Patricia Krenwinkel, the former girlfriend and follower of Charles Manson, could be released from prison after a California parole panel recommended that she be freed.
Krenwinkel, 78, has spent 56 years behind bars for her role in the brutal 1969 murders of seven people in Los Angeles, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate and coffee heiress Abigail Folger.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Tuesday that Krenwinkel had received a preliminary parole grant.
‘All grants of parole are proposed decisions and become final only after a thorough and comprehensive review by the Board of Parole Hearings and the Governor,’ the department said.
Once the parole board’s legal office approves the decision, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom will have 30 days to determine whether to overturn it.
Newsom blocked Krenwinkel’s release last year, arguing that she had ‘not developed sufficient insight into the causative factors of her crime and her triggers for antisocial thinking and conduct [in] the context of maladaptive relationships,’ the Los Angeles Times reports.
Prosecutors from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said they intend to again ask the governor’s office to reject the recommendation and keep Krenwinkel incarcerated at the California Institution for Women.
If Newsom overturns the parole decision, Krenwinkel would be eligible for another hearing within 18 months.
Patricia Krenwinkel, 78, received a preliminary parole grant on Tuesday. She is pictured appearing in court in 2011
Krenwinkel, pictured at center, was part of the notorious Manson Family and was convicted in the 1969 Los Angeles murders of seven people. She is shown entering court in 1971 with co-defendants Susan Atkins and Leslie Van Houten, each displaying an X carved into their forehead
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom previously used his authority to stop Krenwinkel’s release last year
Krenwinkel is now California’s longest-serving female prisoner. She was 19 when she joined the Manson Family, the commune, gang and cult led by Charles Manson.
The group was soon implicated in a series of killings, beginning with the August 8, 1969, murder of actress Sharon Tate, the eight-month-pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski.
Tate’s visitors were also killed: Folger, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski and 18-year-old Steven Parent, who had been visiting someone at the estate’s guesthouse.
Krenwinkel has testified that she pursued Folger before stabbing her more than 20 times. She also acknowledged using the victims’ blood to scrawl political slogans, including ‘Death to Pigs,’ on the walls of the home.
The following night, Manson and several followers, including Krenwinkel, carried out another attack. Wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were killed at their home.
Krenwinkel was initially sentenced to death for the seven murders. After the US Supreme Court struck down the death penalty in 1972, her sentence was changed to life in prison.
During the trial, she appeared in court with fellow defendants Leslie Van Houten and Susan Atkins, each wearing an X carved into the forehead—a mark Manson had previously made on himself.
Actress Sharon Tate was eight months pregnant when she was stabbed to death by members of the Manson Family, including Krenwinkel
Wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were murdered by Manson and several followers, including Krenwinkel
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Krenwinkel, right, admitted in court that she used her victims’ blood to write political messages like ‘Death to Pigs’ on the walls of Tate’s home
Debra Tate, Sharon’s sister, has since become an outspoken advocate for keeping Krenwinkel and other former members of Manson’s cult behind bars.
She noted in an online petition in 2016 that Krenwinkel personally carved the word ‘WAR’ into Leno LaBianca’s belly and wrote the disturbing messages on the walls.
‘She has admitted that was not a direct order from Charles Manson or anyone else – it was her own idea,’ Debra wrote.
‘For years, this woman laughed about the murders in court and showed absolutely no remorse at all,’ she continued.
‘Society cannot allow this serial killer who committed such horrible, gruesome, random killings back out.’
But Krenwinkel’s attorneys claim she has participated in extensive therapy and group counseling to confront her experiences as both a perpetrator and survivor of violence, arguing she had been abused by Manson, Los Angeles Magazine reports.
Krenwinkel’s attorneys argue she was abused by Charles Manson (pictured in 1969)
Krenwinkel is now the longest-serving female inmate in the Golden State
They noted she was just a teenager when she came under Manson’s influence and was searching for belonging.
Manson then ‘exploited that vulnerability through manipulation, drugs and psychological abuse,’ the lawyers from UnCommon Law said in a statement.
‘Over the decades since, Pat has worked to understand how she became capable of causing such profound harm and to take responsibility for the consequences of her actions,’ lawyer Keith Wattley said.
He went on to celebrate the parole board’s decision.
‘At a time when parole decisions are increasingly compromised by politics, this finding offers a glimmer of hope: Proof that the Board can uphold the law, recognize decades of rehabilitation and make decisions grounded in evidence,’ Wattley argued.
‘Now, the governor must respect these decisions and allow Pat to come home.’
Newsom’s choice on whether to allow Krenwinkel to go free now comes just three years after his previous decision to deny Van Houten parole was overruled by an appellate court.
‘More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims’ families still feel the impact,’ he lamented in a statement at the time.
Other former Manson Family members Charles Denton ‘Tex’ Watson and Bobby Beausoleil remain behind bars.
Manson, Atkins and Bruce Davis, meanwhile, have died in custody.
