All of the beds, including those in the guest house, appeared to have been used. “In all my years, I have never seen anything like this before,” said officer Klorman. Polanski produced “Rosemary’s Baby,” among other macabre-fantasy films. Telephones and electricity were cut off, police said, and Miss Tate’s husband was reported in Europe. Miss Tate and Sebring were found in the living room, two others - including Miss Folger - were discovered on the lawn, and the fifth victim was in a car. “It looked like a battlefield up there,” said Sgt. Stanley Klorman said there were signs of a struggle in a large room and in a guest room.
“There was ample blood around,” a policeman said. Officers said the writer may have used his hand or a rag.
The word “pig” was scrawled on the front door in what appeared to be blood. Investigators said all five victims appeared to have been shot. It didn’t appear as if the two connected to the rope had been hanged because there was blood on them, said Lt. “It seemed kind of ritualistic,” said an investigating officer. Officers said the killings appeared methodic and ritualistic because one victim had a hood over his head, and two were tied together by a white nylon rope around her neck and pulled across a ceiling beam in the living room. Investigators said the victims were slain 12 hours before their bodies were discovered by a maid, who ran screaming to neighbors.
The coroner said a priest who made the identification could not explain what the youth was doing at the house. The fifth victim was Steven Earl Parent, 18, of suburban El Monte. A man, 37, identified as Voyteck Frykowski, who police said was a friend of Miss Tate’s producer-husband, Roman Polanski. Abigail Folger, 25, a business associate of Sebring’s and a member of the Folger Coffee Co. Jay Sebring, 25, Miss Tate’s former boyfriend and operator of hair stylist salons in Hollywood, San Francisco, New York sand London. Sharon Tate, 26, a pregnant honey-blond actress who played sexy parts in movies, including “Valley of the Dolls,” and slapstick comedy on television’s “Beverly Hillbillies.” A 19-year-old, bare-chested caretaker was arrested in a guest cottage at the mansion and booked on suspicion of murder.