12 Notorious Murder Cases That Tore Hollywood Apart

The murder of Sharon Tate is one of the most infamous in world history, and unlike anything heard of in Hollywood before or since.

Tate was a popular up-and-coming actress who married director Roman Polanski in 1986. While eight months pregnant with their first child, Tate and four others were brutally murdered by the Manson family.

The Manson family members were arrested and claimed the identities of the victims were not relevant. Manson himself had been rejected by a record producer who once lived at the same address as Tate and Polanski, and he directed four of his followers to head to the home and murder whoever was inside.

Hollywood was stunned by the murders, as best described by Dominick Dunne in his book, The Way We Lived Then, "The shock waves that went through the town were beyond anything I had ever seen before. People were convinced that the rich and famous of the community were in peril. Children were sent out of town. Guards were hired. Steve McQueen packed a gun when he went to Jay Sebring's funeral."

The months and years that followed were shaped by the murders as Hollywood realised no-one was ever truly safe.