Police Had No Tate Murder Suspect After Questioning 300
Deputy Chief Says Killers Escaped With Death Weapons, And No
Real Motive For Crimes Has Been Discovered
September 3, 1969
Los Angeles Times
By Dial Torgerson
Times Staff Writer
After having interviewed more than 300 persons detectives are still without a
prime suspect in the Tate murder case, top police official said Tuesday.
The murderer, or murderers, escaped unhurt, taking the death weapons from the
scene of the crime, the officials reported at a news conference.
No real motive has been established in the multiple slayings. Deputy Chief
Robert A. Houghton told newsmen Tuesday. And, he admitted, the longer the
investigation continues the harder it may be to solve the crime.
"We have no idea where the killers are located at present." Houghton said,
adding it was possible-but not probable-one person could have slain five persons
at the Sharon Tate estate August 9.
Could the killer strike again?
"Personally, I suspect not," he said. "Professionally, I couldn't rule it
out."
First Public Appearance
Police Chief Edward M. Davis, in his first public appearance since formally
taking office Friday, called the conference to tell news media progress of his
department's probe of the murders.
Houghton, Davis’ chief of detectives, answered "no comment" to most
questions-because, he said, details known only to the killer must be kept secret
"to test veracity of the lie detector."
Houghton said he believes personally that the case will be solved and that
the police had made "tremendous progress" since the murders.
Few new details emerged from the news conference: that the weapons ( "a
cutting weapon and a firearm ") had not been found, that there was no evidence
the killer (or killers) were wounded, and narcotics were found in more than one
part of the estate.
The killings occurred at the Benedict Canyon home of actress Sharon Tate and
her husband, director Roman Polanski, who was in London at the time of the
crime. Miss Tate and coffee heiress Abigail Folger were stabbed, Voyteck
Frykowski and Jay Sebring stabbed and shot, and Steven Parent a friend of the
caretaker, William E. Garretson, was shot to death.
"There are several possibilities, from the physical evidence, in sequence and
in the method of doing it." said Houghton, reviewing police attempts to
reconstruct the crime.
"Would it be possible for one man? Possible. Probable? I personally doubt it.
Although I must tell you in all fairness we do not have conclusive evidence that
one man could not have done it."
A Number Of Theories
There are an inspector, a captain, two lieutenants and 17 sergeants still
investigating a number of theories in the crime, Houghton said.
Houghton can have any additional manpower he needs, Davis said although he
pointed out that the chief of detectives responsibility includes investigating
murders in all 17 police divisions, one of which (77th St.) has already had 56
murders this year.
A newsmen asked Houghton if chances of solving the case are diminishing as
time passes without an arrest.
"It's fair to say in any homicide," said Houghton, "that with the time
distance between the occurrence and the arrest-the chances of apprehension
decrease."
When asked if he thought that the alibi of four persons originally listed in
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police bulletin as "suspects" had been cleared by
alibi. Police here later said the men were wanted only for questioning.
"I can't answer that." He said. "At this time I'm simply unable to do so. Let
me say that we have interviewed the men whose names appeared in the press, we've
talked to them, and they are extremely cooperative."
One of the four, Thomas Harrigan, told police last month that he had been at
a party 20 miles from the scene of the murders and that the others had been out
of the state: William Doyle and Charles Tacot in Jamaica and Harris Pickens
Dawson in New York.
Later in the news conference, Houghton said that Jamaican authorities had
assisted in the case because two persons sought for questioning were there at
the time of the murders. Police disclosed later these men were Doyle and Tacot.
Davis told newsmen who gathered for the press conference at Parker Center-the
police administration building in the Civic Center-that Houghton's men had been
doing "as good a job as can humanly be done."
"Unfortunately" he said, "the murderer, or murderers, did not leave calling
cards, and in this kind of a case you start with 2 hundred million suspects."
