Former Charles Manson cult member recommended for parole after governor blocked her release from prison two years ago
Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, is serving multiple life sentences for role in the brutal killings of seven people during the ‘Manson Family’ murder spree in 1969
A former Charles Manson cult member who killed seven people and scrawled “Pigs” and a misspelled “Helter Skelter” on the wall with her victims’ blood during the 1969 murderous rampage, has once again been recommended for parole by the California parole board.
Patricia Krenwinkel, now 77, is the state’s longest-serving female inmate who has spent more than five decades behind bars after she was convicted in 1971 of seven counts of first-degree murder for her role in the brutal killings carried out by the Manson Family.
The parole recommendation on Friday marks the second time Krenwinkel has been deemed suitable for release. Her first recommendation in May 2022 was overturned by Governor Gavin Newsom, who cited her significant role in the cult’s violence and her leadership within the Manson Family.
At Friday’s hearing — her 16th parole review — panel members cited Krenwinkel’s advanced age and decades of good behavior as evidence she poses a low risk of reoffending.
Krenwinkel did not speak during the four-hour hearing, but family members of the victims, including actress Sharon Tate’s younger sister, Debra Tate, read statements opposing her release.
“Releasing her to society puts society at risk,” Debra Tate said. “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.”
Sharon Tate, was one of the seven infamously murdered, along with four others in Los Angeles, between August 8-9, 1969, followed by the slayings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca on August 10, 1969, who she stabbed to death with a fork.
“For years, this woman laughed about the murders in court and showed absolutely no remorse at all,” Debra Tate wrote in an online petition on Friday.
“Society cannot allow this serial killer who committed such horrible, gruesome, random killings back out.”
Commissioner Gilbert Infante emphasized that the decision to recommend parole was not meant to minimize the horror of the crimes.
“At the time of these crimes, you exhibited all the hallmark features of youth,” he said. “When we look at subsequent growth, you have made strides, and this is evidenced in the work you have done.”
Krenwinkel, a Los Angeles native, was only 19 years old when she met the then 33-year-old Manson at a party and left her life behind to follow him, believing in the promise of a romantic relationship.
In 2016, she testified that she was abused, kept under the influence of drugs, and repeatedly coerced back when she tried to leave.
She admitted to stabbing coffee heiress Abigail Folger multiple times at Tate’s home and participated in the LaBianca murders the following night.
Acting on Manson’s instructions to do something “witchy,” Krenwinkel used the victims’ blood to scrawl phrases such as “Death to Pigs,” “Rise,” and a misspelled “Healter Skelter” on the walls.
Although Manson orchestrated the murders, he did not carry them out himself. But he and his followers, including Krenwinkel, were sentenced to death in 1971.
Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1972 after the California Supreme Court temporarily ruled the death penalty unconstitutional.
Manson died in prison in 2017. Krenwinkel is one of just two original cult members still incarcerated.
The parole board’s recommendation now heads to the full Board of Parole Hearings, which has 120 days to review the decision. If it stands, Governor Newsom will have up to 150 days to affirm, reverse or take no action.