Linda Kasabian, a member of the murderous ‘Manson Family’ gang, has died. She passed away on January 21 at the age of 73 at a hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Kasabian’s remains have since been cremated. The official cause of her death has not been confirmed yet.
Kasabian was a participant in the two nights of murders by the Mansion Family in Los Angeles in August 1969, which killed seven people. She later turned as a witness in the trial in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Manson Family Member Linda Kasabian Dies at 73
Kasabian’s death certificate has been obtained by news tabloid TMZ, which revealed the date of her demise as January 21, 2023. The document also shows her surname as ‘Chiochios’, which means she changed her name to protect her identity after leaving the cult.
Kasabian was 20 when she was introduced to Charles Manson’s cult in 1969. In August of the same year, she was involved in the murders of seven victims at 10050 Cielo Drive in LA. She later revealed that she was ordered by Manson to ‘gather a knife and do what Tex Watson told her to.’
As per Kasabian’s statement, she saw Watson shooting and killing Steven Parent, a teenager. She was then told to wait outside while Watson and his two companions entered the house and murdered five more victims, including actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant. The next night, Kasabian again accompanied the company as they took two more lives.
Linda Served as Key Witness in Trial Against Manson Family
Kasabian testified against the Manson Family during the murder trial against them in 1970. During the 18-day-long proceedings, she revealed gruesome details of the incidents and revealed that she witnessed the murders but did not participate in them. In exchange for her testimony, she was provided immunity from prosecution.
Kasabian served as the key witness against Charles, Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins. She revealed that she drove the company to the victim’s house on the second night, which saw killings of the LaBiancas but did not harm anyone.
“I started to run toward the house. I wanted them to stop. I knew what they had done to that man [Parent], that they were killing these people. I wanted them to stop,” she said in court. Manson and his co-defendants were then sentenced to life in prison.
Since the 1980s, Kasabian had been living in Tacoma with her daughter. In 2009, she had an interview with Larry King for CNN and revealed that she was ‘on a path of healing and rehabilitation.’ While she did not reveal her face, she maintained that she felt guilty over the murders.
Charles Manson Died in Prison in 2017
The leader of the cult, and the main accused in the killings, Charles Manson died in prison after battling colon cancer and suffering a cardiac arrest in 2017. He was 83 at the time. The cult leader had reportedly ordered the murder to initiate a race war, after which he expected to rise to power.
Manson referred to the killings as Helter Skelter, after the song by the Beatles. He formed the cult in the late 1960s, which was known for its unconventional lifestyle and use of psychoactive drugs. Earlier than that, he had already spent several years in prison owing to various charges.
For more news and updates, keep watching this space.