Manson returns to prison after hospital, report says

including actress Sharon Tate. His devout followers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten and Charles “Tex” Watson also were convicted. All were sentenced to death, but were later spared execution when the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily banned the death penalty in 1972.

Tate, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant, was murdered along with four other people on August 9, 1969, at her hilltop home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were killed the following night at their home in the Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Manson had gathered a group of runaways at a Los Angeles ranch, where he proclaimed himself a Messiah leading them to a life fueled by drugs. Prosecutors said that he and his followers were trying to start a race war and believed it was foretold in the Beatles song “Helter Skelter.”

Manson has sought freedom and been denied 12 times. His next parole hearing is set for 2027.

In late December, Krenwinkel sought parole after being denied 13 times. State parole officials postponed a decision to give themselves time to research whether Krenwinkel meets the criteria for having battered women’s syndrome. The Los Angeles Times reported that Krenwinkel’s attorney made new claims that she had been abused by Manson.

In an op-ed published Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times, Debra Tate, Sharon Tate’s sister, said Krenwinkel — “and all members of the Manson family” — should not be set free. Postponing a decision on Krenwinkel’s petition to conduct further investigation “is a colossal waste of tax dollars” and “a travesty of justice,” she said.

“Look up the word ‘sociopath.’ You will see there is no cure for this affliction. There is no medication, no programming that can relieve it,” Debra Tate wrote.

Van Houten was approved for parole early last year after being denied 19 times. Her attorney, Richard Pfeiffer, told the Los Angeles Times that 18 psychiatrists who have evaluated her for three decades found her suitable for parole. Gov. Jerry Brown rejected the parole board’s recommendation, and Van Houten remains in prison.

Atkins, who said on the witness stand that she was “stoned on acid” when she stabbed Tate to death, died in 2009. The 61-year-old had brain cancer.

Watson, Manson’s self-described right-hand man, was denied parole for the 17th time in October, the Los Angeles Times reported.

AP FILE Cult leader Charles Manson is alive, following reports that he was hospitalized on Tuesday.