(Original Caption) Los Angeles, California: The three female members of Charles Manson's "family" ham it up for photographers through the window of the sheriff's van as they arrive at the courthouse to continue the murder trial in the Tate-LaBianca case. Patricia Krenwinkle (left) makes a face as Leslie Van Houten and Susan Atkins (right) smile. August 5, 1970.
Chino, California – A California parole panel has recommended the release of Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson and one of the central figures in the infamous 1969 Los Angeles murder spree that shocked the nation. Krenwinkel, now 77, has served more than five decades in prison and is the longest-incarcerated female inmate in California history.
The recommendation, made Friday by a panel of the state Board of Parole Hearings, marks Krenwinkel’s 16th bid for parole. According to KFMP-TV, CBS’s San Diego affiliate, the panel determined that her advanced age and spotless prison record suggest she poses little risk to public safety. The decision, however, remains provisional and must undergo multiple layers of review before becoming final.
The full Board of Parole Hearings has up to 120 days to affirm or reject the panel’s decision. If affirmed, California Governor Gavin Newsom will then have 30 days to approve, deny, or send the decision back for further consideration. In 2022, Newsom reversed a previous parole recommendation, citing concerns that Krenwinkel had not fully accepted responsibility and still posed “an unreasonable danger to society.”
Krenwinkel did not address the commissioners during the four-hour hearing. Her attorney was present, while several relatives of the victims delivered statements opposing her release.
Convicted in 1971 of seven counts of first-degree murder, Krenwinkel was among the Manson followers who participated in a pair of horrific home invasions that left seven people dead, including actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and coffee heiress Abigail Folger. The killings were part of Manson’s delusional plan to spark a race war, a scheme he called “Helter Skelter,” a misspelled reference to the Beatles song.
Originally sentenced to death, Krenwinkel’s sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the California Supreme Court abolished capital punishment. She has since remained incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino.
Krenwinkel is one of two Manson followers still behind bars. Another former member of the Manson “family,” Leslie Van Houten, was released in 2023 after an appeals court overruled Governor Newsom’s attempt to block her parole.
The parole board’s decision reignites a long-standing public debate over redemption, accountability, and justice for crimes that, more than 50 years later, remain among the most notorious in American history.
