Manson follower denied release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – For more than an hour and a half, supporters of Manson family killer Susan Atkins had the floor to themselves, painting for parole board members a picture of a remorseful, changed woman who should be released on compassionate grounds.

They spoke Tuesday of her imminent death, but also about her “incredibly superhuman” record in prison, about how the young woman who had killed so wantonly decades ago had become a loving aunt and friend.

A social worker who flew in from New York, an independent filmmaker, a brother and nieces all stood up to assert Atkins had more than paid her debt to society.

Then, the tall woman with the long blond hair stood at the podium. She spoke on behalf of the sister of one of those murdered by Atkins and Charles Manson’s gang.

“I will start out by saying that Susan Atkins is a cold-blooded murderer,” said Lynn Matthews as the audience looked on, captivated.

The 12-member parole board voted unanimously to deny Atkins’ request for a court hearing that could have released her to die outside of a prison setting. Tellingly, opponents to Atkins’ release spoke only for about 20 minutes. But that seemed long enough.

In those minutes, relatives and friends of the eight people killed by the Manson gang brought back the horror of that summer in 1969.

Atkins, 60, played a central role in the slayings of Tate and others in a bloody two-night rampage in the Los Angeles area. She has served 37 years in prison, longer than any other female prisoner, officials say.

Now ill with brain cancer and with one leg amputated and the other paralyzed, Atkins has only months to live, doctors have said.

The petition for Atkins’ release has ignited debate about what mercy is appropriate, particularly considering the grisly crimes for which she was convicted. With the rejection by the panel, the process is effectively over, making it likely that she will die in custody.

In opposing Atkins’ release, some family member were forced to bring back painful memories.

Pam Turner, a cousin of Tate, recalled the pregnant actress’ return to the United States, and dreaming of helping her with her baby. Then she spoke about wanting to die after finding out that Tate and her unborn son had been stabbed to death.

“I was a child, but I was so sick with grief that I wished I, too, could die,” Turner said sobbing. She described how Tate’s mother, her aunt, “howled like a wounded animal.”

And she recalled how her late aunt became overcome with emotions when Turner became pregnant herself.

“She once put her hands on my pregnant belly and just cried,” she said. “She didn’t have to say what she was crying for. I knew. She was looking right through me and seeing Sharon and what could have been.”

Those backing Atkins’ release argued unsuccessfully that the cost of keeping her in prison, which is estimated at $1.4 million for medical care and security just since March, should be cause for releasing her because it would save the state substantial amounts of money.

“She has without a doubt paid her debt to society,” said her niece Sharisse Atkins, 17.