|
Interviews – Others
Interviews
with victim's family members, attorney's and other persons associated with
the case
Fight
for justice
Many people have been touched by this tragic
case other than the perpetrators. Here are some interviews with people
who's lives have been affected by the case.
For many years, the media and the courts
focused their attention mainly on the perpetrators of crime and the facts
of the case. But in the mid 80's, a new law was passed in California giving
crime victims a voice in trials and parole hearings.
Doris Tate, the mother of Sharon Tate
kept a public campaign against her daughters' killers and fought for
recognition and change in the law for her and other crime victims.
In 1981, a group called "Friends of
Leslie" collected over 900 signatures which were presented to the
parole board, demanding that Leslie Van Houten be released on parole. Since
District Attorney Steven Kay had access to everything that was presented to
the Board he found out about this and contacted Doris. At the conclusion of
the trials she had told him that if he ever need her help in keeping them
in jail, he should contact her.
Doris was outraged that Leslie might
walk and she started collecting petitions and signatures against their
release. This is what got Doris involved in being an activist and she
managed to collect 350.000 signatures against Manson, Watson, Atkins,
Krenwinkel and Van Houten's release. Needless to say, the parole board
denied parole to Van Houten.
Up until this point, Mrs. Tate had gone
through a long and painful mourning. She had opened a beauty salon,
expanded, and stayed to herself. In 1979, she had been one of the founders
of the Los Angeles chapter of a nationwide organisation known as Parents of
Murdered Children. She said it took her ten years to get out and say,
"I've got to get out and do something about these people."
Steven Kay was the first District
Attorney in California to attend a parole hearing to oppose release of
defendant serving a life sentence. Over the next 25 years he would attend
over 60 M group hearings. His first hearing was the July 17. Hearing for
Patricia Krenwinkel where he delivered a two hour knife-by-slash recitation
of the murders – which horrified the parole
board. The Board was then called the Community Release Board. In the hall
afterward, Kay says she swore at him and said something like, "Why'd
you do that!?"
After Mr. Kay's phone call asking for
help in keeping Leslie Van Houten in jail, Mrs. Tate became a powerful
citizen activist on behalf of the victims and relatives of victims of
violent crime. Aside from the petition to keep her daughters killers behind
bars, she also helped in a petition drive to keep Sirhan Sirhan in jail,
after the parole board had actually set a parole date for him.
She campaigned for Proposition 8, the
"Victims' Bill of Rights," which was approved by California
voters in 1982. Proposition 8 allows a victim to be present and to make a
statement to the court at the time of sentencing. It allows impact
statements by victims and close relatives of victims at parole hearings,
and it gives them access to any documentation, including psychiatric
reports, which the parole board has before it to guide its review.
Doris Tate appeared at every parole
hearing with Mr. Kay for Watson and Atkins until she died in 1991 of a
brain tumour. Before she died, her daughter Patricia Tate had promised her
that she would take over her fight for justice.
The first hearing that Patti Tate
attended was the 1993 hearing for Susan Atkins. She took over her mother's
campaign, gave interviews, held speeches and held up a public campaign for
victim's rights until she herself became sick. Patti died of breast cancer
in June of 2000.
Patti's sister Debra, is the only
surviving member of the Tate family after her father, Paul Tate passed away
in May, 2005. Today, Debra Tate goes to every parole hearing for Watson,
Krenwinkel, Manson, Atkins and even Van Houten.
In 1999, Angela Smaldino, the first
member of the LaBianca family attended a parole hearing for Leslie Van
Houten. In 2000, she was joined by her brother Luis Smaldino and another
relative John Disentis, who accompanied her to the hearing and made statements.
They have joined Debra Tate and together
they attend. Every victim that attends a parole hearing can take a support
person with them and through that language Debra has been able to attend
hearings for Van Houten. Although she is not allowed to speak.
Other family members have also attended
hearings. Susan LaBerge, daughter of Rosemary LaBianca went to the 1990
hearing for Tex Watson, pleaded his case and said she forgave him.
Relatives of Jay Sebring have also come forward in recent years and also the
sister of Steven Parent, Janet Parent who spoke out against Susan Atkins
and Tex Watson in 2000 and 2001.
|
