Patricia Krenwinkel, a member of the Charles Manson family, is now up for parole consideration on Thursday. The California parole board will consider whether to free Krenwinkel who has been in prison for 47 years. Family members of the victims plan on fighting the parole recommendation.
Possibly out on parole
The California parole board will consider Thursday whether to free a Manson family follower who has been in prison for 47 years.
Patricia Krenwinkel was convicted in the early 1970s after she and other Manson family members went on a murderous spree that left seven people dead.
She’s the longest and most ancient Manson follower. She’s also the longest-serving female inmate in the California prison system.
Thursday’s hearing is a resumption of one that began in December. The hearing was suspended after Krenwinkel’s attorney, Keith Wattley, claimed she was a victim of “intimate partner battery” by Manson.
“There is no new evidence, no new allegations,” he told the news station.
“It’s just that this time I asked the panel to consider psychological and physical abuse. The fact is that the board had understood the influence” with other members of the Manson group.
Krenwinkel claims she met Manson was she a 19-year-old secretary. Adding that she both feared and loved him.
A possible decision by the parole panel to release Krenwinkel could be blocked by Gov. Jerry Brown, who has blocked the option for other Manson family members.
However, because she was 21 years old at the time of the crimes, she now qualifies for youth parole consideration, based on a 2016 law.
Family members of the victims, Sharon Tate’s sister, Sebring’s nephew and the grandson of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, plan on fighting a parole recommendation.
Debra Tate dismissed the claim that Krenwinkel was abused, telling CNN, “She could have cut and run anytime. She did it (the murders) because she enjoyed it.”
Not her first time asking for parole
Krenwinkel’s last parole hearing was in 2011, and she’s been denied 13 times.
She was initially sentenced to death in 1971, but it was commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional the following year.
Last December, Krenwinkel’s attorney, Keith Wattley, argued that his client was a victim of “Intimate Partner Battery,” also known as “battered wife syndrome,” by Charles Manson.
He claimed she feared Manson and feared for her life, which is why she participated in the murders. An investigation was conducted to research if Krenwinkel met the criteria for having battered women’s syndrome and now the decision is up to the Board of Parole.
If she is recommended for parole, California Governor Jerry Brown will have 150 days to make the decision to approve the recommendation.
Governor Brown previously rejected the recommendation for fellow Manson follower’s, Leslie Van Houten and Bruce Davis parole.
Manson family killing spree
The Manson Family was a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s, led by Charles Manson.
Manson taught his followers, mostly women, that they were the reincarnation of the original Christians, and the Romans were the establishment. He himself strongly implied that he was Christ; he often told a story envisioning himself on the cross with the nails in his feet and hands
They gained national notoriety after the infamous murder of actress Sharon Tate in 1969.
On August 9, 1969, Krenwinkel and the rest of Manson’s notorious “family,” invaded the home of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her husband, a movie director, Roman Polanski.
Sharon and four other individuals lost their lives after being repeatedly stabbed and shot. Krenwinkel previously admitted to chasing Abigail Folger and stabbing her until she was dead and her hand throbbed. She was stabbed 28 times to be exact.
Those killed at the home of Roman Polanski were Wojciech Frykowski, Sharon Tate, Stephen Parent, Jay Sebring and Abigail Folger.
Another murder took place days later
The next night, Rosemary and Leno LaBianca, a wealthy couple who lived across town, were stabbed to death in their home.
Leno and Rosemary were murdered in the same fashion, by stab wounds and gunshots. Following the murders, Krenwinkel took the victims blood and smeared the words “Death to Pigs” on the walls of their homes.
The murders created a nationwide sensation. At first, the murders were treated in different cases without a connection.
In a report at the end of August when virtually all leads had gone nowhere. The LaBianca detectives noted a possible connection between the bloody writings at the scenes.
Still working separately from the Tate team, the LaBianca team checked with the sheriff’s office in mid-October about possible similar crimes. Finally, arrests took place at the desert ranches, to which the family had moved
In a trial lasting from June 1970 to January 1971, Manson, Atkins, and Krenwinkel were found guilty and sentenced to death.
In a separate trial in 1971, Watson was also found guilty and sentenced to death. All the death penalties were commuted to life in prison in 1972 when the death penalty was abolished in California.
Source: Western Journalism