What information do you havve on the manson family today?
After three decades behind bars, Manson family members Atkins, Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten have repeatedly been described as model prisoners who have accepted responsibility for their crimes. Parole boards, however, continue to reject their bids for release, and a debate rages over whether the four should ever be freed. The release of Manson’s prison photo recently rekindled public interest in slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in a two-night rampage that terrorized the city of Los Angeles, California, in August 1969. CNN looked into the status of some of his former followers. Atkins, California’s longest-serving female inmate, requested a “compassionate release” from the California Board of Parole Hearings in July. She has terminal brain cancer, doctors say. The board unanimously denied her request. Atkins’ 18th parole suitability hearing is scheduled for May 28, according to a Web site maintained by her husband and attorney, James Whitehouse
