Manson family member, now 78, granted parole for the third time
What do you think about her release?
Former Manson Family member, Patricia Krenwinkel (aka “Katie”), was just granted parole for the third time on October 6, 2026. Krenwinkel, who was 21 at the time of the crime, has spent almost 60 years in prison for her role in the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969. Now 78, she has been approved for release by the California board of parole twice, but Governor Gavin Newsom has reversed the decision each time.
Her newly granted parole comes at a time when concern about older adults languishing in prisons in the United States after having spent decades inside the institutions has increased. Governor Newsom is required to consider her age and the fact that she committed her crime while still a youth in his upcoming review of the case.
Nobody denies the brutality of the Tate-LaBianca murders
Krenwinkel met Charles Manson when she was 19 and soon fell under his spell (as evidenced by the film Charlie Says). According to her lawyers, per The Guardian, she was psychologically abused by the infamous cult leader and exploited during her time with the Family.
She and several other members of the Manson Family drove to Sharon Tate’s house on August 8, 1969, and proceeded to gruesomely murder six people (including Tate’s unborn child). The following evening, the group murdered two more people. The acts shocked the nation and became one of the most notorious crimes in the history of the U.S. (and acted as inspiration for the films Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Haunting of Sharon Tate).
Krenwinkel has spent the last several decades of her prison life participating in group counseling, extensive therapy, training service dogs, and earning a college degree. She’s kept her disciplinary record clean and has had nine psychological evaluations over 40 years that all found her to be a low risk to public safety.
According to a reported statement from her lawyer, Keith Wattley, released after the new parole grant, “Reaching this moment has taken decades of hard, deliberate work to confront who she was, what she did, and the devastating harm she caused. She fully accepts responsibility for her actions, everything she contributed to, and every life she destroyed in 1969. Pat does not excuse or minimize that harm[…]I have seen the depth of her remorse and the extraordinary work she has done to change her life.”
Newsom has been accused of giving in to political pressure in denying parole
Krenwinkel was originally granted parole in 2022 and 2025, but Governor Newsom denied the parole each time for various reasons.
Krenwinkel’s attorneys and others have accused Governor Newsom of giving in to political pressure when denying not only Krenwinkel’s parole but also the parole of others involved in high-profile cases. He previously denied another Manson Family member’s parole, and faced scrutiny when denying the parole of Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination (even though two of Kennedy’s sons supported his release).
As Wattley allegedly pointed out: “The parole process exists because people can change, rehabilitation matters, and public safety must be grounded in evidence. Pat’s case raises a fundamental question: if three parole grants don’t lead to release, what is the point of this process?”
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