May 31, 2025 • 11 mins
In this gripping episode of Bloodstained Backstories, we explore the life and untimely death of Abigail Folger — coffee heiress, social activist, and one of the tragic victims of the infamous Manson Family murders. Discover how Abigail’s privileged upbringing collided with one of the most horrifying crimes of the 20th century. We delve into her relationship with Sharon Tate, the chilling events of August 8–9, 1969, and the dark legacy left by Charles Manson and his followers. Whether you're a true crime enthusiast or a history buff, this in-depth look at Abigail Folger’s story will leave you haunted and informed.
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Twitter/X: https://x.com/BloodstaindB
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bloodstainedbackstories
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#murder #folger #mansonfamily #sharontate #abigailfolger #truecrime #truecrimestory
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We all know the best part of waken Up is
Folgers in your cup. However, the best part of waken
Up never came for Abigail Folger. She was born in
a privilege, the heiress to America's favorite morning ritual. Coffee
ran in her blood. But on a warm August night
in nineteen sixty nine, that blood would spill onto the
(00:21):
manicure lawn of a Hollywood Hills estate, mingled not with
cream or sugar, but with fear, with chaos, with the death.
This is not a story about coffee. It's a story
about allusion, the illusion of safety. It's about innocence lost
(00:42):
in the glare of celebrity, the shadows of cult ideology,
and the deadly grip of one of man's apocalyptic illusions.
I'm your host, Jase, and this is bloodstained Backstories. Tonight's
episode is brewing with darkness of Abigail Folgers. Abigail Anne
(01:04):
Folger was born on August eleventh, nineteen forty three, in
San Francisco, California, a city known for its foggy hills
and colorful counterculture. But Abigail came from a very different world,
the polished world of wealth, etiquette, and expectations. Her father
was Peter Folgers, the chairman of Folger Coffee Company, a
(01:30):
name that filled American household with the aroma of success.
Her mother, Annez, was a socialite and devoted Catholic. They
divorced when Abigail was still a child. She grew up
surrounded by art, music, and rigid codes of high society.
She played piano beautifully, she painted, and she read voraciously,
(01:53):
and she was more than a debutante. Abigail was brilliant.
She graduated from Radcliffe College with honors, one of the
most prestigious women's institutes in the country. Then she attended Harvard,
earning a degree in art history. By her early twenties,
she could have lived a life of leisure, but Abigail
(02:15):
wanted something more meaningful. She worked at the University of
California's Art Museum in Berkeley, but the glamour of museum
halls soon gave way to a more rugged path. She
moved to New York City, took a humble job in
a bookstore, then became a social worker, helping the impoverished
in Harlem's toughest neighborhoods. She walked the streets to most
(02:39):
heiresses avoided entirely, and it was in New York in
the summer of nineteen sixty nine that she met someone
who would change her life forever. Boy Tech Fraikowski Votech
was a Polish writer an aspiring actor who recently emigrated
to the United States. Spoke English, so they communicated in
(03:02):
French since she was a native speaker. Abigail was drawn
to him, his charm, the Jerplian flair, his connection to
Roman Polanski, one of the hottest directors in Hollywood. Poletski
was married to actress Sharon Tate. Within months, Abigail and
Voytek were driving cross country to Los Angeles. They were young,
(03:26):
in love, rebellious in their Polish polished ways. They rented
a house together in Los Angeles, and Abigail, always drawn
to service, volunteered in the rough neighborhoods. Again. She supported
the hot Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, where she may have
unknowingly cross paths with members of the Manson family. At
(03:51):
this time, many of Charles Manson's followers were receiving treatment
at that clinic, but those connections were circumstantial. No one,
not even Abigail, could have predicted the storm that was brewing.
On April first, nineteen sixty nine, Abigail and voy Tech
moved into a house that would soon become infamous. One
(04:13):
zero zero five zero Si Low Drive. They were house
sitting for Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. The home sat
above Benedict Canyon, secluded, beautiful and secure, or so they thought.
Sharon Tate, now nearly nine months pregnant, returned from Europe
(04:34):
that July. Roman stayed behind and finished pre production on
a film. Abigail and voy Tech remained to keep her company,
and their relationship it was strained. Police records and friends
described their relationship as filled with arguments. Voytek was unemployed
and reportedly relying heavily on Abigail's money. Vincent Bugolosi, the
(05:00):
secutor who would later bring the Manson family to justice,
wrote that boy Tech regularly used cocaine, LSD, marijuana, and
miss Caline. Abigail's theraps believed that she was preparing to
leave him that summer. During one of their final sessions,
she had spoke clearly she was ready for change, But
(05:21):
that change came and it wasn't what she expected. It
was August eighth, nineteen sixty nine. Abigail called her mother
around ten PM from the house on se Lo Drive.
She said she booked a flight to San Francisco the
next morning. They chatted and said good night. Albigail went
(05:42):
to the guest bedroom, slipped into her white nightgown and
began reading Boy Tech dozed on the couch nearby. Also
in the house that night, hairdresser Jay Sebring, a former
fiance of Sharon Tate, and of course Sharon herself radiant,
glowing and due to give birth in just two weeks.
(06:05):
At around midnight, the killers arrived, four of them, sent
by Charles Manson with the simple directive, go to that
house and kill everyone. Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Kreenerinkle
and Linda Casbian The lookout arrived at the house. They
(06:27):
cut phone lines, climbed the hill, entered the grounds, and
what happened next was beyond horror. Jay Sebring was the
first that I shot and then stabbed. The chaos exploded. Abigail,
according to testimony, saw Susan Atkins walk past her in
(06:48):
the bedroom. She waved, mistaking her for a friend, and
moments later Susan returned holding a buck knife. She ordered
Abigail to the living room, and there all four victims
were bound, and then they were attacked. In the chaos,
Abigail broke free and she rushed with Patricia Kenrinkle. She
(07:09):
ran barefoot, bloodied, desperate, down the hall, out the doors,
and across the lawn, but she didn't get very far.
Cren Wrinkle tackled her outside the house, and Tex Watson
joined in, and together a stabbed Abigail twenty eight times.
According to the killers, her final words were haunting, I
(07:32):
give up, You've got me. I'm already dead. Her white
nightgown was soaked red, not white, and was unrecognizable. The
carnage continued inside. By the end of the night, five people,
including an unborn child, were dead. The following morning, police
(07:55):
were left stunned by the brutality. The crime scene at
Selo Drive shocked even hardened detectives. Messages scrawled in blood,
victims strewn across the estate. Hollywood, and the nation recoiled.
Abigail's body was flown home to San Francisco. Her funeral
(08:17):
was held on August thirteenth, nineteen sixty nine, just two
days later after what would have been her twenty sixth birthday.
The service was conducted in the very church her grandparents
helped to build. She was laid to rest in Holy
Cross Cemetery in Coloma, California. At the time of her death,
Abigail's estate was estimated over half a million dollars, including cash,
(08:41):
securities and real estate. She had no will. Her father
filed a probate petition days later. And what of the killers?
Patricia Kreenrinkle, the woman who attacked and stabbed at Migil,
has been in prison every sace since. She has been
(09:01):
denied parole more than fifteen times. Her next hearing is
scheduled for May of twenty twenty five. Tex Watson, convicted
of seven murders, remains incarcerated in California. Susan Atkins died
in prison in two thousand and nine. Charles Manson, the
man who never lifted a knife but orchestrated it at all,
(09:25):
died in twenty seventeen, still believing in his delusions. But
this episode isn't about those murders. It's about remembering those
who were lost, and Abigail, for folder, was more than
just a name in a crime scene report. She was
an Ivy League graduate, a philanthropist, a woman who gave
her time, her heart, and her energy to helping others,
(09:47):
even when she could have easily stayed comfortable. In remembering
Abigail Folder, we remember the light that shone in dark places,
a woman who believed in art, in love, in healing, who,
in the end, deserves so much more than the footnote
of the bloody chapters of history that were left for her.
(10:08):
Abigail was the heir to a coffee empire, but that
August night roots something far darker, and we are left
with the chilling truth sometimes, even though most privileged lives
can be swallowed by darkness when the wrong people come knocking.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Bled
Stained Backstories. Don't forget to follow us on social media
(10:32):
and share your thoughts with us. Let us know when
the comments below. Should Patricia can Wrinkle be granted parole
after fifty five years behind bars or should she remain
in prison along with the echoes of that night. Let
us know your thoughts on that in the comments below.
Subscribe on it to us or follow us on Spotify,
(10:54):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in your favorite podcast.
And if you found this episode even haunting, leave us
a review, join us next me for another episode. Until then,
stay safe, stay curious, and remember the best part Awaken
up scolgers in your cup.
We all know the best part of waken Up is
Folgers in your cup. However, the best part of waken
Up never came for Abigail Folger. She was born in
a privilege, the heiress to America's favorite morning ritual. Coffee
ran in her blood. But on a warm August night
in nineteen sixty nine, that blood would spill onto the
(00:21):
manicure lawn of a Hollywood Hills estate, mingled not with
cream or sugar, but with fear, with chaos, with the death.
This is not a story about coffee. It's a story
about allusion, the illusion of safety. It's about innocence lost
(00:42):
in the glare of celebrity, the shadows of cult ideology,
and the deadly grip of one of man's apocalyptic illusions.
I'm your host, Jase, and this is bloodstained Backstories. Tonight's
episode is brewing with darkness of Abigail Folgers. Abigail Anne
(01:04):
Folger was born on August eleventh, nineteen forty three, in
San Francisco, California, a city known for its foggy hills
and colorful counterculture. But Abigail came from a very different world,
the polished world of wealth, etiquette, and expectations. Her father
was Peter Folgers, the chairman of Folger Coffee Company, a
(01:30):
name that filled American household with the aroma of success.
Her mother, Annez, was a socialite and devoted Catholic. They
divorced when Abigail was still a child. She grew up
surrounded by art, music, and rigid codes of high society.
She played piano beautifully, she painted, and she read voraciously,
(01:53):
and she was more than a debutante. Abigail was brilliant.
She graduated from Radcliffe College with honors, one of the
most prestigious women's institutes in the country. Then she attended Harvard,
earning a degree in art history. By her early twenties,
she could have lived a life of leisure, but Abigail
(02:15):
wanted something more meaningful. She worked at the University of
California's Art Museum in Berkeley, but the glamour of museum
halls soon gave way to a more rugged path. She
moved to New York City, took a humble job in
a bookstore, then became a social worker, helping the impoverished
in Harlem's toughest neighborhoods. She walked the streets to most
(02:39):
heiresses avoided entirely, and it was in New York in
the summer of nineteen sixty nine that she met someone
who would change her life forever. Boy Tech Fraikowski Votech
was a Polish writer an aspiring actor who recently emigrated
to the United States. Spoke English, so they communicated in
(03:02):
French since she was a native speaker. Abigail was drawn
to him, his charm, the Jerplian flair, his connection to
Roman Polanski, one of the hottest directors in Hollywood. Poletski
was married to actress Sharon Tate. Within months, Abigail and
Voytek were driving cross country to Los Angeles. They were young,
(03:26):
in love, rebellious in their Polish polished ways. They rented
a house together in Los Angeles, and Abigail, always drawn
to service, volunteered in the rough neighborhoods. Again. She supported
the hot Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, where she may have
unknowingly cross paths with members of the Manson family. At
(03:51):
this time, many of Charles Manson's followers were receiving treatment
at that clinic, but those connections were circumstantial. No one,
not even Abigail, could have predicted the storm that was brewing.
On April first, nineteen sixty nine, Abigail and voy Tech
moved into a house that would soon become infamous. One
(04:13):
zero zero five zero Si Low Drive. They were house
sitting for Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. The home sat
above Benedict Canyon, secluded, beautiful and secure, or so they thought.
Sharon Tate, now nearly nine months pregnant, returned from Europe
(04:34):
that July. Roman stayed behind and finished pre production on
a film. Abigail and voy Tech remained to keep her company,
and their relationship it was strained. Police records and friends
described their relationship as filled with arguments. Voytek was unemployed
and reportedly relying heavily on Abigail's money. Vincent Bugolosi, the
(05:00):
secutor who would later bring the Manson family to justice,
wrote that boy Tech regularly used cocaine, LSD, marijuana, and
miss Caline. Abigail's theraps believed that she was preparing to
leave him that summer. During one of their final sessions,
she had spoke clearly she was ready for change, But
(05:21):
that change came and it wasn't what she expected. It
was August eighth, nineteen sixty nine. Abigail called her mother
around ten PM from the house on se Lo Drive.
She said she booked a flight to San Francisco the
next morning. They chatted and said good night. Albigail went
(05:42):
to the guest bedroom, slipped into her white nightgown and
began reading Boy Tech dozed on the couch nearby. Also
in the house that night, hairdresser Jay Sebring, a former
fiance of Sharon Tate, and of course Sharon herself radiant,
glowing and due to give birth in just two weeks.
(06:05):
At around midnight, the killers arrived, four of them, sent
by Charles Manson with the simple directive, go to that
house and kill everyone. Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Kreenerinkle
and Linda Casbian The lookout arrived at the house. They
(06:27):
cut phone lines, climbed the hill, entered the grounds, and
what happened next was beyond horror. Jay Sebring was the
first that I shot and then stabbed. The chaos exploded. Abigail,
according to testimony, saw Susan Atkins walk past her in
(06:48):
the bedroom. She waved, mistaking her for a friend, and
moments later Susan returned holding a buck knife. She ordered
Abigail to the living room, and there all four victims
were bound, and then they were attacked. In the chaos,
Abigail broke free and she rushed with Patricia Kenrinkle. She
(07:09):
ran barefoot, bloodied, desperate, down the hall, out the doors,
and across the lawn, but she didn't get very far.
Cren Wrinkle tackled her outside the house, and Tex Watson
joined in, and together a stabbed Abigail twenty eight times.
According to the killers, her final words were haunting, I
(07:32):
give up, You've got me. I'm already dead. Her white
nightgown was soaked red, not white, and was unrecognizable. The
carnage continued inside. By the end of the night, five people,
including an unborn child, were dead. The following morning, police
(07:55):
were left stunned by the brutality. The crime scene at
Selo Drive shocked even hardened detectives. Messages scrawled in blood,
victims strewn across the estate. Hollywood, and the nation recoiled.
Abigail's body was flown home to San Francisco. Her funeral
(08:17):
was held on August thirteenth, nineteen sixty nine, just two
days later after what would have been her twenty sixth birthday.
The service was conducted in the very church her grandparents
helped to build. She was laid to rest in Holy
Cross Cemetery in Coloma, California. At the time of her death,
Abigail's estate was estimated over half a million dollars, including cash,
(08:41):
securities and real estate. She had no will. Her father
filed a probate petition days later. And what of the killers?
Patricia Kreenrinkle, the woman who attacked and stabbed at Migil,
has been in prison every sace since. She has been
(09:01):
denied parole more than fifteen times. Her next hearing is
scheduled for May of twenty twenty five. Tex Watson, convicted
of seven murders, remains incarcerated in California. Susan Atkins died
in prison in two thousand and nine. Charles Manson, the
man who never lifted a knife but orchestrated it at all,
(09:25):
died in twenty seventeen, still believing in his delusions. But
this episode isn't about those murders. It's about remembering those
who were lost, and Abigail, for folder, was more than
just a name in a crime scene report. She was
an Ivy League graduate, a philanthropist, a woman who gave
her time, her heart, and her energy to helping others,
(09:47):
even when she could have easily stayed comfortable. In remembering
Abigail Folder, we remember the light that shone in dark places,
a woman who believed in art, in love, in healing, who,
in the end, deserves so much more than the footnote
of the bloody chapters of history that were left for her.
(10:08):
Abigail was the heir to a coffee empire, but that
August night roots something far darker, and we are left
with the chilling truth sometimes, even though most privileged lives
can be swallowed by darkness when the wrong people come knocking.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Bled
Stained Backstories. Don't forget to follow us on social media
(10:32):
and share your thoughts with us. Let us know when
the comments below. Should Patricia can Wrinkle be granted parole
after fifty five years behind bars or should she remain
in prison along with the echoes of that night. Let
us know your thoughts on that in the comments below.
Subscribe on it to us or follow us on Spotify,
(10:54):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in your favorite podcast.
And if you found this episode even haunting, leave us
a review, join us next me for another episode. Until then,
stay safe, stay curious, and remember the best part Awaken
up scolgers in your cup.
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