EXCLUSIVE: Grisly Autopsy Reveals Sharon Tate's Unborn Child Was UNHARMED In Manson Family Killing Frenzy — With her Final Plea 'All I Want To Do is Have My Baby'
Sharon Tate's baby was unharmed when she was initially killed in the Manson Family murders.
Jan. 31 2025, Published 12:35 p.m. ET
A harrowing autopsy reveals Sharon Tate's unborn baby was still alive after she was brutally murdered.
The new biography on Dr. Thomas Noguchi unveils disturbing details about the actress' body at her time of death, including her desperate attempt to shield her fetus while being stabbed and hanged during the Manson Family murders at eight months pregnant, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The actress was only 26 years old when she was slaughtered inside her home at eight months pregnant.
Tate was a 1960s actress and model, known for films like Valley of the Dolls and The Fearless Vampire Killers.
Married to director Roman Polanski, she was only 26 years old when tragically murdered by members of Charles Manson's cult, dubbed the "Manson Family," on August 9, 1969 – as part of a series of killings intended to spark a race war.
Tate had pleaded to have her baby before she was stabbed and hung by members of the Manson Family.
Four members of the gang broke into Tate's house in Beverly Hills, slaughtering her and four of her friends.
The following night they repeated the horror when they murdered Rosemary and Leno LaBianca in L.A.'s Los Feliz area.
In L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood, author Anne Soon Choi delved into Noguchi's findings and gave a deeper understanding into Tate's haunting death.
Choi explained how the Hollywood coroner was "overcome by sadness" when he first saw Tate at the crime scene laying in a pool of blood, noticing she had "tucked her legs into her body as if to protect her unborn child."
As Noguchi gave his testimony on Tate's murder, "shock reverberated through the jury" as he shared he had conducted an autopsy on the actress' unborn son.
Noguchi revealed Tate had not suffered any injuries to her uterus or her fetus, meaning the baby was unharmed at her time of death.
Choi noted: "This was a small saving grace, but it ebbed away when Stovitz asked Noguchi how long it took Tate to die. 'Would death be instantaneous? Would it be within an hour? Would it be within several hours?'
"Noguchi responded that, given the severity of her injuries, Tate most likely suffered 'a short period of coma,' and death occurred within fifteen minutes."
The baby was said to have not survived that span of time.
Choi continued: "Noguchi replied that the baby’s death was not simultaneous with the mother's. He pointed out a number of cases where babies had been saved by emergency Caesarian section after maternal death.
Susan Atkins eventually admitted to killing the actress in the mass murder.
"Looking at the jury, he stated that he believed Tate’s unborn son could have survived 'fifteen to twenty minutes of cessation of maternal circulation.'
"The gruesome image of Tate's son slowly dying inside his dead mother was what jurors held in their minds as the judge dismissed them for the day."
The mass murder was partially conducted by killers Susan Atkins and Charles "Tex" Watson.
During her testimony, Atkins claimed she was ordered by Watson to kill Tate after seeing her struggling to break free of the rope tied around her neck.
Atkins said she refused and instead locked her arm around Tate's neck and pushed her onto the couch.
When Tate begged for her life, Atkins said she responded: "Woman, I have no mercy for you." However, she quickly followed up by claiming she had spoken those words to herself, not to the victim.
When Atkins was questioned about Tate's baby, Atkins claimed Tate had pleaded: "Please let me go. All I want to do is have my baby."
Choi wrote: "Tate’s plea seemed to have an impact on Atkins, who told the jury, 'I couldn’t kill her.' She testified that she held Tate down as Watson stabbed her once."
However, Atkins later confessed to killing the actress.
The author added: "Noguchi’s autopsy found that Tate had suffered sixteen stab wounds; her statement also contradicted what she had told Ronnie Howard. Later, during the trial, she would confess to stabbing Tate multiple times."
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Charles Manson spent his life in California prisons and died in 2017 at the age of 83.
After orchestrating the infamous murders of Tate and others in 1969, Manson was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to life in prison after California's death penalty was invalidated in 1972.
Manson spent the rest of his life in various California prisons. He remained incarcerated for more than four decades and died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 83, from complications related to colon cancer.
His death marked the end of a dark chapter in American criminal history.
