Linda Chiochios Obituary – Cause of Death: Linda Kasabian, a member of the “Manson Family” criminal gang dies at 73.
Linda Kasabian, a member of Charles Manson’s notorious “Manson Family” criminal gang, has died at the age of 73.
According to reports, Kasabian had changed her surname in later life to “Chiochios” in order to protect her identity after she ended her association with the cult.
She passed away on 21 January at a hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Her cause of death has not been revealed.
Even though the Maine-born cult member was there when the Manson Family killed seven people in Los Angeles in August 1969, she was given immunity at Manson’s trial in 1970 and 1971 because she agreed to be a key witness.
Kasabian testified for 18 days about how fellow cult members Charles “Tex” Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins shot and stabbed five people at the home of Sharon Tate and her husband, Polish film director Roman Polanski, in Benedict Canyon. One of the victims was Tate, who was nearly nine months pregnant at the time.
Kasabian was the main witness for the prosecution, and he told the court gruesome details about the murders. She also said that the next night, she drove the same group to Leno La Bianca and Rosemary La Bianca’s home in Los Angeles, where they were also killed.
Kasabian’s shocking testimony led to the conviction of cult members Watson, Krenwinkel, and Atkins, as well as their leader Manson, who died in prison in 2017 at the age of 83.