The woman whose trial testimony helped send Charles Manson and several of his murderous cult members to prison for life has died in Washington state.
According to a death certificate, obtained by TMZ, Linda Kasabian passed away at a hospital in Tacoma on January 21 and her body was cremated. Her cause of death was not disclosed.
The certificate noted that she had changed her last name to “Chiochios” apparently to protect her identity after dissociating herself from the Manson Family.
Kasabian was given immunity in exchange for becoming a key prosecution witness in the 1970-71 Manson trial. She participated in the 2 nights of mayhem perpetrated by Manson and his crazed minions who massacred 7 people in Los Angeles.
During 18 days of testimony, Kasabian described in graphic detail how the 1969 slayings went down under Manson’s direction.
Kasabian testified that Charles “Tex” Watson drove her, Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins to filmmaker, Roman Polanski‘s house in Benedict Canyon. She testified that Tex, Krenwinkel and Atkins fatally shot and stabbed 5 victims, including Polanski’s pregnant wife, Sharon Tate.
Kasabian testified that she witnessed the bloodshed, but she never physically harmed anyone.
Polanski was working on a movie in Europe at the time his wife and unborn child were killed.
What’s more, Kasabian testified that she was the driver on the second night of the Manson murders, in which Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were butchered inside their L.A. home.
In the end, Kasabian’s crucial testimony sealed the fate of Manson and his accomplices, all of whom were convicted of the murders and handed life sentences.
Manson died in prison at 83 after he went into cardiac arrest due to complications of colon cancer in 2017.
Kasabian was 73.
