Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel, murderer imprisoned half a century, is recommended for parole
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Set us as preferred Patricia Krenwinkel, convicted of seven murders as one of the most notorious members of the Manson family, was granted parole this week and, barring a move by the full state parole board and governor, will see freedom some 56 years after imprisonment.Krenwinkel was granted parole on a preliminary basis Tuesday at her 18th hearing to gauge her suitability for parole, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.“All grants of parole are proposed decisions and become final only after a thorough and comprehensive review by the Board of Parole Hearings and the Governor,” officials with the department said in a statement.It is the third time the inmate, now 78, has been approved for parole over the course of her time in prison.
On each of those occasions, the governor’s office exercised its authority to prevent her release.The parole decision will become final after 120 days, as long as it is cleared by the parole board’s legal office, and then it is sent to the governor, who has 30 days to decide whether to reverse the parole decision.In October 2025, Newsom reversed the decision, noting Krenwinkel’s efforts to improve herself in prison but saying her personal growth was outweighed by the potential danger she posed to the public.Prosecutors with the Los Angeles district attorney’s office said they would encourage the governor’s office to keep Krenwinkel behind bars.
She did not appear at Tuesday’s hearing.She is being held at the California Institution for Women in Corona.
She is eligible under the state’s elderly inmate parole program and because she was young at the time of the deadly killing spree.Krenwinkel was convicted in 1971, along with other members of the so-called Manson family, for the killings of seven-months-pregnant actor Sharon Tate, Thomas Jay Se...