wall, and "Healter Skelter" [sic
] was written on the refrigerator door.
After the murders, the family members remained at the house. Some ate food from the LaBianca's refrigerator, played with the couple's dogs and showered before hitchhiking back to the Spahn Ranch
.
Leno LaBianca was buried in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, August 16, 1969. Rosemary LaBianca was cremated the same day. Her ashes were taken to Africa.
officially announced no link between the Tate and LaBianca murders.
In late August 1969, several members of the "family" were arrested for suspicion of auto theft. The charges were dropped and "family" members were released. However, Susan Atkins remained behind bars for questioning about her role in the murder of music teacher Gary Hinman. While in jail, Atkins began boasting to fellow inmates about her involvement in the still unsolved Tate murders. Eventually two of the inmates, Virginia Graham and Veronica "Ronnie" Howard, informed prison officials of her claims. In December 1969, Atkins provided testimony before a grand jury
about the Tate-LaBianca murders in exchange for immunity from the death penalty.
Manson, who was already in jail for receiving stolen property, was indicted on sexual charges. "Family" members Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten were arrested and indicted for their part in the murders. Linda Kasabian, who was present both nights, but did not participate in murdering the victims, turned state's evidence
in exchange for immunity.
On June 15, 1970, Charles Manson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten, and Susan Atkins went on trial for the murders of the LaBiancas along with the victims at the Tate residence. Throughout the trial, the defendants were repeatedly banned from the courtroom for their outbursts and refusal to abide by the judge’s orders. Manson and his co-defendants were found guilty on January 25, 1971. Under California
law, a second trial or penalty phase before the same jury then began to determine sentencing. After two months of testimony
, the jury agreed with the prosecution's argument for the death penalty. On March 29, 1971, Manson, Krenwinkel and Van Houten were sentenced to death.
Susan Atkins also received the death penalty despite her initial agreement to testify for the prosecution. Prosecutors lost Atkins' cooperation in March 1970, three months before the case came to trial. After a brief meeting with Manson in jail, she retracted her confession and declared that she had invented the story implicating him, Krenwinkel and Van Houten before the grand jury.
On October 2, 1969, Charles "Tex" Watson had fled the ranch and headed back to his home state of Texas
. On November 30, 1969, Watson was arrested in Texas for the Tate-LaBianca murders. He and his lawyers fought the extradition
back to California for nine months. Upon returning to California, Tex began regressing to a childlike state. He stopped talking and eating, dropping 55 pounds. He was admitted to Atascadero State Hospital
for a 90 day observation period to determine if he was able to stand trial. He stayed there until February 1970 when he was deemed able to stand trial.
On October 12, 1971, Watson was convicted of seven counts of first degree murder
and one count conspiracy
to commit murder. A week later, the same jury took only two and a half hours to determine that Watson was sane
at the time of the murders. On October 21, Watson was sentenced to the gas chamber
.
. Their sentences were among those commuted to life imprisonment
when the state of California temporarily outlawed the death penalty on February 18, 1972, in the case of California v. Anderson
.
In 1976, Leslie Van Houten's murder conviction in the Tate-LaBianca trial was overturned by a state appellate court
on the grounds that Judge Older
erred in not granting Van Houten's motion for a mistrial following the disappearance of her attorney, Ronald Hughes
(Hughes' badly decomposed body was found in early 1971. He was allegedly murdered by Manson family members). Van Houten's first retrial ended in a hung jury
. Released on bond for a few months, Van Houten lived with a former writer for the Christian Science Monitor. She was tried a third time in 1978, and convicted of first degree murder after the jury rejected her defense of diminished capacity
as the result of prolonged use of hallucinogenic drugs.
hearing, telling the parole board that because of Watson's newfound Christianity
, he was a new man, no longer dangerous and should be released. Sharon Tate's mother, Doris Tate
, and other members of the LaBianca family made it clear that Suzanne wasn't speaking for the rest of the victims' families. Watson has been denied parole 13 times and remains in a California prison.
In 1999, Angela Smaldino became the first member of the LaBianca family to attend a parole hearing for Leslie Van Houten. In 2000, she was joined by her brother Louis Smaldino and another relative John DiSantis, who accompanied her to the hearing and made statements against Van Houten's release. Van Houten has been denied parole 19 times and remains in the California Institution for Women
in Chino, California
.
Manson and Krenwinkel also remain incarcerated in California for their roles in the Tate-LaBianca murders. Both have been considered for parole numerous times, but they have been denied repeatedly. Atkins remained imprisoned until her death from brain cancer on September 24, 2009.
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
.
Rosemary LaBianca
Rosemary LaBianca was born in ArizonaArizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
to parents who divorced. Her birth name was Ruth Katherine Elliott. Her mother took her and her brother, William, to live with her, and her father took her two older sisters.
However, her mother was not able to support her two children and placed them in an adoption home. Ruth and her brother were separated at the adoption home when Ruth, age 8, was adopted by the Harmons, a California couple in Fullerton
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
, who had lost their own daughter to disease. The Harmons renamed her, after their deceased daughter, and thus Ruth became Rosemary.
Rosemary eventually met a man named Frank Struthers and the couple married in 1953, a union that produced two children, Suzan and Frank Jr. Rosemary and Frank divorced in 1956.
Rosemary met Leno LaBianca in 1959 while working at the Los Feliz Inn.
Leno LaBianca
Pasqualino Antonio LaBianca was born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California to Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
immigrant parents. He was called Leno by his family. His father, Antonio, owned two grocery businesses: Gateway Ranch Markets and State Wholesale Grocery Company. The latter purchased food at wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
prices and distributed it to a group of grocers. LaBianca's mother, Corina, stayed at home taking care of Leno and his two older sisters, Emma and Stella. At Franklin High School
Franklin High School (Los Angeles)
Benjamin Franklin High School is a public high school in the Highland Park neighborhood, approximately seven miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, California, United States...
, Leno was an exceptional student, which led him to skip a grade. He was also active in his school's track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
team, earning him the nickname "Flash." People constantly mispronounced Lino's name, so he decided to change the spelling from "i" to "e." From then on, he was known as "Leno." Outside of school, Leno worked for his father at Gateway Ranch Markets and spent time with his girlfriend, Alice Skolfield.
In 1940, Leno's father bought a house on Waverly Drive and moved the family to the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. Leno, missing his girlfriend Alice, forged his father's name on a change of address form and went back to Franklin High School to be with Alice.
After graduation, Leno enrolled in Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
studying Business Administration and began working for State Wholesale Grocery Company. After one semester at Los Angeles City College, Leno transferred to the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and went to work at Gateway Ranch Markets.
In November 1943, Leno was inducted into the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. The following month, he and Alice became engaged, and were married in March 1944. In September, LaBianca was ordered to Europe to serve in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He returned home in March 1946.
Leno and Alice's first child, Corina Jane LaBianca, was born in the spring of 1948. In 1951, Leno was elected to the Board of Directors and was named Vice President of both Gateway Markets and State Wholesale Grocery Company. That December, Leno and Alice had their first son, Anthony Carl LaBianca. The same year, LaBianca's father, Antonio, died making Leno the President of both grocery companies. He then moved his family into the house on Waverly Drive.
By 1955, Leno and Alice had grown apart and separated in January. Both moved out of the Waverly Drive house and found apartments in the Los Feliz area. In September, Leno became a father for the third time when Alice gave birth to Louise LaBianca. Alice and Leno officially divorced in 1955.
Later years
After his divorce, Leno decided to sell the wholesale business that he had inherited from his father and focus on the expansion of Gateway Markets. During that time, he also graduated from USCUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
with a degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
. In 1958, LaBianca met Rosemary while she was working as a waitress. The two fell in love and were married in 1960 in Carmel, California.
Leno had begun living out his dream of breeding and racing thoroughbred horses and began distancing himself from the grocery business. In 1967, Rosemary and a partner began a successful high-end women's clothier
Clothier
Clothier may refer to one of the following professions:*Tailor - the most common modern usage*Cloth merchant*A cloth manufacturer - see cloth productionAs a surname, Clothier may refer to one of the following individuals:...
called the Boutique Carriage. The couple bought a home in Los Feliz that was previously owned by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, but sold it in 1968. The same year, Leno bought the Waverly Drive home that he had grown up in from his mother and settled in with Rosemary and her son, Frank.
In the summer of 1969, a number of odd occurrences frightened the LaBiancas. The couple noticed when they returned from being away, items from their home were missing and their dogs were outside the house when they had been left inside. It was later learned that Manson and his "family" members had "creepy-crawled" several houses in the area while the residents were away.
August 1969
On August 9, 1969, the LaBiancas, along with Rosemary's daughter, Suzan, drove to Lake IsabellaLake Isabella
Lake Isabella is a reservoir in Kern County, California created by the earthen Isabella Dam. It was formed in 1953 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Kern River at the junction of its two forks at Whiskey Flat. At 11,000 acres , it is one of the larger reservoirs in California...
to pick up Rosemary's 15-year-old son Frank, who was spending a week vacationing with a friend. Earlier in the week, Leno had driven up to the lake and dropped off his boat for the boys to use. Frank was having such a good time that the LaBiancas decided to let him stay another day and return to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with his friend's family. At around 9 p.m., Leno, Rosemary and Suzan left Lake Isabella and headed back to Los Angeles.
On August 10, 1969, around 1 a.m., the LaBiancas arrived in Los Angeles. After dropping off Suzan at her Los Feliz apartment, they stopped at a newsstand on the corner of Hillhurst and Franklin streets. Leno, a regular customer, was recognized by the newsstand owner, John Fokianos, who readied a copy of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Sunday edition, and a racing form. Fokianos and Leno briefly discussed the Tate murders, which had occurred the previous night. Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
, an actress and pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
, had been murdered along with four others in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 9, 1969 at her home on 10050 Cielo Drive
10050 Cielo Drive
The original home located at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California, has been occupied by many famous Hollywood figures, and was the scene of one of the Manson "family" murders. The house was designed by Robert Byrd in 1942 for French actress Michèle Morgan...
in Benedict Canyon. Talk of the recent murders disturbed Rosemary. Fokianos was the last person, aside from the killers, to see the LaBiancas alive. After arriving home, Rosemary retired to her bedroom, while Leno fell asleep in the living room while reading the sports page.
The Murders
Charles MansonCharles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
, the leader of the Manson "family," orchestrated the murders for the sake of Helter Skelter
Helter Skelter (Manson scenario)
The murders perpetrated by members of Charles Manson's "Family" were inspired in part by Manson's prediction of Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks and whites...
, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
and whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
. Displeased with the previous night's messy events at the Tate residence, Manson insisted on accompanying the next Helter Skelter mission, which he scheduled for August 10. The four "family" members who had participated in the Tate murders, Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins
Susan Atkins
Susan Denise Atkins was a convicted American murderer who was a member of the "Manson family", led by Charles Manson. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969...
, Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel is an American convicted killer and a former member of Charles Manson's murderous commune, known as "the Family". During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as "Big Patty", "Yellow", and "Mary Ann Scott", but to The Family she was most...
and Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian is a former member of Charles Manson's "family". She was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecution of Manson and his followers for the Tate-LaBianca murders, one of the highest-profile murder trials in American history.-Early life:Born as Linda Darlene...
, were again summoned by Manson along with another Family member Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Louise Van Houten is a former member of Charles Manson's "Family" who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.-Life with Manson:...
. Manson ordered Kasabian to cruise the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, in search of potential victims, before settling on the home of the LaBiancas.
Manson had a previous connection to Waverly Drive. In March 1968, Manson and other "family" members had attended a party at the home of Harold True. True's house was located at 3267 Waverly Drive, next door to 3301 Waverly Drive, the LaBianca's house.
In the early morning hours of August 10, 1969, Manson family members entered the LaBianca house. Manson and Watson awoke a sleeping Leno LaBianca, on the couch in his living room, at gunpoint. Leno was assured by Manson and Watson that he would not be hurt and that they only intended to rob him. Manson removed a leather thong from his neck and had Watson use it to tie up Leno's hands. Leno was then asked if there was anyone else in the house. He told Manson and Watson that his wife, Rosemary, was in the bedroom. Manson went to the bedroom and awoke Rosemary. He allowed her to put a dress on over her nightgown before leading her into the living room where Watson had Leno tied up. Manson and Watson reassured the couple that they wouldn't be hurt, and were just being robbed. After collecting all the cash in the house, Manson ordered Watson to take Rosemary back to her bedroom where Watson placed a pillowcase over her head, wound a lamp cord around her head, and gagged her with the lamp cord. He told her to stay quiet and remain in the room. Watson returned to the living room and Manson then left the house. Within a few minutes, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel entered the residence and were instructed by Watson to go to the bedroom.
Watson then began stabbing Leno repeatedly, only stopping briefly when Leno screamed, "Stop stabbing me!" Rosemary, hearing her husband screaming, began screaming and flailing around the room, still blinded by the pillowcase on her head. Krenwinkel and Van Houten called Watson for help. Watson left the badly bleeding Leno in the living room, and entered the bedroom to find Rosemary swinging the lamp still attached to the cord used to gag her. Tex lunged forward and stabbed her until she fell to the floor. By the time the stabbing ended, Watson, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten had stabbed Rosemary 41 times.
Leno was still alive when Watson came back to the living room and the stabbing resumed. After Watson finished stabbing Leno, one of the family members carved the word "WAR" into Leno's stomach. Krenwinkel then stabbed him a number of times and left a carving fork protruding from his stomach, and a steak knife from his throat. The girls then wrote messages in Leno's blood. "Death to pigs" and "Rise" were written on the living room wall, and "Healter Skelter" [sic
Sic
Sic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...
] was written on the refrigerator door.
After the murders, the family members remained at the house. Some ate food from the LaBianca's refrigerator, played with the couple's dogs and showered before hitchhiking back to the Spahn Ranch
Spahn Ranch
Spahn Ranch, also known as the Spahn Movie Ranch, was a movie ranch used for filming generally Western-themed movies and television programs. With mountainous terrain, boulder-strewn scenery, and an 'old Western town' set, Spahn Ranch was a versatile filming site for many scripts...
.
Discovery
The following evening, Rosemary's son Frank returned from Lake Isabella and was dropped off at the house on Waverly Drive. He became concerned, however, when he noticed that all of the shades in the windows were drawn and neither his mother nor stepfather answered the front door. He called his older sister Suzan from a pay phone at a nearby hamburger stand, expressing concern. Suzan and her boyfriend picked up Frank at the hamburger stand and the three, upon arriving at the home, became further worried by the fact that Leno's boat was parked on the street instead of the driveway. They felt this to be out of Leno's character, and they gained entry to the house through a side door. Inside the kitchen, they saw the misspelled phrase "Healter Skelter" written in blood on the front of the refrigerator. Suzan remained in the kitchen, while her boyfriend and Frank went into the living room. In the living room they found Leno, bound, gagged and stabbed to death. They immediately fled the house and called the police from a neighbor's home. Police officers responding to the call entered the house and subsequently discovered Rosemary LaBianca, also stabbed to death, in the master bedroom.Leno LaBianca was buried in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, August 16, 1969. Rosemary LaBianca was cremated the same day. Her ashes were taken to Africa.
Trials and convictions
Initially, the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were not linked to the Tate murders. The difference in lifestyles, circles of friends and lack of any apparent connection were important factors in the decision to split up the investigation. On August 12, 1969, the LAPDLos Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
officially announced no link between the Tate and LaBianca murders.
In late August 1969, several members of the "family" were arrested for suspicion of auto theft. The charges were dropped and "family" members were released. However, Susan Atkins remained behind bars for questioning about her role in the murder of music teacher Gary Hinman. While in jail, Atkins began boasting to fellow inmates about her involvement in the still unsolved Tate murders. Eventually two of the inmates, Virginia Graham and Veronica "Ronnie" Howard, informed prison officials of her claims. In December 1969, Atkins provided testimony before a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
about the Tate-LaBianca murders in exchange for immunity from the death penalty.
Manson, who was already in jail for receiving stolen property, was indicted on sexual charges. "Family" members Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten were arrested and indicted for their part in the murders. Linda Kasabian, who was present both nights, but did not participate in murdering the victims, turned state's evidence
State's Evidence
State's Evidence is an independent film created in 2004 and released in 2006, directed by Benjamin Louis and starring Douglas Smith, Alexa Vega, Majandra Delfino, Kris Lemche, Cody McMains, and Drew Tyler Bell.-Plot summary:...
in exchange for immunity.
On June 15, 1970, Charles Manson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten, and Susan Atkins went on trial for the murders of the LaBiancas along with the victims at the Tate residence. Throughout the trial, the defendants were repeatedly banned from the courtroom for their outbursts and refusal to abide by the judge’s orders. Manson and his co-defendants were found guilty on January 25, 1971. Under California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
law, a second trial or penalty phase before the same jury then began to determine sentencing. After two months of testimony
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
, the jury agreed with the prosecution's argument for the death penalty. On March 29, 1971, Manson, Krenwinkel and Van Houten were sentenced to death.
Susan Atkins also received the death penalty despite her initial agreement to testify for the prosecution. Prosecutors lost Atkins' cooperation in March 1970, three months before the case came to trial. After a brief meeting with Manson in jail, she retracted her confession and declared that she had invented the story implicating him, Krenwinkel and Van Houten before the grand jury.
On October 2, 1969, Charles "Tex" Watson had fled the ranch and headed back to his home state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. On November 30, 1969, Watson was arrested in Texas for the Tate-LaBianca murders. He and his lawyers fought the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
back to California for nine months. Upon returning to California, Tex began regressing to a childlike state. He stopped talking and eating, dropping 55 pounds. He was admitted to Atascadero State Hospital
Atascadero State Hospital
Atascadero State Hospital is located on the central coast of California, in San Luis Obispo County, half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is an all-male, maximum-security facility, that has patients from all over the state...
for a 90 day observation period to determine if he was able to stand trial. He stayed there until February 1970 when he was deemed able to stand trial.
On October 12, 1971, Watson was convicted of seven counts of first degree murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and one count conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit murder. A week later, the same jury took only two and a half hours to determine that Watson was sane
Sane
Sane is an English word meaning "of sound mind"; see Sanity.Sane or SANE may also refer to:* Sane Ancient Greek city* An archaeological site and a modern name of Sani, Greece*Sane, Mali...
at the time of the murders. On October 21, Watson was sentenced to the gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
.
Commuted sentences and retrial
No Manson case defendants were ever executedCapital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. Their sentences were among those commuted to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
when the state of California temporarily outlawed the death penalty on February 18, 1972, in the case of California v. Anderson
California v. Anderson
The People of the State of California v. Robert Page Anderson, 493 P.2d 880, 6 Cal. 3d 628 , was a landmark case in the state of California that outlawed the use of capital punishment...
.
In 1976, Leslie Van Houten's murder conviction in the Tate-LaBianca trial was overturned by a state appellate court
Court of Appeals
A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
on the grounds that Judge Older
Charles Older
Charles Herman "Chuck" Older was a member of the American Volunteer Group "The Flying Tigers" and one of its Aces. In his distinguished military career, he served in both World War II and the Korean War...
erred in not granting Van Houten's motion for a mistrial following the disappearance of her attorney, Ronald Hughes
Ronald Hughes
Ronald Hughes was a court-appointed attorney who represented Manson family member Leslie Van Houten and an alleged Manson family murder victim.-Tate-LaBianca murder trial:...
(Hughes' badly decomposed body was found in early 1971. He was allegedly murdered by Manson family members). Van Houten's first retrial ended in a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
. Released on bond for a few months, Van Houten lived with a former writer for the Christian Science Monitor. She was tried a third time in 1978, and convicted of first degree murder after the jury rejected her defense of diminished capacity
Diminished Capacity
Diminished Capacity is a comedy film directed by Terry Kinney and starring Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen, and Alan Alda. It was released at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and opened in theaters in July 2008...
as the result of prolonged use of hallucinogenic drugs.
Parole hearings
In 1987, Suzanne LaBerge (née Suzan Struthers), began visiting Charles "Tex" Watson in prison. LaBerge, the daughter of Rosemary LaBianca, attended Watson's 1990 paroleParole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
hearing, telling the parole board that because of Watson's newfound Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, he was a new man, no longer dangerous and should be released. Sharon Tate's mother, Doris Tate
Doris Tate
Doris Gwendolyn Tate was an American campaigner for the rights of crime victims. After the murder of her daughter, the actress Sharon Tate, and several others, she worked to raise public awareness about the United States corrections system and was influential in the amendment of California laws...
, and other members of the LaBianca family made it clear that Suzanne wasn't speaking for the rest of the victims' families. Watson has been denied parole 13 times and remains in a California prison.
In 1999, Angela Smaldino became the first member of the LaBianca family to attend a parole hearing for Leslie Van Houten. In 2000, she was joined by her brother Louis Smaldino and another relative John DiSantis, who accompanied her to the hearing and made statements against Van Houten's release. Van Houten has been denied parole 19 times and remains in the California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women is a female-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California.-Facilities:...
in Chino, California
Chino, California
Chino is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located in the western end of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area and it is easily accessible via the Chino Valley and Pomona freeways....
.
Manson and Krenwinkel also remain incarcerated in California for their roles in the Tate-LaBianca murders. Both have been considered for parole numerous times, but they have been denied repeatedly. Atkins remained imprisoned until her death from brain cancer on September 24, 2009.