The LAW & LAWYERS Blog

Susan Atkins, the infamous Charles Manson follower, recently died in prison from brain cancer, CNN reported.

As many may remember, she was responsible for the murders of actress Sharon Tate; Abigail Folger, whose family owned the famous coffee company by the same name; and celeb hairstylist Jay Sebring, among others. She was convicted of seven murders in the summer of 1969.

All were found dead at Tate’s home in Bel Air, Calif., which she shared with her husband – film director Roman Polanski. He was not home at the time of the murders.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of this crime is that Tate was eight and a half months pregnant when she was brutally stabbed by Atkins.

Atkins admitted to the crime stating she stabbed Tate several times – killing her and her unborn son as Tate begged for both their lives.

Atkins claimed she committed these crimes with fellow cult members because they were ordered to do so by their leader Charles Manson. Her confession also stated that she and the other members were under the influence of LSD at the time of the murders – a drug known to cause hallucinations.

Atkins was sentenced to death, but her sentence changed to life imprisonment when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the nation’s death penalty in 1972. They later reinstated it in 1976, but her sentence did not change back.

Since then Atkins has requested parole 13 times and has been denied every time. Her last attempt for parole – “a compassionate plea” – was denied even after she had surgery for her cancer related issues.

According to CNN, Tim O’Hara, the Parole Commissioner, said Atkins’ request for parole was denied because the board believes she still does not fully understand the magnitude of her crimes. The parole board also claimed the crime was so horrible that they denied the claim due to its “atrocious nature.”

Atkins served most of her time, 37 years, in the California Institution for Women.

She was later transferred to a community hospital in 2008 due to her health, and was finally transferred to Chowchilla Prison’s Nursing Center a year before she died.

Atkins was said to be a born again Christian, and many of those who knew her thought of her as a model prisoner – but the victims’ families never heard any regret or apology for her awful crimes all those years ago.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Criminal Defense Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.