Local News in Brief : Member of Manson Family Denied Parole
Susan Atkins, convicted of multiple murders for her role as one of the Manson Family members, was denied parole Friday at a hearing at the California Institution for Women at Frontera.
A three-member state parole board decided unanimously that it would be an “unreasonable” risk to release the 38-year-old prisoner serving a life sentence.
It was the sixth time that Atkins had been denied parole since she and three others--Charles Manson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten--were convicted of the seven Tate-La Bianca murders in August, 1969.
As he has done in the previous hearings for Atkins, Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay related details of the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in Benedict Canyon and Los Feliz. “The citizens of the United States feel this is one of the most heinous, brutal crimes in our nation’s history,” said Kay, who was one of the prosecutors in the case.
In her statement Friday, Atkins portrayed herself as a victim of child abuse who left home at 18, used drugs heavily while living a hippie life and was influenced by others, including Charles Manson.
She comes up for parole consideration again next year.
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