Catching family Members
Beausoleil was the first family members captured by detectives, getting caught driving Hinman’s (stolen) car. Police also located the murder weapon of Hinman’s death in the tire well of the vehicle and placed Beausoleil under arrest.
Spahn Ranch, an abandoned movie set the Manson family called home, was raided by police on suspicious of black market vehicle fraud and concealing evidence of auto theft. Several family members were arrested during the raid, but Manson managed to evade police detection.
Atkins was caught by police during the raid and thrown in jail. She was overheard in her prison cell bragging to fellow inmates about her murderous rampage, referring to the Tate murders. Her cellmate, aware of the attack from the overwhelming news reports, informed prison guards of Bruner's claims. This was a major breadcrumb for investigators that later lead them down the road to capturing Manson.
Spahn Ranch, an abandoned movie set the Manson family called home, was raided by police on suspicious of black market vehicle fraud and concealing evidence of auto theft. Several family members were arrested during the raid, but Manson managed to evade police detection.
Atkins was caught by police during the raid and thrown in jail. She was overheard in her prison cell bragging to fellow inmates about her murderous rampage, referring to the Tate murders. Her cellmate, aware of the attack from the overwhelming news reports, informed prison guards of Bruner's claims. This was a major breadcrumb for investigators that later lead them down the road to capturing Manson.
Fingerprinting
Fingerprints at the Tate murders were ruined by LA police during collection in several key areas, including a bloody door handle on a back gate, due to careless handling of the scene. This later caused issues in the court room for the prosecutors who had limited physical evidence against Manson himself. Police were able to collect the fingerprints of Krenwinkel and Watson at the scene of the Tate murders, eventually leading to their arrest for the Tate and LaBianca crimes.
Blood Stain Analysis
The blood stain analysis of the scenes told investigators more than one perpetrator was involved based on the differences in cuts, wounds and weapons used. However, leading forensic chemist Officer Joe Grando failed to take blood samples from critical areas of the Tate crime scene. Blood tracked by officers in and out of the scene caused complications, as well, forcing investigators to get shoe prints of all individuals to rule them out as suspects.
Writing in Blood
The Manson family was notorious for writing in blood on the walls of the three murder scenes during their spree. The family hoped the crime would look like racially motivated hate-crimes, sparking a national race war (something he called "Helter Skelter). The words "Political piggy” were written on the walls in blood at the Hinman murder. “Rise”, “Helter Skelter” and “Death to Pigs” was written at the LaBianca scene with the blood from the two victims. Police failed to connect the two scenes because the cases were investigated under different jurisdictions who were resistant to work together.