Who is who? Murderer, Victim and Witness.

First the murder:

(not shown Chiron 6’Aries, Fortuna 1’Cancer)

The chart shows Saturn separating from the Ascendant in Taurus, Saturn in Taurus can be brutal, especially concerning women. The Moon is applying to a conjunction of Venus in Cancer, separating from fortuna, which does not seem to fit at all, the Moon in Cancer is the mother and Venus in Cancer a motherly woman. The 8^th house is the house of death and is shown by an ideological, rational but chilly Jupiter in Libra conjunct a brutal and violent Uranus in the sixth house, which does speak of murder to my mind and perhaps frenzied (Libra) and driven by ideology (Libra) maybe by a group (Uranus rules the 11^th house of groups). Can we judge that the crime concerns a mother? There are definitely women involved, the Venus rules the Ascendant. The Moon is in the second house and Venus in the third, was money also a motive (2^nd) or siblings (3^rd)?

There are three participants, the murderer, the victim and a witness. Can we find out which is which?

Chart 1. (not shown Chiron 21’Scorpio)

This person is shown by Aquarius rising and Sun in Taurus which is conjunct the North Node in the 3^rd house and very closely squared at Saturn Pluto conjunction in Leo in the 7^th house. Saturn Pluto suggests violence and abuse, Saturn rules her Ascendant and 12^th house (of Karma and self-undoing) while Pluto rules her MC for fame and notoriety. An unpleasant mixture for sure, but victim or perpetrator or bystander? She has a powerful Kite in fire with Jupiter in Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo and Moon in Aries, sextile Venus, Uranus conjunct in Gemini in the 5^th. The Venus Uranus does sound violent, but it could be violence against them or by them, hard to say. The eighth house is ruled by Mercury which is square the Mars and opposite the Jupiter.

Chart 2 shows Cancer rising with Jupiter conjunct the Ascendant. The Sun is conjunct Mercury in Aquarius in the 7^th house which is part of a Kite with Neptune in Libra and Saturn Uranus in Gemini sextile Pluto in Leo in the 1^st house. So Uranus in Air signs seems to be featuring here, Jupiter Uranus in Libra for the murder, Venus Uranus in Gemini in chart 1. This is no surprise as Uranus does suggest violence, endings and cruelty. Of the three though, Saturn Uranus sounds the most violent, but it is in the 11^th house of groups in chart 2, was there a group angle, a mob? Also both Saturn and Uranus rule the 8^th house of death (Aquarius) while Saturn rules the 7^th house (again a partnership theme). What chart 2 does have is Cancer rising and Jupiter conjunct the Ascendant together with Lilith. This picks up the Moon Venus of the murder chart, echoing the mothering theme. Venus is also in the 8^th house and she rules the 11^th house and the 4^th (death by a mob at home?) More interestingly in chart 2 Chiron is conjunct the North node at 27 Leo (not shown) which in turn is conjunct the MC of the murder chart. So the 2^nd is money and the MC is fame or notoriety. Clearly this is a infamous murder or I wouldn’t be writing about it and besides the mother, home and mob themes, here is money.

Why do people kill? Money, sex and power usually and sometimes all three. Also remember the Mars in chart 1 was at 27’ Leo so again violence (Mars) notoriety (MC) money (2^nd).

Chart 3

We do not have a birthtime for this chart I have set it for 12:00 so no house cusps but we do have interesting synastry. Firstly, here is another Uranus conjunction, this time with the Sun in late Gemini and Uranus in early Cancer, right on the Moon of the murder chart at 3’Cancer, again, violence against a woman and probably a mother (Cancer). Secondly, the Moon is conjunct the Saturn of the murder chart and possibly the Ascendant. Again, mothers (Moon) and oppression of women (Saturn in Taurus). In fact chart 3 has the most synastry with the murder chart. Besides the Sun and Moon, their Pluto is conjunct the murder Sun which suggest wipe out (Pluto) and destruction of life (Sun). And their Saturn at 1’ Virgo is conjunct the murder Mercury. Could this be the witness (Mercury) who saw something terrible (Saturn)? Finally another Chiron aspect, their Chiron is at 4’ Sagittarius widely conjunct the Mars (ruler of the 7^th) of the murder chart.

So huge amounts of data to process here, and a recognition that in Astrology you can have so much information it is really difficult to find a way through. Time for a table!

Murder	Chart 2	Chart 1	Chart 3
Sun 16 Leo		Saturn Pluto 16 Leo	Pluto 14 Leo
Moon 3 Cancer			Uranus 0’cancer
Mercury 3 Virgo			Saturn 1 Virgo
Venus 6 Cancer
Mars 8 Gemini			Chiron 4 Gemini
Jupiter 3 Libra
Saturn 8 Taurus
Uranus 1 Libra
Neptune 25 Scorpio		Mercury 25 Taurus
Pluto 23 Virgo
Ascendent 14 Taurus		Sun 16 Taurus	Moon 25 Aries- 6 Taurus
MC 26 Aquarius	Chiron 27 Leo N. Node 24 Leo	Mars 25 Leo

So what do we have? Chart 1 and Chart 3 have Pluto (death) on the Sun of the murder chart, chart 1 also has Saturn there, remember their Pluto Saturn conjunction can signify terrible rage and violence, it was square the Sun of chart 1 and the Ascendant of the murder Chart. Could they be the victim? As these planets are in the 7^th house, do they suggest murder by a spouse perhaps? Chart 1 its Sun on the Ascendant of the murder chart, while chart two may have the moon nearby. Chart 3 has Uranus on the murder Moon, (violence to a maternal figure). Chart 1 has Mars conjunct the IC of the murder chart, while chart 2 (its only aspect) has both Chiron and the North Node in the same place. The IC is home, are we to assume the murder took place at home? Chart 3 has Saturn conjunct the murder Mercury, were they the witness (Mercury?) Chart 3 also had Chiron conjunct the murder Mars, showing a fatal wound perhaps.

And each other what synastry is there?

Chart 2	Chart 1	Chart 3
Ascendant 21 Cancer	Ascendant 1’ Aquarius	x
Sun 4’ Aquarius	Sun 16 Taurus	Sun 29 Gemini
Moon 12 Virgo	Moon 25 Aries	Moon +/- 4’ Taurus or late Aries
Mercury 3’ Aquarius	Mercury 26 Taurus	Mercury 9’ Gemini
Venus 20’ Aquarius	Venus 29’ Gemini	Venus 17’ Cancer
Mars 28’ Sagittarius	Mars 25’ Leo	Mars 8’ Gemini
Jupiter 18 Cancer	Jupiter 28’ Sagittarius	Jupiter 0’ Aquarius
Saturn 5’ Gemini	Saturn 16’ Leo	Saturn 1’ Virgo
Uranus 0’ Gemini	Uranus 23’ Gemini	Uranus 0’ Cancer
Neptune 1’ Libra	Neptune 10’ Libra	Neptune 12’Libra
Pluto 6’ Leo	Pluto 12’ Leo	Pluto 14’ Leo
MC 9’ Aries	MC 20’ Scorpio	x
Chiron 27’ Leo	Chiron 21’ Scorpio	Chiron 6’ Sagittarius
North Node 24’ Leo	North Node 14’ Taurus	North Node 23’ Aries

So who is who? The victim is chart 2, the mother, she was pregnant and attacked in her own home by a mob who were supposedly driven by ideological reasons but really the reason was money, jealousy and possibly a case of mistaken identity.  

So which of the other two charts suggest their roles in the tragedy? The first thing to notice is that chart 2 Sun is conjunct Chart 1’s Ascendant. In astrology we call this a Cosmic marriage, meaning there is some fated, karmic or destiny involved between the two. Chart 3’s Jupiter is at the same degree also suggesting a connection but not as deep or lasting and Jupiter rules the law, remember one of these people is a witness.

Also chart 3’s Venus is conjunct chart 2’s Ascendant, so both the benefics, Jupiter and Venus are aspecting chart 2. Chart 3 also has Mercury Mars conjunct that violent Saturn Uranus conjunct in chart 2. Mercury is of course the messenger while Mars can be the aggressor.

The Mars in chart 1 is in proud, haughty Leo conjunct the Chiron and North Node of the victim. Remember we wondered if there was a money angle, and money was demanded and handed over. Mars in Leo is a supreme warrior and separating from a conjunction of Saturn Pluto does suggest a massive rage or an orgy of violence and as they are all three in the 7^th house of the murderer, suggests a partner who or encouraged the violence. (as turned out to be the case). And remember that the Saturn Pluto of chart 1 is conjunct the Sun of the murder, overkill, massacre and no mercy given come to mind.

And yes, chart 1 is the murderer. Along with some companions they broke into the house and killed the woman, who was pregnant at the time and killed her unborn child and four other people. They were possibly high; Mars loves its drugs and they used knives to kill.

The witness was outside the house keeping watch when the murders took place and her evidence was instrumental in convicting all the perpetrators, all of whom received death sentences. The witness was given immunity of prosecution. I think her Venus conjunct the victim’s Ascendant and Jupiter showed her getting justice for the victim, but unfortunately not saving her. She did not participate in the murders and according to her testimony tried to stop them. Her Mercury Mars in Gemini conjunct the victim’s Saturn Uranus suggests she was a witness (Mercury) and told the story of the violence (Saturn, Uranus) although it is also possible she lied (Gemini).

The murderer died in prison; her sentence was commuted from the death penalty to life.

It transpired at the trial that the murderers picked on this house in question because it had previously belonged to a record producer who one of the other murderers had tried to get a record deal with and failed. It was revenge in other words. Other motives suggested were a drug deal that had gone wrong as both the victims and the killers used drugs.

What can astrology show us? That Uranus is violence, both being done to and doing (the victim had Saturn conjunct Uranus) that Saturn Pluto is terrible savagery (the murderer), that Uranus Jupiter shows sudden excessive violence (the murder), that Venus Uranus shows hatred of women, even if you are one (the murderer) and that a Cosmic Marriage may show a terrible karmic bond (the victim and the murderer) as well as a soul mate. And finally, that eventually Justice will prevail, the witness’s Jupiter on the victim’s Ascendant.

Does this mean this was a destined or fated event? Perhaps. I feel sure their lives were fated to intersect, but the nature of the intersection was a result of the free choice of the witness and the perpetrator and the victim, who had been going to go out that night, but changed her mind. There is always a place for chaos and serendipity I believe.

We have looked at the horoscopes of the individuals and the event. But of course there are also the individual transits and progressions of the people involved and any lunations which may have affected their choices on the night.

Readers may recognise this was the murder of Sharon Tate and 5 others, by members of the Manson gang.

Data used:

The murder: the times vary: I have used 23h45 on 8^th of August 1969, Los Angeles.

The victim: Sharon Tate:  24^th January 1943. 17h47 Dallas, Texas

The Murderer: Susan Atkins: 7 May 1948. 01h03. San Gabriel, California.

The Witness: Linda Kasabian: 21^st June 1949. (no time, I used 12:00) Biddeford, Maine