Harrowing three words Sharon Tate's friend told her killer after being stabbed under Charles Manson's instruction

On 9 August 1969, prolific cult leader Charles Manson ordered four of his disciples to brutally murder Hollywood star Sharon Tate and four of her friends at her Los Angeles home.

The following day, 26-year-old Tate's body was discovered at 10050 Cielo Drive by an employee of the property, alongside that of hairdresser Jay Sebring, actor Wojciech Frykowski and coffee heiress Abigail Folger.

Their violent killings would go down as some of the most sickening in American history, and the final words uttered by Abigail Folger to her cold-blooded murderer would continue to haunt true-crime followers decades later.

Orders to kill

On 9 August of that year, Charles Manson reportedly instructed four members of his hippie group, known as the 'Manson Family' - Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian - to drive into a high-profile LA neighbourhood and murder a handful of residents.

Without their leader, the group came across a property belonging to film director Roman Polanski, who was travelling Europe with work at the time. Polanski's long-term girlfriend Sharon Tate - who was eight months pregnant with their first child - remained at the house, however, along with friends Sebring, Folger and Frykowski.

The morning after the killings, an LAPD spokesperson listed the bodies as that of Tate and her three friends, 'and another man who is unknown'.

The latter individual was later named as 18-year-old Steven Parent, a friend of the property's caretaker, whom Watson had apprehended as he attempted to drive away from the property. He was slashed with a knife several times before being fatally shot in the chest and abdomen.

One of the killers, Susie Atkins, later told press in an interview that the four 'Family' members subsequently broke into Polanski's property, armed with three knives and a gun. She recalled Watson firstly waking Frykowski at gunpoint, who was sleeping on the sofa.

Tate and Sebring, who were together in one of the bedrooms, were then rounded up by Atkins and Krenwinkel and gathered into the living room. Frykowski had his hands tied with a towel, whilst Sebring and Tate together with rope.

The five victims were killed on Cielo Drive (Bettmann/Getty)

Abigail Folger's final words

By this point, Abigail Folger had no idea about the intruders. It wasn't until Sebring attempted to emphasise that Tate was pregnant, after which Watson shot him, that she erupted into a panic and attempted to escape the property through the back door.

Whilst Sebring was being stabbed by Watson - after which his body was hung with a nylon rope - Folger kept running, only to be chased down by Krenwinkel on the front lawn.

Footage of an interview with Krenwinkel has been broadcast this week as part of a Netflix true-crime documentary titled Chaos: The Manson Murders.

In a particularly harrowing clip, the killer recalled of Folger's murder: "I ran after her with an upraised knife, and we went out through the back door. I ran her down and I began to stab her."

Krenwinkel also claimed Folger uttered three gut-wrenching words as the life escaped her body.

"I remember her saying, 'I'm already dead'," Krenwinkel alleged, adding that Watson later followed her outside and joined in stabbing Folger.

Abigail Folger was amongst the Manson Family's victims (IMDB)

The remaining murders

Whilst Krenwinkel was murdering Folger, Frykowski had managed to break free, attempting to escape through the front door.

Watson also caught up with him, however, stabbing him 51 times and striking him 13 times in the head with the butt of his gun.

Inside the property, Tate was stabbed 16 times by Watson and Atkins before being hanged with the same rope.

Upon exiting the property, Atkins wrote 'PIG' on the front door using a towel that had been dipped in Tate's blood.

The following night, Manson led the group - also joined by members Leslie Van Houten and Clem Grogan - to the property of LA couple Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, whom they killed in a similarly gruesome way.

Arrests and sentencing

Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten were sentenced to life (Bettmann/Getty)

It took police two months to apprehend the Manson Family, and in January 1971, Manson, Atkins, Van Houten, and Krenwinkel were found guilty of the seven killings. Watson was tried and convicted separately later that year.

The leader had maintained in court that he never instructed the group to kill Tate and her friends.

The group all received the death penalty, but was changed to life in prison after the state of California abolished capital punishment in 1972.

The motives behind the crimes has been disputed ever since. In court, the prosecution argued that Manson had intended to start an apocalypic race war during an unstable time in America's political history.

Others believe the group had intended to murder record producer Terry Melcher that night. He'd lived in the area, and had previously promised Manson a music deal, only to back out.

A third theory alleges that the Tate–LaBianca murders were copycat crimes, carried out in a bid to exonerate former 'Family' member Bobby Beausoleil, who'd already been jailed for another killing.

And a fourth alleges that Manson had worked alongside the CIA at the time, as it was investigating the possible existence of mind-control when combined with the drug-heavy free-love movement of 1960s America.

Chaos: The Manson Murders is now available to stream on Netflix.