In August 1969 Patricia Krenwinkel, now 69, was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder in the notorious Charles Manson and the “Manson Family” massacre which saw seven people brutally murdered. She may be up for parole on Thursday, 48 years later.

The “Manson Family” killed seven people back in 1979, including Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress, actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant and married at the time to film director Roman Polanski and Jay Sebring, a celebrity hairstylist.

Patricia Krenwinkel and ‘battered wife syndrome’

According to a report by the New York Daily News, the parole board has spent six months investigating the possibility that Krenwinkel was suffering from what is termed “Intimate Partner Battery,” more commonly known as “battered wife syndrome," when she committed the murders.

While initially a parole hearing in December 2016 was suspended, Krenwinkel’s lawyer, Keith Wattley, who had made claims of the abuse by Manson, is now encouraged that the parole board is investigating the possibility.

Wattley said that there was no new evidence as such, but this time he asked the panel to consider the possibility of physical and psychological abuse by Manson of Krenwinkel. This relates to the fact that the parole board understands the influence Manson had on other members of the group.

‘Manson Family’ member ‘loved and feared’ their leader

When Krenwinkel was arrested in 1969, she claimed she met Manson when she was 19 years of age and working as a secretary.

She was 21 when the notorious “Manson Family” murders began. She told the court at the time that she both loved and feared Manson. In her testimony, she outlined how she had stabbed Folger 28 times and later wrote the words “Death to Pigs” with the blood of another victim, Rosemary LaBianca, on a wall.

13 attempts at parole for ‘Manson Family’ member

This isn’t the first time Krenwinkel has been up before the parole board as she has, in total, been denied parole 13 times. Her last hearing was back in 2011. While Krenwinkel received the death penalty in 1971, the following year her sentence was commuted to life when the death penalty was deemed unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court.

According to CNN other convicted “Manson Family” members – Bruce Davis and Leslie Van Houton – had also been recommended for parole in the past, but Gov. Jerry Brown had denied both the opportunity and they are still behind bars.

While Krenwinkel is heading to the parole board again on Thursday, the victims’ family members say they will fight any recommendations made by the parole board.

These include Sebring’s nephew, Tate’s sister, and LaBianca’s grandson. In the case of Debra Tate, she told CNN that Krenwinkel could have “cut and run” at any time and that she committed the murders because she enjoyed killing.
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