A Former Charles Manson Follower Was Just Recommended for Parole

Patricia Krenwinkel, a one-time follower of cult leader Charles Manson, was recommended for parole on Friday, May 30.

The California state parole board found Krenwinkel’s risk of reoffending to be low, according to CBS.

“This decision does not minimize or forgive the criminal conduct or the loss your victims and their families have suffered,” Commissioner Gilbert Infante said, per CBS8. “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.”

The panel’s decision must now be reviewed by the Board of Parole Hearings and then Governor Gavin Newsom, which can take up to 150 days.

Krenwinkel was 21 when she and Manson’s followers went on a two-day murder spree killing pregnant actor Sharon Tate, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Earl Parent and Jay Sebring in August 1969 — as well as grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, the next night in what prosecutors called Manson’s attempt to start a race war.

Krenwinkel, now 77, testified that she stabbed Folger 28 times, per the New York Times. She later helped kill the LaBiancas the following night and wrote in blood on the walls, “Death to Pigs,” according to the Times.

She was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder in April 1971 and sentenced to death. She was resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 1972 after the death penalty in California was deemed unconstitutional.

Krenwinkel, the longest-serving female inmate in the California prison system, first became eligible for parole in 1976. She has had 16 appearances before the state parole board.

In 2022, Newsom overruled the recommendation by the Board of Parole Hearings for her release after citing that Krenwinkel still posed “an unreasonable danger to society if paroled at this time.” 

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“Ms. Krenwinkel fully accepted Mr. Manson’s racist, apocalyptical ideologies,” Newsom said, per The Associated Press. “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.”

Jay Sebring’s nephew Anthony DiMaria spoke out at Friday’s hearing.

“Patricia Krenwinkel is not a follower, nor is she a victim,” said DiMaria, according to CBS8. “She is a cold-blooded killer of eight people. The more accurate number is eight, as I include the murder of Tate’s unborn son. Krenwinkel obliterated the rights of all of her victims. Charles Manson did not write Helter Skelter in blood. Patricia Krenwinkel did. She is the author of blood-smeared messages that terrified the world. Parole Patricia Krenwinkel once her victims are paroled from their graves.”

Keith Wattley, Krenwinkel’s parole attorney, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that the inmate should be released.

“After 56-and-a-half years of incarceration with no rule violations, with substantial change in who she is, and with the last nine psychological evaluators over the past 40 years agreeing that Pat is no longer a risk, it’s time to make the possibility of parole a reality,” he said.

“Pat has fully accepted responsibility for everything she did, everything she contributed to, every twisted philosophy she embraced and endorsed and, most importantly, every life she destroyed by her actions in 1969,” Wattley continued.

“Pat has participated in extensive therapy and group counseling to address her experiences as both a perpetrator and survivor of violence, allowing her to understand how she was able to cause this tragedy and helping others along their own healing journeys. This case also shows what happens when we don’t officially offer any healing-focused alternative to survivors of violent crime. Pat and I wish them peace, if they can ever experience it after the harm she caused.”  

In response to the recommendation, Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra, has started a petition to keep Krenwinkel from getting parole.

“Society cannot allow this serial killer who committed such horrible, gruesome, random killings back out,” she wrote. “I am asking for your help by letting the parole board know that you do not want to see her get released by signing this petition.”

It has gained 116,790 signatures as of Monday morning.

Manson died in prison in 2017.