One of Charles Manson’s followers, Patricia Krenwinkel, has been found suitable for parole by California state officials, and Sharon Tate’s sister is not pleased. Krenwinkel participated in Tate’s murder back in 1969 under Manson’s influence. Debra Tate spoke to The Los Angeles Times about why she opposes parole for Krenwinkel and how she plans to fight it.
Krenwinkel was convicted of murdering Tate and six other people during a two-day murder spree in Los Angeles, California along with several other Manson cult followers. She was sent to death row in 1971 but the sentence was never carried out, and at 74 years old she is now the longest-serving female inmate in California. When California ruled that capital punishment was unconstitutional in 1972, Krenwinkel’s sentence was altered to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Debra Tate told The Times that she does not believe that sentence should be altered now.
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A state parole panel has reportedly made a “tentative decision” finding Krenwinkel suitable for parole. Debra was at that hearing, and she told reporters that it suffered several technical difficulties. For starters, she is afraid the transcript of the hearing may be incomplete, obscuring the impression left on Gov. Gavin Newsom and others who will consider Krenwinkel’s parole down the line.
“I am an extremely forgiving person by nature, but I am not convinced that these people have been rehabilitated one iota,” Debra told The Times bluntly. She also described connectivity issues that she felt were unfair to her and the family members of other Manson cult victims. She said that attendees of the hearing were responsible for their own connection issues, including the submission of their own statements. This means that large portions of the transcript from the hearing simply list testimony by Debra and others as “inaudible.”
“All the governor gets is a written transcript,” she said. “Do we leave these kinds of blanks in regard to a human being that took active participation in one of the most brutal murders in American history? Charles Manson stated that she was the one most like him. That was Charlie’s assessment of Patricia Krenwinkel.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told The Times that there was no problem recording the hearing. She said that the department was “able to hear and understand all victims’ statements and does not anticipate there will be any problems with creating the transcript.” Still, Debra feels that there are legitimate public safety concerns that are not being considered carefully enough in this case.
The rest of this process could last months, and there’s no telling which way it will go for Krenwinkel. A spokesperson for Newsom’s office said only that he considers all parole decisions carefully “to determine whether a parole grant is consistent with public safety.”
