Former Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel recommended for parole after decades in prison for 1969 murders

CBS News

2 days ago

LOS ANGELES – Former Charles Manson follower and California's longest-serving female inmate Patricia Krenwinkel was recommended for parole after serving more than five decades for multiple killings in 1969, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Krenwinkel, now 77, was first recommended for parole three years ago, but California Governor Gavin Newsom blocked her parole, saying she was too much of a public safety risk.
Following Friday's recommendation to be granted parole, the case will be reviewed by California's Board of Parole Hearings and Newsom, which can take up to nearly five months.
She was received on California's death row from Los Angeles County in 1971 for seven counts of first-degree murder. Then, in 1972, the state's death penalty was ruled unconstitutional. She was denied parole over a dozen times before the 2022 recommendation.
Krenwinkel met Manson when she was 19. She previously stated that she left everything behind to follow Manson because she believed she might have a romantic relationship with the then 33-year-old.
In a 2016 parole hearing, she said Manson physically and emotionally abused her and trafficked her to others for sex. She then escaped twice but was brought back, rarely left alone and usually under the influence.
Krenwinkel was convicted of the killing of actress Sharon Tate and her unborn baby on Aug. 8, 1969, at a Beverly Hills home. Tate's body was found with a rope around her neck and wrapped around the body of a man.
In that same 2016 hearing, Krenwinkel said she repeatedly stabbed 26-year-old Abigail Folger at Tate's home the following day.
Then, the next night, she said Manson and Charles "Tex" Watson told her to do "something witchy." So Krenwinkel helped stab and kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. She then took a rag and wrote "Helter Skelter," "Rise," and "Death to Pigs" on the walls with his blood.
Laslie Van Houten was sentenced for her role in the killings of the LaBiancas, but was released in 2023.
Susan Atkins, who also participated in the Tate's murder, died from cancer in prison in 2009. Watson, who was convicted in five killings, remains in prison and has been denied parole several times.
Manson died at 83 after serving more than 45 years.