Manson Murder Weapon location (Los Angeles, California)

At Noon on September 1, 1969, 10 year old Steven Weiss was repairing a sprinkler on this hill in his backyard when he found a gun. The gun was about 75 feet down a steep hill, at the top of that hill is Beverly Glen Drive. Having watched "Dragnet," Steven knew how guns should be handled and he picked it up very carefully and showed his father who called the police. The police officer who responded eradicated all latent prints on the gun with his handling. More than a year later, and after several phone calls from Mr. Weiss, police were able to determine that this gun was the one used and tossed by members of the Manson family during the course of the Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Voytek Frykowski, Abigail Folger and Sharon Tate murders on nearby Cielo Road.

The gun was a .22 caliber Hi Standard Longhorn revolver. It had dirt and rust on it. The trigger guard was broken, had a loose barrel that was slightly bent as if it had been used to hammer something. The right-hand grip was also missing. (These pieces had been found a the crime scene.) Steven received $1,000 of a $25,000 reward for information established by Tate's husband -director Roman Polanski.