By Gary C. King
The Tate-LaBianca murders and subsequent trials captivated a nation at a time when peace and love were supposed to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. People wanted answers. They wanted to know what kind of "monsters" could commit such inhuman acts and if it were even conceivable that those same monsters could be rehabilitated.
The young men and women who got involved with Charles Manson were mesmerized by his lifestyle and drawn to his character. One of these individuals was Patricia Krenwinkel, who was later renamed "Katie" by Manson.
Patricia Krenwinkel was born Dec. 3, 1947, in Los Angeles, Calif. Her father was an insurance salesman, and her mother was a homemaker. Her half-sister Charlene, from her mother’s previous marriage, was six-and-a-half years older. Patricia attended University High School and later Westchester High School. She was very unpopular due to a weight issue and an endocrine disorder that caused excessive hair growth on her body. These issues resulted in very low self-esteem, which, coupled with her parents’ divorce when she was 17, served only to lower her outlook on life.
After high school, Patricia moved to Alabama to attend a Catholic college. She entertained the thought of becoming a nun but dropped out of college after her first semester and returned to California. When she returned, she took a secretarial job and moved in with her half-sister.
One night in 1967, when returning from work, she found the Manhattan Beach apartment full of her sister’s acquaintances. Among them was a shabby, stoop-shouldered man with a guitar named Charles Manson. The two struck up a conversation and later that night, Patricia made love to Manson. He told her she was beautiful and, having not heard that from a man before, she was drawn to him. Manson, using her vulnerability, quickly had her mesmerized and willing to follow him anywhere.
Patricia headed north with Manson and spent the next 18 months on a sex-and-drug-filled tour of the American West in an old bus. Along the way, the number of Manson’s followers grew, and they eventually convinced George Spahn to let them live on his Spahn Movie Ranch. Patricia quickly became the surrogate mother for the many illegitimate children in the group. She was a very devoted follower of Manson, and this led to her involvement in the murders that led to her death sentence.
When Manson was ready to begin his Helter Skelter (an idea formed after listening to the Beatles’ song of the same name), he directed Patricia and others to go to 10050 Cielo Drive, home of actress Sharon Tate and director Roman Polanski. Charles "Tex" Watson started the killing spree in the driveway when he shot and killed 18-year-old Steven Parent. The group then entered the home and, in the ensuing mayhem, Patricia struggled with and stabbed coffee heiress Abigail Folger. When Folger fled, Patricia followed her into the yard, stabbing her continuously, some say as many as 70 times. Folger’s white dress appeared red to police investigators the next day.
Manson ordered the group out the next night to the home of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca. Manson went into the home and tied up Leno and his wife Rosemary, and then ordered the group to kill them and leave "witchy" messages on the walls. After the couple had been stabbed multiple times, the group showered, ate, and played with the couple’s dogs before hitchhiking back to Spahn Ranch. All tallied, the group had murdered seven people in a two-night killing spree.
