# Will Patricia Krenwinkel (Charles Manson family) be released from prison? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2026, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665 "2026-10-08T05:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/1 "2026-10-08T05:31:29Z")
> Patricia Krenwinkel, a former [Charles Manson](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/charles-manson) follower, was granted parole on Tuesday after nearly six decades in prison for her role in the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles. > > This is the [third time](http://theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/04/charles-manson-follower-patricia-krenweinkel-parole) that Krenwinkel, 78, has been approved for release by California’s board of parole hearings. After both of her last two parole grants, Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, reversed the parole board’s decisions and [denied her freedom](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/charles-manson-follower-parole-patricia-krenwinkel-gavin-newsom), and Krenwinkel’s attorneys are now urging the Democrat to allow this latest ruling to stand. > > Krenwinkel, who was 21 at the time of the 1969 killings, has been imprisoned longer than any other woman in [California](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/california), and the parole board has repeatedly acknowledged her record of rehabilitation over 57 years in prison, concluding she would not in her elderly age be a danger to society. > **[Patricia Krenwinkel, former Manson follower, granted parole for third time](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/07/patricia-krenwinkel-manson-follower-parole)** > > The 78-year-old has spent nearly six decades in prison and California governor has overturned last two parole grants I expect California governor Newsom to reverse the decision again. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/2 "2026-10-08T06:03:13Z")
I should hope he would. Even old people can be dangerous and she might wonder what she has to lose. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/3 "2026-10-08T06:08:51Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Even old people can be dangerous and she might wonder what she has to lose. Do you think she’s going to find another killer-guru who’ll get another gang of murderers together and go out on a geriatric killing spree? Seems a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/4 "2026-10-08T07:11:22Z")
Ghod damn right! In fact, we should lock up everybody over 75 and throw away the key, because any one of them might be dangerous and decide they have nothing to lose! Now that we have finished with the silliness, do you have any factual info about this particular prisoner and how she has conducted herself these past few decades? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/5 "2026-10-08T20:43:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Do you think she’s going to find another killer-guru who’ll get another gang of murderers together and go out on a geriatric killing spree? Seems a stretch No, I think she will find/be found by a bunch of nuts who will make her into a celebrity in their own group & online group. Which is profoundly unfair to the victims (they are still dead) and to their families & friends (who are still mourning them). Also is the effect on future juries: if a sentence of ‘Life’ or even ‘Life without parole’ does NOT really mean that, then juries concerned about safety of the public might be more inclined to just vote for death sentences. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/6 "2026-10-08T21:38:56Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > No, I think she will find/be found by a bunch of nuts who will make her into a celebrity in their own group & online group. They can do that right now while she’s still in prison. Have they? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/7 "2026-10-08T21:53:18Z")
Does this happen often in real life, after a prisoner has done their best to rehabilitate? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/8 "2026-10-08T22:05:40Z")
I was going to mention Leslie Van Houten, but I didn’t realise she’s out of prison now (as of 2023). The Ear Hustle podcast episode with Van Houten was interesting. > **[Episode 60: Home for Me Is Really a Memory — Ear Hustle](https://www.earhustlesq.com/episodes/2021/6/9/home-for-me-is-really-a-memory)** > > How do you live a meaningful life when nearly all of it is spent behind bars? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/9 "2026-10-09T04:05:24Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Also is the effect on future juries: if a sentence of ‘Life’ or even ‘Life without parole’ does NOT really mean that, then juries concerned about safety of the public might be more inclined to just vote for death sentences. FWIW, the jury _did_ sentence her to death, and P vs. Anderson did not impose ‘life without’, AFAICT. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/10 "2026-10-09T04:13:49Z")
Krenwinkel murdered people two nights in a row. She had an entire day to reflect on what she’d done and then went out and did it again. She doesn’t deserve to ever see freedom. From her Wikipedia > [@](#): > > After stabbing Abigail Folger, Krenwinkel went back inside and summoned [Tex Watson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Watson "Tex Watson"), who also stabbed Folger. During her trial, Krenwinkel said, “I stabbed her and I kept stabbing her.”[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Krenwinkel#cite_note-jensen-9) When asked how it felt, Krenwinkel replied: “Nothing, I mean, what is there to describe? It was just there, and it was right.”[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Krenwinkel#cite_note-jensen-9) > > Krenwinkel participated willingly in more murders the following night. She recounted during her December 29, 2016, parole hearing the events of the night of August 10, 1969.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Krenwinkel#cite_note-10) Along with Manson, Watson, Atkins, [Clem Grogan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clem_Grogan "Clem Grogan"), [Leslie Van Houten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Van_Houten "Leslie Van Houten"), and [Linda Kasabian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Kasabian "Linda Kasabian"), she went to the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca where she, Watson, and Van Houten murdered the couple.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Krenwinkel#cite_note-Parole1978-11) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-family-be-released-from-prison/1033665/11 "2026-10-09T04:19:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Krenwinkel murdered people two nights in a row. She had an entire day to reflect on what she’d done and then went out and did it again. > > She doesn’t deserve to ever see freedom. I agree.