Former Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel recommended for parole after decades in prison for 1969 murders
LOS ANGELES – Former Charles Manson follower and California's longest-serving female inmate Patricia Krenwinkel was recommended for parole after serving more than five decades for multiple killings in 1969, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Krenwinkel, now 77, was first recommended for parole three years ago, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked her release, saying she was too much of a public safety risk.
Following Friday's recommendation, the case will be reviewed by California's Board of Parole Hearings and Newsom, which can take up to nearly five months.
Krenwinkel was sentenced to death after she was convicted in 1971 for seven counts of first-degree murder. Then, in 1972, the state's death penalty was ruled unconstitutional. She was denied parole over a dozen times before the 2022 recommendation.
Krenwinkel met Manson when she was 19. She previously stated that she left everything behind to follow Manson because she believed she might have a romantic relationship with the then 33-year-old.
In a 2016 parole hearing, she said Manson physically and emotionally abused her and trafficked her to others for sex. She said she later escaped twice but was brought back to Manson. Krenwinkel said she was rarely left alone and usually under the influence of drugs.
Krenwinkel, along with Manson followers Susan Atkins and Charles "Tex" Watson, was convicted in the Aug. 8, 1969, killings of actress Sharon Tate and her friends Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski and celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring. Tate's unborn child with her husband, director Roman Polanski, was also killed. Steven Parent, who was visiting the property's caretaker, was fatally shot.
In her 2016 parole hearing, Krenwinkel said she repeatedly stabbed 26-year-old Folger that night.
The following night, Krenwinkel participated in the killings of grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in Los Angeles alongside fellow Manson acolytes Leslie Van Houten and Watson.
Van Houten, who was convicted in 1971 for her role in the killings of the LaBiancas, was released in 2023.
Watson, who was convicted in the killings of Tate and the LaBiancas, remains in prison and has been denied parole several times.
Susan Atkins, who also participated in Tate's murder, died from cancer in prison in 2009.
Manson died at 83 after serving more than 45 years.
