Tragic Loss: Murders of Sharon Tate and Selena Quintanilla

The Death of Sharon Tate

On August the 2nd 1969, the beautiful American actress and model Sharon Tate was killed inside her house, in Beverly Hills. The killers were members of the Manson family, who were a desert commune and a cult that was formed in California in the late 1960s Led by the mass murderer Charles Manson.

Sharon was 26 years old and eight months pregnant! She was killed along with three friends who were visiting at the time, and an 18-year-old visitor. When the killers arrived on the property after midnight they encountered the car driven by Steven Parent, the 18-year-old who had been visiting, one of the killers shot him 4 times in the head. Wojciech Frykowski was also a victim who was hit with a sharp tool on the head and stabbed 51 times, his girlfriend was killed as she was with him at that moment. Hairstylist Jay Sebring was shot and stabbed seven times. Then they stabbed Sharon Tate 16 times while she begged them to spare her life till she gives birth.

Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Charles ‘Tex’ Watson, and Patricia Krenwinkel were all sentenced to the death penalty but then their sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 when California’s Supreme Court abolished the death penalty.

The Murder of Selena Quintanilla

On March 31, 1995, the Mexican-American great singer Selena Quintanilla Pérez, was laying against the lobby floor of Days Inn Motel covered in thick blood from her neck to her knees. Richard Fredrickson, the paramedic, who arrived at the crime scene minutes after her collapse, already realized it was too late to save Selena’s life because she had lost too much blood.

The motel staff confirmed that Selena and her fan club manager Saldívar, who had also been entrusted with managing Selena’s fashion and jewelry stores were arguing very loudly. Some witnesses stated that Selena told Saldívar she was no longer trustworthy, this may have been what let Saldívar act upon her cruel intentions by shooting Selena. The bullet severed an artery in Selena’s lower right shoulder, Selena ran from the room her killer was in, screaming “Help me! Help me! I’ve been shot!” Saldívar pursued Selena through the hotel repeatedly calling her a “b*tch.” Selena made it to the lobby, where she begged the staff to keep Saldívar away, saying, “Lock the door! She’ll shoot me again!” The few bystanders were shocked as they watched the bleeding woman collapse. Selena stayed conscious long enough to tell the motel staff, “Yolanda… 158.” She identified her killer and her room number before passing out. After rushing Selena to the Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital emergency room as their staff helped Selena recover from an erratic heartbeat and started giving her blood transfusions. Doctors spent more than an hour trying to repair the damage that one bullet caused, but they were unsuccessful and pronounced her dead at 1:05 p.m. Saldívar attempted to leave the motel property, but a police officer stopped her. Saldívar was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole until March 2025. Selena’s death ingrained her status as a cultural figure.