Sharon Tate's sister haunted by the Manson Family murders 50 years later, receives death threats from 'weirdos'
About half a century ago, a two-day killing spree that claimed seven lives in Los Angeles left the entire nation in shock and disbelief. While the rest of the world has moved on, the loved ones of the victims are still reeling under the pain of their loss.
On August 9, 1969, police found the bodies of Sebring, 8-months-pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Voytek Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent at Tate’s house in Benedict Canyon.
The following day, they discovered the bodies of Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary about nine miles away in their Los Feliz residence.
Sharon's younger sibling Debra has spent her life fighting to keep her sister's killers in prison. And despite her best efforts to stay out of the spotlight, she is often confronted by random strangers fascinated with the case.
Debra recounted an episode that occurred shortly before the 50th anniversary of the murders when a man walked up to her Southern California residence and asked if she was related to Sharon, saying he had a message from Manson.
She immediately grabbed her shotgun and made him aware she was armed. While the stranger walked away, Debra said she was left shaken by the incident.
“I have death threats on Facebook, I have people breaching my gate, I’ve got weirdos on my own personal site,” she said. “It’s very alarming and I would be a fool if I didn’t pay attention to it and treat it as credible.”
Victim Jay Sebring's niece Mishele DiMaria remembered the summer of 2009 when she was excited to see her favorite band perform live in Las Vegas. However, she was shocked when the band's lead singer emerged on stage donning a “Charlie’s Angels” tee emblazoned with the image of Charles Manson and three of his female disciples.
“I felt like I got kicked in the gut,” she told People. “The happiness ripped right out of me. To know that I had unknowingly supported someone who supports the killers of my uncle Jay made me physically ill. The scar was ripped open.”
Sebring’s nephew Anthony DiMaria has teamed up with Debra to make sure the lives of those related to Manson's victims are not forgotten.
“Unless every one of the victims gets out of their graves and lives the 50 years they should have lived with us and all of their friends who loved them, there is no closure,” DiMaria told the outlet.
The gruesome murders have inspired a plethora of TV shows, books, and movies, including the summer blockbuster 'Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood', starring Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate and Emile Hirsch as Jay Sebring, as well as the recent Netflix series 'Mindhunter'.
However, families of the victims are forced to grieve with every new portrayal.