It was 50 years ago this week that Charles Manson dispatched a group of disaffected young followers on a two-night killing rampage that terrorized Los Angeles.

Members of the so-called Manson “family” arrived at the Hollywood Hills home of Sharon Tate on Aug. 8, 1969, where they stabbed, beat and shot to death the young actress and her friends — celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski. As they made their way to the house, they encountered a teenager, Steven Parent, who had been visiting an acquaintance at the estate’s guesthouse, and shot him to death.

The body of actress Sharon Tate is taken from her rented house on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 9, 1969. Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and four other people were found murdered by American cult-leader Charles Manson and his fo… — The body of actress Sharon Tate is taken from her rented house on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 9, 1969. Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and four other people were found murdered by American cult-leader Charles Manson and his followers. Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, was born in 1943. (AP Photo)

The next night, Manson led a handful of followers to the home of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. Manson tied up the couple and left the others to kill them.

Manson and his followers killed two others — musician Gary Hinman and Hollywood stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea — in separate, unrelated attacks

A look at the key players in a case that remains etched in the American consciousness:

The Killers

Charles Manson was a petty criminal who had been in and out of jail since childhood when he reinvented himself in the late 1960s as a guru-philosopher who targeted teenage runaways and other lost souls, particularly attractive young women he used and bartered to others for sex.

He sent them out to butcher L.A.‘s rich and famous in what prosecutors said was a bid to trigger a race war — an idea they say he got from a twisted reading of the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter.”

Charles Manson is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case, in 1969, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo)

Decades after his conviction, Manson would continue to taunt prosecutors, parole agents and others, sometimes denying any role in the killings and other times boasting of them, as when he told a 2012 parole hearing: “I have put five people in the grave. I am a very dangerous man.”

He died in 2017 after spending nearly 50 years in prison. He was 83.

Susan Denise Atkins, 21, a key witness in the Sharon Tate murders case, emerges with her attorney, Richard Caballero, from the grand jury room, Dec. 5, 1969, in the Los Angeles Hall of Justice with her story of what happened the night of the slaying… — Susan Denise Atkins, 21, a key witness in the Sharon Tate murders case, emerges with her attorney, Richard Caballero, from the grand jury room, Dec. 5, 1969, in the Los Angeles Hall of Justice with her story of what happened the night of the slayings only partially told. She was to return after a noon recess to complete her testimony. (AP Photo)

Susan Atkins, convicted of the Tate, LaBianca and Hinman murders, was a teenage runaway working as a topless dancer in a San Francisco bar when she met Manson in 1967.

The Tate-La Bianca murders went unsolved for months until Atkins, in jail on unrelated charges, boasted to a cellmate of her involvement.

At trial, she testified she was “stoned on acid” and didn’t know how many times she stabbed Tate as the actress begged for her life. Atkins, who became a born-again Christian in prison and denounced Manson, tearfully recounted that confrontation during a parole hearing years later.

She died in prison of cancer in 2009. She as 61.

Leslie Van Houten, 19, a member of Charles Manson's "family" who is charged with the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, is escorted by two deputy sheriffs as she leaves the courtroom in Los Angeles, Dec. 19, 1969 after a brief hearing at which t… — Leslie Van Houten, 19, a member of Charles Manson's "family" who is charged with the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, is escorted by two deputy sheriffs as she leaves the courtroom in Los Angeles, Dec. 19, 1969 after a brief hearing at which time she was appointed a new attorney. (AP Photo/George Brich)

Leslie Van Houten, a former high school cheerleader and homecoming princess, saw her life spiral out of control at 14 following her parents’ divorce.

She turned to drugs and became pregnant but said her mother forced her to abort the fetus and bury it in the family’s backyard.

Van Houten met Manson at an old movie ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles where he had established his so-called “family” of followers.

She didn’t take part in the Tate killings but accompanied Manson and others to the LaBianca home the next night. She held down Rosemary LaBianca with a pillowcase over her head as others stabbed LaBianca dozens of times. Then, ordered by Manson follower Charles “Tex” Watson to “do something,” she said she picked up a knife and stabbed the woman more than a dozen times.

Van Houten, 69, has earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counseling while in prison and leads several prison programs to help rehabilitate fellow inmates. She has been recommended for parole three times, but former Gov. Jerry Brown blocked her release each time.

Patricia Krenwinkel, a defendant in the Tate murder case, enters the Los Angeles superior court for arraignment, which was postponed, Feb. 24, 1970. (AP Photo/George Brich)

Patricia Krenwinkel was a 19-year-old secretary when she met Manson at a party. She left everything behind three days later to follow him, believing they had a budding romantic relationship.

After he became abusive and bartered her for sex, she said she twice tried to leave him but followers brought her back, kept a close watch on her and kept her high on drugs.

She testified at a 2016 parole hearing that she repeatedly stabbed Folger, then stabbed Leno LaBianca in the abdomen the following night and wrote “Helter Skelter,” ″Rise” and “Death to Pigs” on the walls with his blood.

Krenwinkel, 71, remains in prison.

Charles “Tex” Watson named in court testimony as a killer in the Sharon Tate and LaBianca Slayings, arrives in court for arraignment, March 1, 1971, Los Angeles, Calif. Watson, a member of the Charles Manson family, was ruled insane four months ago … — Charles “Tex” Watson named in court testimony as a killer in the Sharon Tate and LaBianca Slayings, arrives in court for arraignment, March 1, 1971, Los Angeles, Calif. Watson, a member of the Charles Manson family, was ruled insane four months ago and unable to stand trial. Doctors say he now has recovered. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

Charles “Tex” Watson was a college dropout from Texas when he arrived in California in 1967 seeking “satisfaction through drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll,” as he explains on his website.

He recalled meeting Manson at the house of Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson after seeing Wilson hitchhiking and giving him a ride home.

Watson, 73, led the killers to the Tate estate, shot to death Parent as he was attempting to leave and took part in the killings that night and the next at the LaBianca home.

He became a born-again Christian in prison and formed a prison ministry in 1980 that he continues to lead. Watson, who has authored or co-authored several books while in prison, maintains he has changed and is no longer a danger to anyone. He has repeatedly been denied parole.

The Victims

Sharon Tate, 26, was a model and rising film star after her breakout role in the 1966 film “Valley of the Dolls.” She was 8½ months pregnant when she was attacked, and she pleaded with her killers to spare her unborn son.

Film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate, lift their glasses in a toast at the premiere of his film "Rosemary's Baby" in London, England, Jan. 23, 1969. (AP Photo)

Tate’s mother, Doris, became an advocate for victims’ rights in California and was instrumental in a 1982 law that allows family members to testify about their losses at trials and parole hearings.

Her younger sister, Debra, also dedicated her life to victims’ rights and has testified at countless parole hearings for the killers, demanding they never be released.

Tate’s husband, director Roman Polanski, was out of the country the night of the killings and has said it took him years to recover from the grief of losing his wife and baby.

Jay Sebring, a hairdresser to Hollywood’s stars, was Tate’s former boyfriend and also begged the killers to spare her unborn child. He was shot, kicked in the face and stabbed multiple times.

Sebring had transformed the male haircare industry after graduating from beauty school in Los Angeles, and his clients included Warren Beatty, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. He founded Sebring International in 1967 to market hair products and to franchise his salons internationally.

Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger had dined with Tate and Sebring earlier that night.

The 32-year-old Frykowski was a friend of Polanski’s from Poland and an aspiring screenwriter. An autopsy found he was stabbed more than 50 times and shot twice.

Coroner Thomas Noguchi, facing camera center, directs the removal of the body of Abigail Folger, one of five people slain at the Bel Air home of actress Sharon Tate, Aug. 9, 1969. In foreground is the covered body of Voityckyk Frokowski, another vic… — Coroner Thomas Noguchi, facing camera center, directs the removal of the body of Abigail Folger, one of five people slain at the Bel Air home of actress Sharon Tate, Aug. 9, 1969. In foreground is the covered body of Voityckyk Frokowski, another victim. (AP Photo)

His 25-year-old girlfriend was the heir to the Folger coffee fortune. She managed to escape the house but was tackled on the front lawn and stabbed 28 times.

Steven Parent, a recent high school graduate planning to attend college in the fall, had dropped by a guest house on the property to visit the estate’s 19-year-old caretaker, a casual acquaintance named William Garretson. He was leaving the property when Watson confronted him at the front gate and shot him to death.

Garretson, who was briefly taken into custody, returned to his native Ohio soon after the killings. Except for his testimony during the murder trial, he rarely spoke publicly about that night. He died of cancer in 2016.

Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, who owned a chain of Los Angeles grocery stores, had no connection to Sharon Tate or her glamorous friends.

The Hilltop home in Los Angeles' Los Feliz district, about five miles northwest of the downtown section, where Mr. and Mrs. Leno A. LaBianca were found murdered Aug. 10, is seen in Los Angeles August 11, 1969. (AP Photo)

Their home was chosen at random by Manson, who tied them up and then, before leaving, ordered his followers to kill them. Among the weapons used was a chrome-plated bayonet.

The Prosecutors

Vincent Bugliosi was an ambitious but anonymous deputy district attorney when he was handed the Manson family murder trial after a more experienced prosecutor was removed for mocking one of the defendants to reporters.

Bugliosi denounced Manson as the “dictatorial maharajah of a tribe of bootlicking slaves,” calling Manson’s followers “robots” and “zombies.”

After their convictions, he recounted the case in “Helter Skelter,” one of history’s best-selling true-crime books.

Bugliosi, who left the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office in 1972, went on to write 11 more books. He was 80 when he died of cancer in 2015.

This Jan. 26, 1971 photo shows Manson trial chief prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi talking with reporters outside a Los Angeles courtroom. The cool, relentless prosecutor became nearly as famous as Charles Manson himself during the trial that would defin… — This Jan. 26, 1971 photo shows Manson trial chief prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi talking with reporters outside a Los Angeles courtroom. The cool, relentless prosecutor became nearly as famous as Charles Manson himself during the trial that would define his life. (AP Photo)

Stephen Kay was a 27-year-old deputy district attorney when he joined the prosecution team two months into the trial.

He also joined Bugliosi as co-lead prosecutor during a trial of Tex Watson, who was tried separately after fighting extradition to California from Texas for nine months. Kay later successfully prosecuted Van Houten after she won a retrial.

In subsequent years Kay attended some 60 parole hearings to argue that the killers should never be released from prison. He’s now 76.

Other Prominent Players

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a Manson family member who was not implicated in the Tate-LaBianca murders, was sentenced to prison for pointing a handgun at President Gerald Ford in 1975. Since her release in 2009, she has lived quietly in upstate New York.

This is a 1970 photo of Manson "family" member Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, at pre-trial hearings in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

Linda Kasabian, the trial’s key witness, was granted immunity from prosecution. She had accompanied the killers to the Tate house but was posted outside as a lookout, a position from which she said she saw some of the killings.

The next night she remained in a car outside the LaBianca house as Manson tied up the victims, then left with him as the others stayed to kill them.

The 20-year-old moved in with the “family” a few weeks before the killings and fled immediately after. She turned herself in to authorities after the others were arrested. Kasabian later changed her name and has for the most part lived out of sight for the past 50 years.

Linda Kasabian, center, is shown at press conference she held at end of her 18 days on stand as a prosecution witness in the Sharon Tate murder trial, Aug. 19, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif. Attorneys are Roland Goldman at her left, and Gary Fleischman a… — Linda Kasabian, center, is shown at press conference she held at end of her 18 days on stand as a prosecution witness in the Sharon Tate murder trial, Aug. 19, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif. Attorneys are Roland Goldman at her left, and Gary Fleischman at her right. (AP Photo/David F. Smith)

Bruce Davis was convicted of taking part in the Hinman and Shea murders but was not involved in the Tate-LaBianca killings.

He testified at his 2014 parole hearing that he attacked Shea with a knife and held a gun on Hinman while Manson cut Hinman’s face with a sword. “I wanted to be Charlie’s favorite guy,” he said. Parole panels have repeatedly recommended his release, but the governor has blocked it.

Charles Manson, not shown, and four members of his former family, Bruce Davis, left, and Steve Grogan, right appeared at Los Angeles Court for hearings in two murder cases, Tuesday, April 13, 1971, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

Steve “Clem” Grogan, once a ranch hand at the old movie ranch where Manson had located his followers, was sentenced to life in prison for taking part in Shea’s murder. In 1977 he told authorities where Shea’s body was buried.

Grogan was paroled in 1985 and lives in Northern California.