Manson Family Victim Rosemary LaBianca’s Granddaughter Stabbed To Death In Colorado

Ariana Jean Wolk’s body was found lying in a pool of blood inside her Denver apartment.

December 16, 2020

Jose-Sandoval-Romero and Charles Manson [Denver PD and Hulton Archive/Getty]

Jose-Sandoval-Romero and Charles Manson [Denver PD and Hulton Archive/Getty]

By: Aaron Rasmussen

The summertime death of a Colorado woman has made headlines a second time after it recently was revealed she was the granddaughter of Manson Family victim Rosemary LaBianca.

Denver police and paramedics responding to a 911 call on July 3 discovered Ariana Jean Wolk, 40, lying in a pool of blood in her bed with fatal sharp force injuries to the neck, court documents state.

According to a news release from the Denver District Attorney’s Office, surveillance video recovered from the night of the murder allegedly shows Wolk in the company of 24-year-old Jose Sandoval-Romero, who was “holding a clear cup with pink liquid.”

“The cup was found in Ms. Wolk’s yard and fingerprints allegedly tied it back to Jose Sandoval-Romero, who was arrested in Colorado Springs” four days later, the news release reveals. “During his interview with law enforcement, Sandoval-Romero admitted that he had stabbed Ms. Wolk, fled the scene, and discarded his bloody clothes before fleeing to Colorado Springs.”

Sandoval-Romero is charged with one count of first-degree murder, according to the July 16 release.

In August 1969, LaBianca, 38, and her husband, Leno LaBianca, 44, were two of seven people slain by cult leader Charles Manson’s followers, known as the Manson Family, during the group’s infamous two-day killing spree.

The LaBiancas, who owned a chain of grocery stores, were stabbed dozens of times and the killers used the victims’ blood to scrawl “Death to Pigs” and “Rise” on walls and the misspelled “Healter Skelter” on a refrigerator. Wolk’s then-21-year-old mother, Suzan Struthers La Berge, discovered the bodies.

The couple’s deaths occurred one day after Manson’s devotees killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate, teenager Steven Parent, Folgers coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Folger’s boyfriend, Wojciech Frykowski, and hairstylist Jay Sebring.

Manson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten and Charles “Tex” Watson were eventually convicted of the LaBianca murders.

Read more: CrimeFeed

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