After learning that radical cult leader Charles Manson died on Sunday, Debra Tate, sister of slain actress Sharon Tate, revealed that she reacted to the news by instantly praying for Manson’s soul.
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Tate, 65, has long advocated against the release of Manson after Sharon Tate and three others were killed on August 9, 1969, by some of the cult leader’s so-called “family” members.
Manson died on Sunday night of natural causes at age 83, with prison officials calling Tate on Sunday to inform her of his death. She told the New York Daily News some of the details surrounding how she reacted.
“I said a prayer, shed a tear, stuck a flower under my cross in my bedroom and emailed Roman (Polanski),” Tate said.
Sharon Tate was Polanski’s wife; she was at the end of her pregnancy when she and her unborn baby were killed. Decades later, Debra Tate has offered up forgiveness, telling the Daily News that she has overcome her hate for the killers.
“Hate isn’t health. It won’t bring my sister back,” she said. “One could say I’ve forgiven him, but there’s a difference between forgiving and forgetting.”
Debra Tate has also made some proclamations in the past that seem to point to forgiveness, despite her advocating that those involved in the murders remain incarcerated.
“I know people wish him ill,” she told The Hollywood Reporter of Manson earlier this year. “But because of my Christian upbringing, I don’t wish ill will on any of these people.”
She also spoke about her efforts to try and keep the Manson clan behind bars.
“I agree that all of these people should have gotten the death penalty and things should have been taken care of in the proper manner back then,” she said. “My only agenda now is to make sure they remain incarcerated until their time of death because they are a danger to the public. They are sociopathic, and that’s not anything that goes away.”