🔗 Share this article

Gavin Newsom has once more denied parole for Patricia Krenwinkel, who has spent over half a century behind bars for her role in the 1969 Tate-LaBianca killings masterminded by the cult leader.

Parole Reversal Draws Criticism

Months after California’s parole board found the elderly suitable for release, Newsom overturned the decision and declared that Krenwinkel “currently represents an unreasonable danger to the public if freed from prison at this time.”

It was the second time the governor has blocked her parole, and the move was met with strong opposition from Krenwinkel’s longtime attorney, who argued the governor opted for “politics over people” and failed to consider the mistreatment she suffered from Manson.

“The governor's decision of Pat’s grant has nothing to do with the evidence of her transformation or the danger she presents,” said her attorney, her legal counsel. “It's entirely political, in opposition to the facts and the governing regulations.”

Background of the Murders

Krenwinkel was twenty-one when the Manson's followers committed the killings of actor Sharon Tate and four others, among them heiress Abigail Folger and hairstylist Jay Sebring, and the following night murdered Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. By 1971, she and other Manson followers were convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder for their involvement in the crimes.

Life Behind Bars

In her decades in prison – she is the state's most senior female prisoner – she has reformed, supporters and attorneys have reported. Krenwinkel has obtained higher education and her conduct is spotless, her attorney noted, which was a key factor the parole board supported her parole.

Krenwinkel has expressed remorse for her actions in the offenses. In 2022, she said: “I wish to express how terribly sorry I am for the harm and anguish that I created when I ended the lives that I did … I try every day to live amends … [and] work toward being a better person.”

Past Abuse and Reform

A 2017 investigation by the parole board revealed she endured abuse in multiple forms by Charles Manson, her lawyer said in a statement, adding that she has found her “own identity, independence, and moral compass”.

Similar Instances

Newsom has previously denied parole for other former cult members. Leslie Van Houten was freed from state custody in 2023 after over five decades when a court of appeals reversed the governor's ruling to deny her release.