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It is possible that Sharon Tate and her friends were not Charles Manson’s intended target. Manson was familiar with the house at which she and others were murdered because its previous tenant, music producer Terry Melcher, had earlier considered and then decided against giving Manson a recording contract. When Manson ordered Charles (“Tex”) Watson to go there with several other cult members and kill everyone there “as gruesome[ly] as you can,” he may not have been aware that Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski, were the occupants.
However, there is some evidence to the contrary. In late 1969 Manson Family member Susan Atkins—a participant in the Tate murders—claimed that the cult murdered Tate “because we wanted to do a crime that would shock the world, that the world would have to stand up and take notice.” Watson made similar claims. He indicated that Manson knew Melcher was no longer living on Cielo Drive. Some have suggested that Manson targeted the house itself, a symbol of his rejection by the musical establishment.
