A former model says she still feels guilty about her narrow escape from the night the Manson family murdered her friend in 1969, according to a Monday interview.
Ava Roosevelt, now 69, told Town & Country that “the guilt still lingers” as she recalls the night the Manson family brutally murdered her friend and pregnant actress Sharon Tate. The model, originally from Poland, met Tate through her husband and had a close friendship with the actress, saying she “regarded her as a sister.”
Roosevelt, 21 at the time of the murder, was driving to Tate’s home Aug. 8, 1969 when the gas gauge in her car started flickering. Unsure if it was just low on gas or a faulty gauge, Roosevelt decided to call it a night and went home. Later that night, Tate and four others were brutally murdered by Tex Watson, with the help of Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel — all under the direct guidance of Charles Manson.
“I survived and they didn’t, and it’s haunted me for years, I never stop thinking about Sharon,” Roosevelt said.
Former countess Ava Roosevelt recalls how she was nearly a victim in the Manson murders. https://t.co/FKnCoEOIwf pic.twitter.com/N4eF1guQet
— [ History News ] (@goinsidehistory) August 8, 2014
“No matter where my life takes me, I am thankful for every second that I’m alive,” Roosevelt said, adding that it was “my pesky car that ended up saving me.”
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