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Paul Tate, father of slain actress Sharon Tate, dead at 82
DatelineAlabama.Com Paul Tate, whose daughter Sharon Tate was murdered by the followers of Charles Manson in a series of 1969 cult killings, has died. He was 82. Tate died May 18 of congestive heart failure at a convalescent home in Coupeville, Wash., said his nephew, Ron Cobb. Sharon Tate, an actress and model who appeared in the film "Valley of the Dolls," and four others were killed at her Beverly Hills estate on Aug. 9, 1969. She was married to director Roman Polanski and was eight months pregnant at the time. Manson was later convicted of masterminding the murders, carried out by his disciples in a killing spree that claimed two additional victims. Paul Tate, an army intelligence officer, launched his own investigation into his daughter's murder when he felt Los Angeles police were slow to find the killers. He retired from the military soon after his daughter's death. After Manson and his followers were imprisoned, Tate and his wife, Doris, wrote a series of letters to California parole officials arguing against their release. In a 2000 letter, Tate spoke of the anguish his family has endured and pleaded for the continued incarceration of Manson follower Susan Atkins, who was convicted in the slayings. "My family was ripped apart," the letter said. "If Susan Atkins is released to rejoin her family, where is the justice?" A Texas native, Tate had two other daughters, Patty and Debra. Paul's military work took the family throughout the United States and Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. Patty Tate died of breast cancer in 2000. Doris Tate, who became a pioneer in the victim's rights movement, died of cancer in 1992. Tate is survived by his youngest daughter Debra, of Riverside, who runs a victims' rights organization. Funeral services were pending. |
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