Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel recommended for parole for third time
Patricia Krenwinkel, 78, has been recommended for parole at her 18th suitability hearing — the third time a board has found the Manson follower suitable for release, with Governor Gavin Newsom having reversed the previous two grants.
Patricia Krenwinkel, the former Charles Manson follower serving a life sentence for the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders, has once again been recommended for parole, California corrections officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The 78-year-old was preliminarily granted parole at her 18th subsequent suitability hearing, with state officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirming the decision. It is the third time in recent years a parole board has found Krenwinkel suitable for release.
Krenwinkel was convicted in 1971 of seven counts of first-degree murder for her role in the August 1969 killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Thomas Jay Sebring, Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski and Steven Earl Parent, and of grocers Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the following day. Originally sentenced to death, her penalty was reduced to life imprisonment after a pre-1972 California Supreme Court ruling invalidated death sentences.
A parole board panel recommended her release in May 2022, but Governor Gavin Newsom reversed the decision that October. The board granted parole again on 30 May 2025, and Newsom reversed that grant on 13 October 2025, commending Krenwinkel for earning multiple college degrees and maintaining an excellent disciplinary history while concluding she posed an unreasonable danger to society if released.
The latest recommendation is preliminary. It faces a 120-day review by the Board of Parole Hearings, after which the governor has 30 days to allow it to stand or reverse it. If Newsom reverses again, Krenwinkel would be scheduled for another hearing within 18 months.
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