Victoria Vetri is a renowned name in the entertainment industry, who soon became infamous after she was detained in an attempt-to-murder charges. Recently, The Playboy Murders released an episode exploring Vetri’s real intentions of shooting her husband Bruce Rathgeb.
Vetri was a model by profession, who had also appeared in various Hollywood films. She was popularly known as the sex symbol of Hollywood for her sensuous and bold roles and she was a successful model for Playboy Magazine.
Despite having a flourishing career as a model, Vetri aspired to be a Hollywood icon. In her pursuit to be an actress, she made many high-profile connections in the film industry including director Roman Polanski and his wife, Sharon Tate. Though she happened to have a close bond with them, little did she know that this connection would give her a life of trauma and would lead to something tragic in future.
Since Vetri was on good terms with Polanski and Tate, she often hung out with the duo. One day, when she was hanging out with them at their home when they were visited by Charles Manson. When Vetri saw him, she couldn’t help but say it aloud to her friends. Afterwards, she started thinking that Manson would have overheard her comment and must have been offended by it.
Later, Vetri was once again invited by Tate, who was eight months pregnant, to her house. Meanwhile, her husband was busy in England with his project. However, Vetri couldn’t join her that day as she felt sick and decided to stay home. As it turns out, it happened to be a good decision in as Tate received some uninvited guests at her home, who slaughtered everyone present at the place. Those men happened to be Manson’s followers.
When Vetri got the news of her friend’s murder, she took all the blame on herself as she believed that this was all the result of her comment that was overheard by Manson and in that rage he killed everyone. Vetri became paranoid that now Manson’s men would come in search of her to end her life. It is then that Polanski gives her a gun to protect herself. Bad decision! This gun later became the reason for Vetri’s imprisonment.
In 1986, Vetri married Bruce Rathgeb. Both lived as any normal couple until they started having differences in their relationship. According to the Daily Mail, Rathgeb claimed that Vetri started feeling insecure as she thought she was growing old and now her husband would be attracted by other ladies. She even accused him of cheating, although Rathgeb denied any such allegations. In his defence, he said, “Twenty-five years, I have never cheated on my wife,…I wasn’t going to listen to that all night… I have been true to her for 25 years and that’s the truth.”
But by that time, Vetri had made up her mind that she had been cheated on by her husband and was fueled by anger. She lost her mind to such an extent that she not only decided to take her husband’s life but according to her husband, started hallucinating that the person at her gunpoint was Charles Manson. Rathgeb recounted that when he was shot, he heard Vetri murmuring, “No more Charles.”
Vetri used the same gun, which was given to her by Polanski for her protection, to shoot Rathgeb. In an attempt to escape the crime, Vetri claimed that a drug dealer shot Rathgeb, but the police soon figured out the truth, leading to Vetri’s arrest and a nine-year jail sentence.
Fortunately, Rathgeb survived the gunshot, thanks to his neighbour who saw him in his injured condition and admitted him to the hospital. Though Rathgeb recovered, Vetri had to pay for her deeds and she was not only detained for nine years but was also ordered to pay $70,000 to California’s victim restitution fund.
