Monday, May 18, 2026

1969 SPECIAL REPORT: "LONE SURVIVOR OF THE SHARON TATE MURDERS SPEAKS OUT

 

15 comments:

Medium Patty said...

Great, thanks for posting this. Does anyone know what day this interview took place?

Mike Wilson said...

Probably August 15. Newspaper photos and articles appear on August 16.

gina said...

Forgive the ignorance: What is the attorney's name? Thanks!

SixtiesRockRules! said...

@gina....pretty sure that was Barry Tarlow with Garretson at the latter's news conference.

Tragical History Tour said...

I think Bill handled himself pretty well. Quite lucid considering how traumatised he became. The co stars were Tarlow's sideburns.

Torque said...

THT, agreed. I have always thought this was a very clear and coherent interview by Bill. When I compare this to anything he said decades later, its like night and day. I have to believe Tarlow was probably a very comforting and stabilizing influence on Bill at this very traumatic time.

Milly James said...

Poor bugger.

SeanK said...

Bill was a tragic figure in this drama. You can read the trauma in his darting eyes and quivering chin as he recalls the horror of being manhandled from one bloody corpse to another. So unrecognizable were they that he mistook Abigail for a black lady and was unable to identify his own friend who he had just seen hours before. He learned first hand that day the reality of police brutality.

The moronic goons who are ruthlessly interrogating him here should be ashamed of themselves. What this interview provides us with is the unvarnished truth of Garretson’s experience. It was sad and pathetic years later when he felt compelled to change his story and embellish it with bullshit. Whatever his motive, whether it was need for money or need for attention, I will always feel for the poor guy! He was thrust into a horrific scenario beyond his means and control and spent the rest of his life haunted by it. May he rest in peace!

Max Frost said...

SeanK you might appreciate this post… https://www.mansonblog.com/2017/10/which-way-you-goin-billy.html?m=1

ColScott said...

I see what you did there- HA!

ColScott said...

Welcome Back Max. You are an unsung hero of the blog, missed by millions of adoring fans. Bless all that you do

brownrice said...

Thanks for sharing that post again, Max... 'twas great to re-read it (and the associated comments and discussion). Personally, I always felt that huge swathes of Garretson's confused recollections could easily be explained by a moderate dose of jimson's weed or (if ya wanna go down the Mae Brussel path) a tab of BZ. Not the Rosie Tate Polanski madness of course... but everything that preceded it.

Milly James said...

Unfortunately, so do I!

Max Frost said...

Thank you Col - I will do my blessed best to keep the dream alive

Milly James said...

Amen.