When Hollywood woke up to the horrific news that Sharon Tate and four others on her estate had been brutally murdered, the once open doors of Hollywood estates slammed shut. The tony residents of Beverly Hills and beyond began fortifying their estates while many recounted their own near misses with death. Apparently Sharon Tate was planning a huge party that night, but many of her friends (luckily) weren’t able to attend. Many Hollywood stars and celebrities would tell interviewers of their good luck.
The truth was, however, that Sharon Tate was in no mood to host a big party. She was almost nine months pregnant and it was extremely hot. Of the other four people who were murdered, one was visiting the house’s caretaker and wasn’t there to see Sharon, two were living in the house to look after Sharon while her husband was away and one was a close friend who was also there to check in on Ms. Tate, who was in the last weeks of her pregnancy. There was no party planned for that night.
Two people can legitimately claim to have dodged the killers’ knives that night- Debra Tate, Sharon’s younger sister, had wanted to spend the night but those plans were canceled by Sharon because she wasn’t feeling well. Sharon had offered a spare bed to her housekeeper Winifred Chapman for that night, but Winifred declined. Ms. Chapman had stayed overnight at the house in the past because it was much cooler there than where she lived. Other than those two lucky folks, nobody else who told stories of narrowly averting the carnage at Ms. Tate’s house were telling the truth.
