After the murders on Cielo Drive the killers turned up Benedict Canyon Blvd. to return to Spahn's Movie Ranch. After crossing Mulholland Drive on the crest of the Santa Monica mountains they turned north on to Beverly Glen Blvd. and began their descent into the San Fernando Valley. Soon after starting down the hill Linda Kasabian threw the .22 caliber High Standard Buntline revolver used in the killings out of the car's window. The gun went over the side of a hill and landed on an embankment leading down to the back yard of the Bernard Weiss residence where it was found by son Steven Weiss while he was working on a sprinkler fixture on September 1, 1969. The gun was turned over to police the same day, but no connection was made between the weapon and the murders for over two months.
The former Weiss residence at 3627 Longview Valley Road
in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles
Google Maps view of the Weiss residence
and Beverly Glen Blvd. behind and above it.
The road sign in the center of the picture gives a good idea of
how close to the Weiss house Beverly Glen Blvd. is.
The hillside behind the Weiss house where
the gun used in the Cielo Drive murders was found
The property has a very small back yard.
The gun (Photo courtesy CieloDrive.com)
On tour day the house was seemingly vacant and being made ready for repairs, so we were able to explore it completely, even venturing into the back yard. The house practically abutted the hillside behind it, but someone in a car on Beverly Glen at night would likely not have been aware that there was a neighborhood and houses situated so closely to where the gun was tossed out.
