Manson Follower Krenwinkel Denied Parole 7th Time

FRONTERA, Calif. —  Manson Family member Patricia Krenwinkel, convicted in the Tate-La Bianca murders, was denied parole Monday for the seventh time by the state Board of Prison Terms.

“This degree of barbaric, violent behavior has no equal,” Commissioner Rudolph Caspro said in announcing the board’s decision.

Throughout the two-hour hearing, Krenwinkel, 40, showed little emotion, staring out an adjacent window.

The Board of Prison Terms deliberated 45 minutes before denying parole. Krenwinkel, who was convicted in seven of the Charles Manson cult slayings, will be eligible for parole in another year.

The board commended Krenwinkel for good prison behavior, but recommended that she participate in individual therapy, if it becomes available at the prison, and urged her to develop a job skill.

A recent psychological evaluation found that Krenwinkel was no longer a threat to society. But the board called the report inconclusive and said Krenwinkel required more rehabilitation.

Krenwinkel’s attorney, Wendy Parks, criticized the board for recommending individual counseling as a condition for parole when it is unavailable at the prison.

In a news conference before the hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay, one of the prosecutors in the Manson case, said Krenwinkel shows little remorse for the crimes.

“She’s probably the most cold-blooded murderess I’ve ever met in my 21 years in the D.A.’s office. This is a person without a heart and without a soul,” Kay said. “She has no remorse. Her only remorse is that she got caught.”

Actress Sharon Tate, 26, then eight-months pregnant, was found stabbed Aug. 9, 1969, at the Benedict Canyon home she shared with her movie director husband, Roman Polanski. Four others with her were stabbed and shot.

A night later, the bodies of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were found in their Los Feliz home. At both homes, walls were smeared with blood scrawlings.

At her trial, Krenwinkel testified that she stabbed one of the victims so many times that her hand throbbed afterward.

Kay was accompanied by Doris Tate, mother of the slain actress. She joined Kay in supporting Proposition 89, which would grant the governor the power to overturn decisions made by the Board of Prison Terms.

“This was one of the most heinous crimes in the history of America,” she said in urging no parole for Krenwinkel. “If you have a dog and he goes mad are you going to turn him loose again? You don’t.”