Latest news with #MansonFamily
News.com.au
19 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
Former Charles Manson cult member Patricia Krenwinkel recommended for parole
One of Charles Manson's accomplices has been recommended for parole after serving decades in prison for her role in the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in California. A state parole board has again recommended the release of Patricia Krenwinkel, who is the longest-serving female inmate in the state. At 77, Krenwinkel is still serving a life sentence at the California Institution for Women for her role in one of America's most notorious killing sprees. She was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder in 1971. Krenwinkel was just 19 years old when she abandoned her life as a secretary in California to follow Charles Manson, the charismatic cult leader who has since transformed into one of history's darkest and most mysterious figures. Drawn in by promises of love and spiritual enlightenment, Krenwinkel instead became a key figure in one of the most infamous crimes in American history. Krenwinkel personally stabbed heiress Abigail Folger multiple times and then participated in the murders of grocery store owners Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, writing 'Helter Skelter' and other phrases on the walls in the victims' blood. Convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder, Krenwinkel was originally sentenced to death. But in 1972, her sentence was commuted to life in prison after California briefly abolished the death penalty. She has been incarcerated ever since. Over the years, Krenwinkel has expressed remorse and described years of psychological abuse at Manson's hands. She has stated she was under the influence of drugs and fear throughout her time in the cult. Nonetheless, her parole efforts have been repeatedly denied, with authorities citing the severity of her crimes. In May 2022, Krenwinkel was recommended for parole for the first time, but the decision was reversed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Her most recent recommendation in 2024 now awaits approval, reigniting debate over justice, rehabilitation, and the enduring legacy of the Manson Family. The recommendation came on Friday and must still pass several hurdles before being confirmed. It requires final approval from the full Board of Parole Hearings and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who denied a similar parole recommendation in 2022. That review process can take up to 150 days. According to state prison officials, she had previously been denied parole 14 times. Charles Mason died in prison in 2017 at the age of 83. Manson, whose name to this day is synonymous with unspeakable violence and madness, died of natural causes at Kern County hospital, according to a California Department of Corrections statement. Manson — who exerted a form of mind control over his mainly female followers — had been in prison for four decades. In the 1960s, he surrounded himself with runaways and disaffected youths and then sent them out to butcher members of Hollywood's elite. Prosecutors said Manson and his followers were trying to incite a race war he dubbed Helter Skelter, taken from the Beatles song of the same name. The Polanski house in Beverly Hills was targeted because it represented Manson's rejection by the celebrity world and society, according to one of the Family member's statements. Manson considered himself the harbinger of doom regarding the planet's future. He was influenced not only by drugs such as LSD, but by art works and music of the time such as The Beatles song, Helter Skelter, from their White Album. He often spoke to members of his 'Family' about Helter Skelter, which he believed signified an impending apocalyptic race war. He preached that the black man would rise up and start killing members of the white establishment, turning the cities into an inferno of racial revenge. Manson also had a strong belief in the notion of Armageddon from the Book of Revelations and looked into obscure cult churches such as the Church of the Final Judgement.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Former Charles Manson follower is recommended for parole
A California state parole board recommended parole for Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of the cult leader Charles Manson, on Friday for the second time. The decision will now have to be approved by the Board of Parole Hearings and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who denied Krenwinkel's first parole recommendation. The governor's review process can take up to 150 days following a parole hearing. The 77-year-old is serving a life sentence in the California Institution for Women for her role in the killings of pregnant actor Sharon Tate and four others in August 1969, as well as grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, the following night in what prosecutors have called Manson's attempt to start a race war. She was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder in April 1971. Krenwinkel was recommended for parole for the first time in May 2022, but Newsom denied clemency five months later, according to Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate records. She was previously denied parole 14 times before then. Friday's parole suitability hearing was Krenwinkel's 16th, David Maldonado, deputy chief of strategic communications and external affairs for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, confirmed. Krenwinkel was 19 and working as a secretary when she met a 33-year-old Manson at a party, leaving her life behind to follow him because she believed they could have a romantic relationship, she said in 2016 testimony. Instead, she was abused by Manson and tried to flee, but was brought back each time and was often under the influence of drugs. Krenwinkel admitted to stabbing an heiress to a coffee fortune, Abigail Folger, multiple times on the night of Aug. 9, 1969, as well as participating in the killings of the LaBiancas the following night. During the LaBianca murders, she infamously wrote 'Helter Skelter' and other phrases on the wall in her victims' blood. She, along with other participants including Manson, were convicted and sentenced to death. However, their sentences were commuted to life with the possibility parole in 1972, after the death penalty was briefly ruled unconstitutional in California. Krenwinkel is now the state's longest-serving inmate. The California governor's office did not immediately respond to NBC News' requests for comment. This article was originally published on
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Murderous Charles Manson follower could be released as she's recommended for parole
A Charles Manson follower who helped kill pregnant actress Sharon Tate could be freed from prison after being recommended parole following 55 years behind bars. Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, has been recommended for release by California authorities and may get a chance at freedom. California's longest-serving female inmate has been locked up since she was 22 for her part in the 1969 Manson family murders. Krenwinkel was sentenced to death in 1971 after being convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder, but her sentence was changed to life when the state's death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in 1972. This comes just a few years after Governor Gavin Newsom rejected a previous parole recommendation in 2022, saying she posed too great a risk to public safety. But the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it intends to oppose her parole once again. In a statement to CBS 8, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said: 'The Parole Board commissioners will give special consideration to the elder parole factors as Ms. Krenwinkel is over 50 and has served 20 years in custody. 'But that in and of itself does not make her automatically appropriate for a grant. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office opposed parole the last time it attended a parole hearing for Ms. Krenwinkel in 2016 and 2017, where she received a five-year denial. The office intends to oppose parole again.' Krenwinkel met Manson when she was 19 and left everything behind to pursue a romantic relationship with him. She was living with her older sister when she met Manson, then age 33, at a party during a time when she said she was feeling lost and alone. 'He seemed a bit bigger than life,' she testified in May 2022, and she started feeling 'that somehow his take on the world was the right, was the right one.' She said she left with him for what she thought would be a relationship with 'the new man in my life' who unlike others told her he loved her and that she was beautiful. Manson 'had answers that I wanted to hear ... that I might be loved, that I might have the kind of affection that I was looking forward to in my life,' she said. Instead, she said Manson abused her and others physically and emotionally while requiring that they trust him without question, testimony that led the parole panel to conclude that Krenwinkel was a victim of intimate partner battery at the time. Krenwinkel was convicted in the slayings of pregnant actor Sharon Tate and four other people in August 1969. Krenwinkel joined Susan Atkins and Charles 'Tex' Watson in the murder at director Roman Polanski's Benedict Canyon home. Charles Manson followers, from left: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, shown walking to court to appear for their roles in the 1969 cult killings of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, in Los Angeles on August 20, 1970 The victims included Tate's unborn child, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring and Steven Parent. The next night, she killed Leno LaBianca by stabbing him in the stomach with a carving fork they used at Thanksgiving. She wrote 'Death to Pigs' on the wall with his blood. She also helped kill his wife Rosemary in a double murder prosecutors say was an attempt by Manson to start a race war. In a 2016 parole hearing, she claimed Manson physically and emotionally abused her and trafficked her to others for sex. Her case will now go before California's Board of Parole Hearings and the governor for final approval in a process that could take up to five months. In 2022, Newsom blocked the parole of Krenwinkel, more than five decades after she scrawled 'Helter Skelter' on a wall using the blood of one of their victims. Krenwinkel and other followers of the cult leader terrorized the state in the late 1960s, committing crimes that Newsom said 'were among the most fear-inducing in California's history.' Charles Manson was the leader of a group of cultists who engaged in a frenzy of killing in the summer of 1969, culminating in the murder of the actress Sharon Tate and her unborn child. He died of natural causes not long after this photo was taken A two-member parole panel in May 2022 recommended that Krenwinkel be released, after she previously had been denied parole 14 times. Newsom has previously rejected parole recommendations for other followers of Manson, who died in prison in 2017.
Newsweek
a day ago
- Newsweek
Manson Family Member Recommended for Parole 55 Years After Grisly Murders
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A California prison panel has recommended Patricia Krenwinkel, a longtime imprisoned member of the Manson Family cult, who was convicted in the infamous 1969 Los Angeles murder spree, for parole on Friday. Newsweek has reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California governor's office for comment via email on Sunday. Why It Matters Krenwinkel is the longest-serving female inmate in California prisons. She was a member of Charles Manson's "family," a devoted group living communally on an abandoned movie set in California. Manson was notorious for his ability to manipulate and control others, having quickly gained followers and convinced them to view him as a God-like figure, with testimonies emphasizing drug use and abuse. He led sermons, orchestrated orgies and fostered a cult-like environment, as well as directing his family members to kill. Members of the "Manson Family," including Krenwinkel, stabbed and killed several people, including actress Sharon Tate who was pregnant at the time. Krenwinkel first met Manson at a party when she was 19 years old and immediately left her life for him. What To Know During a four-hour hearing Friday, panel members of the California Board of Parole found that Krenwinkel, 77, poses a low risk of reoffending due to her age and decades of good behavior in prison, and recommended her for parole, according to CBS News' San Diego affiliate. Krenwinkel did not speak during the hearing, but several victims' family members, including Tate's younger sister, Debra Tate, spoke in opposition, according to CBS. Krenwinkel, a Los Angeles native, is incarcerated at the California Institution for Women, and has been denied parole over a dozen times, most recently by Newsom in 2022. She is serving a life sentence after being convicted of seven counts of murder in 1971. During her trial, she confessed to running down and repeatedly stabbing Abigail Anne Folger, who was at Tate's home that night, and assisted in killing the LaBiancas the following evening. She says Manson told her to do something "witchy," and so after stabbing the LaBiancas with a fork, she used the victims' blood to write "Death to Pigs," "Rise," and "Healter [sic] Skelter" on the walls. The disturbing murders were orchestrated by Manson, but not personally done by him. He died in prison in 2017. Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel is seen on March 13, 2020. Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel is seen on March 13, 2020. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation What People Are Saying California Governor Gavin Newsom said in reversal of Krenwinkel's parole in 2022: "Ms. Krenwinkel fully accepted Mr. Manson's racist, apocalyptical ideologies. Ms. Krenwinkel was not only a victim of Mr. Manson's abuse. She was also a significant contributor to the violence and tragedy that became the Manson Family's legacy... Beyond the brutal murders she committed, she played a leadership role in the cult, and an enforcer of Mr. Manson's tyranny. She forced the other women in the cult to obey Mr. Manson, and prevented them from escaping when they tried to leave" Debra Tate, Sharon Tate's younger sister, said during Friday's hearing: "Releasing her to society puts society at risk. I don't accept any explanation for someone who has had 55 years to think of the many ways they impacted their victims, but still does not know their names. My life, the victims' families are forever affected." Commissioner Gilbert Infante said during the hearing on Friday: "This decision does not minimize or forgive the criminal conduct or the loss your victims and their families have suffered. At the time of these crimes, you exhibited all the hallmark features of youth. When we look at subsequent growth, you have made strides, and this is evidenced in the work you have done." What Happens Next The panel's recommendation now goes to the full California Board of Parole Hearings for review, which must occur within 120 days. If approved, Governor Gavin Newsom will have 150 days to affirm, reverse or take no action on the decision.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Manson Family' member who smeared blood on walls recommended for parole
A former follower of cult leader Charles Manson, who is serving a life sentence for her role in a 1969 Los Angeles killing spree, has been recommended for parole. Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, the longest-serving female inmate in California, is one of two remaining so-called 'Manson Family' members still in prison. In 1971, she was convicted of the murders of seven people, including the actress Sharon Tate, during a grisly two-night rampage that shocked America. Krenwinkel was sentenced to death, however, her sentence was reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after California abolished the death penalty in 1972. It is the 16th time that Krenwinkel has appeared before a parole board, and the second time she was recommended. The first was in 2022, but the decision was overruled by Gavin Newsom, California's governor. Mr Newsom wrote at the time that Krenwinkel 'still poses an unreasonable danger to society if paroled at this time'. 'At her parole hearing, Ms. Krenwinkel accepted responsibility for her direct crimes, yet she continued to shift disproportionate blame to Mr. Manson for decisions and conduct within her control,' he added. The governor could reject the parole board's decision once again or send it back for further review. Krenwinkel, incarcerated at the California Institution for Women for 54 years, did not speak at the four-hour hearing on Friday, but family members of the victims spoke in opposition to her release. 'For years, this woman laughed about the murders in court and showed absolutely no remorse at all,' wrote Debra Tate, the younger sister of Sharon Tate, in an online petition on Friday. 'Society cannot allow this serial killer who committed such horrible, gruesome, random killings back out.' Ms Tate, the 26-year-old wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski, was one of seven victims of the grisly killings by the Manson cult on the nights of August 9 and 10, 1969. Eight months pregnant, Ms Tate was stabbed and shot to death at her Beverly Hills home with four friends, including coffee heiress Abigail Folger, hair stylist Thomas Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Steven Earl Parent. Mr Polanski was in Europe at the time. The following night, Krenwinkel and other Manson followers stabbed to death grocery store executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. Both homes had smears of blood on the walls, and Krenwinkel had used blood to write 'Death to Pigs'. Manson did not personally kill any of the seven victims, but he was found guilty of ordering their murders as part of a delusional plot to ignite a race war, which he believed was heralded in a Beatles song. Krenwinkle, who was 23 at the time, along with Manson, 36, and three others of his so-called 'family' of misfits and hippie types, were convicted of all the murders. At Krenwinkle's 14 other parole denials, the board cited the brutality of the murders. Manson died in prison in 2017 of natural causes aged 83 after nearly half a century behind bars. One of his followers, Susan Atkins, died in prison in 2009. Charles 'Tex' Watson, 79, remains in prison. Leslie Van Houten was released from prison on parole in 2023 after spending 53 years behind bars. Governor Newsom had rejected her parole recommendation, but was overruled by a California appeals court.
