Manson Family Killer Recommended for Parole Nearly 6 Decades After Horrifying Hollywood Murders

Charles Manson Family killer Patricia Krenwinkel could be released nearly six decades after the murders that made her infamous.

According to a report from TMZ published on Thursday, October 8, Krenwinkel, 78, who was among the Manson family members convicted in the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, has been recommended for parole in California, per the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

While she was recommended for parole on a preliminary basis on Tuesday, October 6, it’s not the first time Krenwinkel has been approved. She’s been recommended for parole twice before, but each time California Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked her release.

Now, Krenwinkel’s parole decision will need to be reviewed by the Board of Parole Hearings and Newsom, 58, before it can become final.

Per TMZ, prosecutors in Los Angeles County reportedly plan to encourage Newsom to keep Krenwinkel in prison.

She’s currently incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Corona, where she’s been behind bars for 56 years, making her the longest-serving female inmate in the California prison system.

Krenwinkel was one of Manson’s most devoted followers in the Manson Family, a cult-like group whose members carried out a series of brutal murders across Los Angeles in the summer of 1969.

Among the victims was actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time, along with four others at her Benedict Canyon home. The following night, Manson Family members murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at their Los Feliz home.

Convicted in 1971 of the murders of Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski and Steven Parent, as well as the LaBiancas, Krenwinkel was sentenced to death, along with Manson, who died in prison at 83, and several other Manson family members, for their roles in the murders. Her sentence was later commuted to life in prison, however, after California overturned the death penalty in 1972.