Sandra Good, Part of Manson ‘Family,’ Turns Down Parole

ALDERSON, W. Va. —  Manson ‘family’ member Sandra Good turned down parole Friday and elected to remain in federal prison, because corrections officials demanded that she stay away from cult leader Charles Manson and his disciples.

“I love my family,” Good, 41, said at a news conference at the Federal Correctional Institution for Women.

“The U.S. Parole Commission doesn’t even know us. They’ve decided not to let me out to go to California, which is my home. They ordered me to another state, where I’ve never been.”

Good’s proposal that she be released in California was unacceptable, said Henry Grinner, Parole Commission hearing examiner.

“California authorities felt her presence might serve as a catalyst to reactivate previous activities of the family,” he said.

Good had been scheduled to be placed in a halfway house in Camden, N.J.

Good has been serving a 15-year term for writing threatening letters to corporate executives. Friday’s early release, which would have been the first for any imprisoned member of the Manson family, was to have been for good behavior.

Manson is serving a life sentence in the California Medical Facility in Vacaville for his part in the cult’s ritualistic slayings in 1969 of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and eight other people.

Under California law, Good, as a convicted felon, would not be allowed to visit Manson in state prison, even if such a restriction were not specified in her parole conditions, according to state Corrections Department spokesman Bob Gore.

Good was soft-spoken and appeared nervous at her news conference. She ignored certain questions by staring into space for a few seconds, then addressing a different subject.

She was dressed in street clothes, with a blue scarf tied around her head. The cross she carved in her forehead 15 years ago as a sign of support for Manson was still visible.

Good said she “did not intend to harm anyone.”

“I wanted to get a bicycle, put in a garden and visit Manson,” she said. “I’ve spent 10 years in prison, and I have a right to go to my home state.”

Good will appear before a hearing board in May in connection with her rejection of the special conditions.

The Parole Commission stipulated that she participate in a community treatment program in Camden, that she not associate with any current or former Manson family members and that she participate in a mental health program.