LOS ANGELES, Apr. 20 – The daughter of Rosemary LaBianca was unable to hold back her tears Tuesday as she identified photos of her mother and stepfather and then recounted the horror of the August night in 1969 when they were found murdered.

Susan Wolk, now 29 and married, was called as a witness by Dep. Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay as he opened the prosecution’s case in the retrial of former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten.

During Mrs. Wolk’s testimony, Miss Van Houten seemed to slouch down in her seat at the counsel table and stare straight ahead. Neither the witness nor the defendant appeared to want to look at each other.

Later in the day, Miss Van Houten paid close attention to the testimony of police officers, frequently leaning over to whisper to her attorney.

Miss Van Houten’s attorney Maxwell Keith, did not cross examine Mrs. Wolk.

Mrs. Wolk was followed to the stand by Joe Dorgan, the boyfriend who shielded her from some of the horror when he pushed her out of the house after he found Leno LaBianca dead in the living room with a large fork protruding from his stomach.

William Rodriguez, the first police officer on the scene, testified that he saw “Death to the Pigs” written in blood on one wall of the room where LaBianca’s body was found.

Sgt. Ed Cline, one of several detectives assigned to the case that night, told of finding Mrs. LaBianca’s body in the master bedroom.

He said he observed numerous stab wounds in her lower back and buttocks. (Autopsies revealed she had been stabbed 41 times and that her husband suffered 12 stab wounds and 14 puncture wounds from the double-tined fork).

The word “War” was carved into the abdomen of LaBianca, Det. Sgt. Danny Galindo told jurors after Cline concluded his testimony.

Mrs. LaBianca’s daughter and Dorgan went to the LaBiancas’ Los Feliz district home with her brother, Frank, 15, after he called her to say he could get no response from the house either by knocking on the doors or calling on the telephone.

Their feeling of foreboding was soon borne out as Dorgan and Frank came upon LaBianca’s body in the living room. The daughter had remained in the kitchen and they quickly pushed her out the door before they called the police.

Rodriguez and his partner responded to Dorgan’s call and entered the LaBianca residence at 3301 Waverly Drive through the unlocked front door.

He said he decided to call for back-up units before searching the entire house after he discovered LaBianca’s body in the living room and the bloody writing on a nearby wall.
Testimony from an earlier witness, newsstand operator John Fokianos, indicated that Mrs. LaBianca had been very upset about news accounts of the murders that took place the preceding night at the Beverly Glen estate of actress Sharon Tate.

Fokianos testified that he had discussed the Tate murders with the LaBiancas when they bought newspapers from him shortly before 2 a.m. on Aug. 10, 1969, on their way home from a weekend at Lake Isabella. Within a short time, they, too, were dead.

Miss Van Houten, now 27, is charged with conspiracy and two counts of murder in the LaBianca slayings. She is not charged in the five Tate killings.

By WILLIAM FARR