SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A follower of Charles Manson who is dying of brain cancer has been denied release from a California prison.
The state parole board on Tuesday denied a request for the compassionate release of Susan Atkins. Her doctors and officials at the women’s prison in Corona made the request in March because of her deteriorating health.
Atkins also has had her left leg amputated and is paralyzed on her right side, her husband and attorney, James Whitehouse, told the California Board of Parole Hearings. He said doctors have given her three months to live.
Atkins, two other women and Manson were convicted of the 1969 cult killings of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate. They were sentenced to death, but their terms were commuted to life sentences when the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily ruled the death penalty unconstitutional.
Atkins, 60, has been imprisoned for 37 years and has been denied parole 12 times.
