SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on the parole hearing for Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson (all times local):
1:55 p.m.
A lawyer for Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, is criticizing California parole commissioners for blocking her release for another five years.
Attorney Keith Wattley said Thursday that commissioners should have recommended parole for the 69-year-old Krenwinkel in part because her crimes were influenced by battering inflicted by Manson.
Wattley also says Krenwinkel should be freed because of her age and because she was just 21 and less culpable when she and others slaughtered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six other people nearly 50 years ago.
The board did not immediately release its reasons for denying Krenwinkel’s parole.
Tate’s sister, Debra Tate, who attended the hearing, says the board rejected the domestic battery argument in part because Krenwinkel had multiple sex partners at the time.
Commissioners had delayed their decision for six months to consider if Krenwinkel had suffered from battered women’s syndrome.
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1:10 p.m.
Parole has been denied for convicted killer Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, after officials investigated whether battered women’s syndrome affected her state of mind at the time of the notorious murders.
Parole commissioners had postponed the proceeding in December while officials investigated the issue.
The parole board did not immediately release the reason for its recommendation Thursday at the California Institution for Women east of Los Angeles.
The 69-year-old Krenwinkel was previously denied parole 13 times for the 1969 slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people.
The next night she helped kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Manson to ignite a race war.
The law requires commissioners to give “great weight” to whether physical, emotional or mental abuse affected offenders to the point that it appears the criminal behavior was a result of that victimization.
Krenwinkel is the state’s longest-serving female inmate.
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9:26 a.m.
A parole hearing has resumed for convicted killer Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, after officials investigated whether battered women’s syndrome affected her state of mind at the time of the notorious murders.
Parole commissioners postponed the proceeding in December while officials investigated the issue.
It resumed Thursday at the California Institution for Women east of Los Angeles.
The 69-year-old Krenwinkel was previously denied parole 13 times for the 1969 slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people.
The next night she helped kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Manson to ignite a race war.
Krenwinkel is the longest-serving female inmate in California.
A possible decision by the parole panel to release her could be blocked by Gov. Jerry Brown.
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