Wouldas, Couldas, Shouldas…Living Room Movements

Tate living room prior to August 9, 1969

In this post, I will examine the scene as best I can to give a clearer picture of what really went on at 10050 Cielo Drive.

Charlie gave Tex explicit instructions, as Tex reiterated in his 1978 book, "Will You Die For Me?"
"Just before he [Manson] went off to get the women, he handed me the .22 Buntline pistol he'd been given by old Randy Starr, but he said to use knives whenever possible, not the gun."

But Tex used seven of the nine bullets in the Buntline — four on Steve, two on Voytek, and one on Jay.
One wonders why Tex found the need to shoot the frightened Steve Parent four times at close range unless he feared the kid would gun the Rambler right through the gate and seek help. And Tex wanted to make darn sure he couldn't. Or, because he was nervous, panicky, and high on speed, his actions were out of control. We will never know.

One wonders why Tex shot Voytek only twice when the poor man did fight and tried to escape unlike Steve. 

The question which lingers in my head, like so much gun smoke from Ned Buntline's namesake weapon, Why shoot Jay Sebring at all? And why so soon? 

The blow by blow movements of everyone in the Tate house are speculative at best. We only have the killers' testimony to go by. And each vying for parole over the years, or seeking infamy, certainly colors their memories, such as they are. Sadly, the victims are silent in their graves.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Who cares who did what, when and where?" And, on the face of it, you'd be right. But there are niggling questions, movement black holes, as it were, which haunt me in the wee hours. 

First on the list: Jay's movements, or the lack thereof. And why Tex felt the need to shoot the man who was already tied up, unable to escape by car or on foot, like Steve and Voytek. 

Did Jay trigger Tex? Is there more to this scene than meets the eye?

Many different versions, all vague, have been given by the perpetrators as to the reasons Jay was gunned down.

In one of her parole hearings, Pat Krenwinkel stated. "Yeah, he [Jay] fought with Tex."

Sadie in her December 5, 1969 Grand Jury testimony on the actions at the Tate house, recounted by the LA Times December 14, 1969, stated.
"But it seems that Tex tied the three of them - Sebring, Sharon and Miss Folger - together. Wound the rope around and around them, then threw it over the beam so I could pull it tight. And then, the way it flashes now, it was all panic. 'What's going on?' Jay Sebring said, and proceeded to advance on Tex. I don't know how he got loose. And Tex shot him, and he fell on the floor. I think he fell on his side, because I saw him lying on his side."

Tex, in Will You Die For Me? wrote.

"Sharon hesitated at the entrance to the living room, and I leapt forward and grabbed her arm, jerking her in after Sadie and Sebring while I flipped off the hall light with my elbow. (Avoid fingerprints, my mind had clicked.) When Sebring turned back, protesting my roughness, I told him, as I had Frykowski, that if he said one more word he would die. "He means it," Frykowski warned from the sofa. I had already tied Frykowski's hands behind him with one end of the rope we'd brought and now I dragged the rope over to Sebring and tied him, while Sadie tied a towel around Frykowski's wrists according to my instructions. I wrapped the rope around Sebring's neck and then slung it up over one of the rafters that ran across the room and supported a loft above the fireplace. When I started to tie the rope around Sharon's neck, Sebring struggled forward in the chair he was seated in beside the fireplace, shouting for me to be careful of her. 'I told you, 'One more word and you're dead,' I screamed and shot him."

But these various and time-lapsed testimonies from the killers paint only part of the picture. The way I see things, the picture began in the late afternoon hours at Cielo Drive when Jay first arrived to spend the evening with Sharon. 

In the First Tate Homicide Investigation Progress Report, events of that early evening concerning Jay's actions were reported as follows.

"Between 1830 and 1900 hours, Dennis Herst delivered a lightweight bicycle to the Cielo address. Abigail Folger purchased the bike at his father's store earlier in the afternoon. When Herst delivered the bicycle, Jay Sebring answered the door. He had a wine bottle in his hand and it appeared that he had been eating dinner."

So, regardless of the cocaine found by the LAPD in his Porsche, Jay, it can be surmised, had consumed wine at the Tate house prior to the foursome heading down to the El Coyote Mexican restaurant for dinner that night. After the 2200 hours phone call to Abigail from her mother that night confirming her next day flight to San Francisco, the actions by the foursome at the Tate residence are unknown. But it's a good guess that while Gibby and Voytek had taken their MDA, Jay most likely continued to drink wine while visiting with Sharon.

We have no way of knowing if/when Jay had taken any cocaine before arriving at Cielo but there is little doubt that Gibby, Voytek and Jay were under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. The foursome had been seen by waitress Kathy Palmer in the El Coyote restaurant's bar for 15 to 20 minutes prior to sitting down for dinner. Although the Coroner reported no abnormal levels of alcohol intoxication in any of the victims, it may be fair to surmise that alcohol intoxication in Jay and MDA intoxication in Voytek, and the late hour all could have been reasons why neither man was able to get the jump on Tex and his Buntline.

Sadie realized that the Tate house was a house that "turned on." "I knew they 'turned on' just looking at the house. They hide it from society, but just looking at them, I knew they used narcotics."

Sadie excused Jay's lack of reaction at being ordered by knifepoint from Sharon's bedroom.
"I guess the three of them [Gibby, Sharon & Jay] went along so easily because they were pretty much terrified by what was going on."

As stated above, alcohol, the late hour, and confusion/fright could have incapacitated Jay. Had any of these parameters been removed, it's this writer's opinion Jay would have been a man of action.
Sadie would have found her Buck knife leveled at her own throat well before the trio ever set foot in the living room. And the living room would have been the last place Jay would have gone. I suspect Jay would have skulked out of the poolside French doors with Sharon, having either knocked out Sadie or took her in tow so she couldn't sound the alarm, to effect an escape and seek help, rather than accept whatever fate awaited them in the front room. It's unknown if any of the Tate victims had picked up a phone to realize the line was dead. 

I believe Jay's primary concern was always Sharon. And on that night, to get her out of harm's way and contact the police from a neighbor's home to get help for Gibby and Voytek.

But none of these actions took place. For all intents and purposes, Jay was a healthy and energetic young male. I can't buy a diminutive female holding a folding Buck knife would have stunned Jay into inaction. As I've stated. A mix of alcohol, drowsiness, and confusion were most likely at play in Jay, leading to indecision — what should be done and when. 

Once Jay and Sharon followed Sadie, their fate was sealed. Tex was a large man and strung out on speed. There was no fighting back. And once Jay tried, things went from bad to deadly in a dying heartbeat. In my previous quote from Tex's book, when Sharon hesitated to enter the room, Tex manhandled her in. Jay protested. Tex warned Jay to stay quiet or risk being killed.

Voytek tells Jay, Tex means what he says. How Voytek knew this is still a mystery to me. Up to this point, and to Voytek's knowledge, Tex had not shot nor knifed anyone. The MDA intoxication could have prevented Voytek from taking action. Maybe he assumed it would be safer to obey than to fight. And when Jay saw Voytek's unwillingness to fight — Voytek being a far bigger build than Jay — Jay relented, too.

The only other reason Voytek could have stood down was that Tex told him he gunned down Steve Parent in the driveway. None of the killers have stated this, but it may have been said as a way for Tex to get Voytek to obey.

As previously quoted, Tex tells of shoving Jay in the occasional chair — same chair Sadie lost her Buck knife — and winding the rope around Jay's neck, and the necks of Gibby and Sharon. Jay had been only verbally warned by Tex at this point, so what followed must have been significant enough for Tex to shoot Jay twice at close range. Sadie states she didn't know how Jay got loose but I doubt that is critical. Jay most likely could sit forward or stand even with the noose around his neck and his hands tied.

It's these seconds after the rope was wound around all three that is at issue for me. Why was Gibby able to get free of her neck noose but Sharon and Jay were not? 

Both Sadie and Tex refer to the altercation with Jay as coming immediately after the rope was swung over the rafter beam. Not before. Did Jay realize at that point this was not a typical home invasion robbery, but something far more sinister, far more deadly? Was Jay the first to realize they were all to be hung?

In referencing Jay's actions:
Katie used the word "fought."

Sadie said, "… proceeded to advance on Tex." Jay uttering the words, "What's going on?"

Tex said, "struggled forward in the chair…shouting for me to be careful of her [Sharon]."

It's only Katie's statement which states a fight had broken out between Jay and Tex. We know the coffee table was flipped over and the animal hide area rug all askew. If you look at the angle and position of Jay's body, one could surmise that Jay sat forward or stood up, ready to do battle with Tex.
The long-standing debate of whether Jay had pulled a karate move on Tex seems to me to be moot, given the proximity of Jay to the furniture, and maybe to Tex himself. That seating arrangement was tight. It offered little room for any kind of offensive attack, regardless of Jay's neck noose and wrist restraints. And once Jay was shot twice at close range and stabbed with Tex's bayonet seven times, he stayed where he fell, as Sadie said, on his side. 

I pray death came swiftly for Jay, to spare him the screams and torture later afflicted on Sharon. I hope his clenched fists were from body pain and not from hearing Sharon's cries. My gut sadly thinks otherwise.