The group’s real target was record industry guy Terry Melcher, the owner of the house. Melcher was the manager/producer for 60’s groups like the Byrds and Paul Revere and the Raiders.
After being persuaded for several months, Melcher finally turned down Manson, who was at the time an aspiring musician. Melcher then rented out his house (obviously because he was tired of getting stalked by Manson’s group) to Polanski and Tate, therefore unknowingly setting up Sharon and her friends to be murdered.
My wife (literally “the girl next door”) were a couple of 19 y/o kids from Ohio living in a Hollywood apt at that time - just minutes from the Tate house and the LaBianca’s home.
Even without a TV to see/hear the news, it was all everyone was talking about everywhere you went.
btw, Terry Melcher was Doris Day’s son.
Yes, you’re right about Melcher. Also Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was a friend of Manson’s - as was his mother!!! She thought he was the heart and soul of gentleness. When I was in LA in the mid-70s, there were rumors about Polanski bringing back homeless kids - who hung out on creepy Hollywood Blvd - to their house.
Terry Melcher was Doris Day’s son. Would have been an even bigger news event if the Manson crowd had killed him.
Rudolph Altobelli purchased the 10050 Cielo Drive property in the early ‘60s.. Terry Melcher was one of a series of celebrities who rented it from him... Melcher moved out when he split up with his girlfriend in early 1969