Reformed Manson follower eyes freedom after 56 years: ‘She's not the same person anymore'

The Guardian

2 days ago

Patricia Krenwinkel, a former Charles Manson follower who has been imprisoned for 56 years over her role in the Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles, could go free after being recommended for parole last week.
The decision marked a major victory for the aging incarcerated woman after 16 parole hearings. Krenwinkel, now 77, was 21 at the time of the 1969 killings and has been imprisoned longer than any other woman in California.
On Friday, she was found suitable for release by the state Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) after a four-hour hearing, with commissioners recognizing her growth over more than five decades and concluding she is not a danger to society.
Krenwinkel, however, still faces an uphill battle to be freed.
Convicted of seven counts of murder in one of the most high-profile killing sprees in the US, she is up against a politicized legal process that regularly prevents people tied to notorious crimes from coming home, even when they've spent the vast majority of their lives locked up and are recommended by state officials to be freed.
California is one of two states that gives the governor the authority to veto parole decisions, and Gavin Newsom, the current Democratic governor, has repeatedly reversed the decision to grant people's freedom in notorious cases. That includes Sirhan Sirhan, who remains imprisoned for the assassination of Robert F Kennedy, despite his son, Robert F Kennedy Jr, calling for his release; Leslie van Houten, another former Manson follower whose release was vetoed by Newsom, but who was freed by an appeals court in 2023; and Krenwinkel herself, who was granted parole in 2022, but blocked by Newsom.
Longtime friends of Krenwinkel, along with her legal team, said in interviews this week that she had survived abuse and spent decades turning her life around and taking advantage of programs.
'We have to recognize that people can and do make changes. Pat grew up in prison, and she is such a sweet, humble, kind, communicative person. What we see now is the true Pat,' said Jane Dorotik, who spent nearly 20 years in prison and first met Krenwinkel in 2006 in the California Institution of Women (CIW) prison. 'At 19, she was sucked into this crazy world with Charles Manson, but that is not who she is and shouldn't define her. These women were living in a cult, were completely brainwashed and were so young.'
Krenwinkel's case has moved forward at a time of growing recognition of the impact of childhood abuse and trauma, with criminal justice reform advocates arguing these histories should be considered for people serving long sentences for serious offenses.
In California, there has been a push to free Erik and Lyle Menendez, the brothers convicted of the infamous 1989 killing of their parents, with the former district attorney of LA noting the abuse they endured as youth and arguing they demonstrated their rehabilitation and deserved an opportunity to come home. The brothers remain incarcerated as their case winds its way through the parole process.
Krenwinkel was convicted in 1971 for her role in the two nights of homicides that claimed the lives of actor Sharon Tate and her four friends, and grocery owner Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.
She has long expressed remorse and in her 2022 hearing spoke about the physical abuse, humiliation and degradation she experienced at the hands of Manson. In her 2022 hearing, she said: 'I want to say is how terribly sorry I am for all the pain and suffering that I created when I took the lives that I did … I try every day to live amends .. [and] focus on being a better person.'
Krenwinkel was working as a clerk in a craft department at the prison when Dorotik met her, Dorotik recalled: 'I didn't know who she was, I was just really struck by how friendly she was. She was so helpful to new prisoners coming in.'
The two ended up living across the hall from each other, said Dorotik, who was released in 2020 after bringing a wrongful conviction case and is now a member of advocacy group California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP): 'I was always very touched by how committed she was to helping the community and bettering our environment. Her position was: 'Yes it's terrible we're in prison, but we can still make the best of it.''
Krenwinkel's attorneys with UnCommon Law, an Oakland-based non-profit that represents people in parole proceedings, have noted that she has had no rules violations over five decades and has had nine evaluations by prison psychologists who have concluded she is not a risk to society. The law also requires that the board consider she was a youth during the offense and is now elderly.
'It is incredibly difficult to be in the violent environment of prison and abstain from any violent behavior or rules violations, and everyone who knows her speaks to the way she has helped other women,' said Su Kim, senior policy manager with UnCommon Law.
Kim noted research showing how survivors of intimate partner violence commit crimes under coercion, fear and trauma, arguing that there is growing recognition of the psychological control exerted by cults: 'While the horrific impact of her crimes remains unchangeable, today's context calls for us to rethink Pat's story with greater complexity and appreciation for what we now know about the deep links between trauma and human behavior.'
Some victims' family members have vocally opposed Krenwiknel's release, including Debra Tate, Sharon Tate's sister, who wrote in an online petition over the weekend: 'Society cannot allow this serial killer who committed such horrible, gruesome, random killings back out.' She did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Keith Wattley, UnCommon Law's director and Krenwinkel's longtime lawyer, said state law requires the release of an incarcerated person who is eligible for parole and no longer a risk to society, arguing California cannot keep imprisoning her due to nature of her underlying crimes: 'It's the governor's turn to show that he believes in law and order when the law requires a person's release despite public outcry.'
Some of Krenwinkel's supporters are fearful Newsom will once again reject her parole due to concerns about political backlash. In 2022, when he vetoed her release, Newsom said he agreed she was well-behaved behind bars and had 'demonstrated effusive remorse', but argued 'her efforts have not sufficiently reduced her risk for future dangerousness' and she needed to better understand her 'triggers for antisocial thinking and conduct'.
A spokesperson for Newsom declined to comment on Tuesday. The parole board's legal division has 120 days to review Krenwinkel's parole grant, and then Newsom will have another month to make his decision.
'She's almost 80 – she is not the same person as she was in her early 20s,' said Susan Bustamante, an advocate with CCWP, who was imprisoned alongside Krenwinkel for 30 years. 'I pray they let her out. Do the right thing. The crime is never going to change. And there is nothing more she can do with programs inside – she's done it all for nearly 60 years. She's done groups, she's taught, she's mentored. She has shown us all so much.'
Bustamante noted the challenges of aging behind bars, with elderly people struggling through cold temperatures at night, facing heatwaves with no air conditioning, being forced to sleep on cramped bunkbeds, having difficulties accessing the nutrition and medical care they require, and continuing to work jobs.
'It is so hard to keep hope alive and keep going forward,' added Dorotik. 'But I do have a sense that Pat is more hopeful than I've seen her in the past.' She noted that research has demonstrated that people released after long sentences rarely reoffend: 'They don't get in trouble again. Their recidivism is practically zero. Many work in their community to support other people coming out of prison. They're an asset to society and could have done a whole lot more if we let them out sooner.'