The Manson murders investigations were conducted by the Los Angeles Sherriffs Office (LASO) and the police department based in Los Angeles (LAPD). Upon arrival at the scene of the crime, the officers were shocked by the extent of the damage caused by the massacre. The two departments were working on two murder scenes, which the investigators first thought they were not connected to each other. The massacre was typified by five murders that were later known as the “Tate” murders, while the second killings had two victims, who were Leno and LaBianca. The officers in the two departments collected enough pieces of evidence to sustain the case in court (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2014).
Miscommunication was one of the major challenges faced by the investigators in the murders. Reports indicate that the two departments investigating the murders did not communicate effectively. Thus, they were forced by circumstances to work independently in the two cases. The other hindrance to effective investigations in the cases was a lack of connecting the two murder scenes. In fact, when a member of the LASO approached the LAPD claiming that the two cases might be linked because of “PIG” in Tate and “Death of Pigs” in LaBianca, a senior officer replied that he could not think there was any connection between the murder cases. Besides, the investigators encountered emotional problems as well as mental stress (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2014).
The technology used in the case in 1969 helped the investigators unearth what they thought were sites where the killed humans were buried. Also, a police officer at the local station utilized his sniffer dog to discover decomposing bodies. Another form of technology used in the murders was employed by the laboratory in Tennessee to unearth signs of holes that had been refilled in the ground (The Gurdian, 2008). If it were today, the investigative process could be different since the use of DNA technology would be used to link the suspects to the samples collected at the scenes of crimes.
- Bugliosi, V., & Gentry, C. (2014). Helter Skelter: The true story of the Manson murders. New York, NY: Random House.
- King, G. (2016). Sharon Tate and the Manson murders. New York, NY: Open Road Media.
- The Gurdian. (2008). Manson’s Family’s gruesome history resurfaces in the desert. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/21/usa
