Vincent Bugliosi with the rope used at the Cielo Drive murders.
At the crime scene, physical evidence (such as fingerprints) was collected against Watson and Krenwinkel. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the Los Angeles Sheriffs Office (LASO) were both placed in charge of this case, which complicated and compromised the findings of the case as there were differences of opinion and miscommunication between the two departments. For instance, LAPD inspector K.J. McCauley did not believe that the word “Pig” printed on Tate scene door was linked to writing of “Death to Pigs” at LaBianca scene, two departments worked separately as a result.
Charles Manson interpreted the Beatles song "Piggies" as having to do with his prophesied black revolution with the whites being wiped out after a civil war. Because of McCauley's interpretation, the two departments did not work together on the case.
Evidence collection was also influenced by the sheer brutality and senselessness of the crimes and what happened to the victims; as a result, there was some breakdown in the usual evidence collection procedure as judgement was clouded. Instances of this include:
-Upon discovery of the bodies, officers took linen sheets from the closet and covered the bodies- some sheets stayed there for over a week (Abigail Folger’s body stayed outdoors on the lawn for a week).
-When they were finally taken to the morgue, officers failed to bring sheets with the bodies.
-Officer DeRosa was charged with securing the scene until investigating officers arrived but removed a print on top of the electric gate button, contaminating any evidence that could have been on the blood splatter.
-The .22 caliber gun was collected 2 weeks after being found by a little boy and the police did not dust for fingerprints.
-The gun grip for the gun was found under a chair at the Tate scene. The LAPD report showed that an officer kicked it underneath, which lengthened amount of time police took to connect the two pieces of evidence.
-Officer Joe Granado, forensic chemist, didn’t sample any blood splatters found around the bushes at the Tate murder and also didn’t take samples from the bodies on the lawn or the bodies in the living room.
-At the LaBianca scene, he didn’t take any samples because he assumed that blood around the victims was theirs- it became contaminated by officers who walked in and out of the crime scene.
At the scene a white nylon rope was collected. The rope was initially tied around the victims of the Cielo Drive murders necks. These victims included Sebring and Polanski (Sharon Tate). The rope was used to limit their movement, but was not found to have been used to choke the victims. After observing the evidence, forensic scientists found that the fibers of the rope matched a rope used at the ranch where the Family resided.
The LAPD issued an arrest warrant (4th Amendment) for Watson, Kasabian, and Krenwinkel for their involvement in the murders. Manson and Atkins were already in custody for unrelated crimes at this time, so warrants were not made for them. Kasabian voluntarily yielded when she found out about the warrant for her arrest.