Susan Atkins, Manson Gang Killer, Dies in Prison

Susan Atkins has died in prison at age 61.  Atkins was infamous for her role in the Charles Manson "Helter Skelter" murders of August 1969.  The victims included actress Sharon Tate, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Hollywood hairdresser Jay Sebring and others.  Most of the victims were stabbed to death in one of the most heinous crimes in California history.  The crime scene photos can be viewed here.  (Note:  These are not for the squeamish.)

Charles Manson and some of his followers were convicted of the murders and all but one sentenced to die in California's gas chamber.  However, their lives were spared in 1970 when the California Supreme Court vacated all death penalties pending a restructuring of the law.  Susan Atkins then moved from death row to a life in prison.

Over the next 38 years Susan Atkins was a model prisoner, taught and counseled other prisoners, became religious and painted some stunning artwork.  Her personal webpage can be viewed here.  Her site hints at a life that could have been happy, useful and productive, but for those horrible crimes.

Susan Atkins had brain cancer and last applied for parole at the beginning of this month (September 2009).  Her parole was denied.  See my previous post on Susan Atkins here.

The Manson followers illustrate the dangers of group-think and slavishly following a single charismatic leader.  Subordinating oneself to the dictates of a fanatic can lead to tragic results.

The Los Angeles Times has more at this link.

Manson Follower and Murderer Susan Atkins Denied Parole

Susan Atkins, 61, is dying of brain cancer in Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, California. Her husband attorney pleaded for her release yesterday but was turned down. Atkins will likely die behind bars, where she has spent the last 40 years of her life. Had it not been for the Supreme Court's temporary suspension of the death penalty in the 1970's, Atkins would have already been long dead. She was originally sentenced to death for her part in the Charles Manson ordered murders of Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, the LaBiancas and others.

Sharon Tate, an actress who starred in "The Valley of the Dolls" was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered. She pleaded for her life and that of her unborn son, but Susan Atkins stabbed her to death with a butcher knife anyway, telling her "Look bitch, I have no mercy for you."

TruTV describes Sharon's wounds:

Sharon's life was ended by five stab wounds in her chest and back, which penetrated her heart, lungs and liver and caused massive internal hemorrhaging. The remaining eleven wounds simply added insult to her savaged body.

Her little boy, Paul Richard Polanski, died with her.

In her teen years Susan Atkins lived for a time in Cambrian Park, an area of San Jose, California. I lived in Cambrian Park at the same time. She attended Leigh High School and was a classmate of my first wife. My former brother in law shared a study hall with Atkins. He remembers her as quiet, almost invisible.

My current wife's uncle was a prison guard (he's now retired) at San Quentin Prison and once moved Manson from one cell to another. Manson was annoyed with him and threatened to turn him into a sparrow. The aging crackpot imagined that he had magical powers, perhaps as a result of all that LSD he swallowed in the 1960's.

The Manson scum are unfit to draw breath. The Parole Board made the right decision. Atkins should die behind bars. "Look bitch, we have no mercy for you."

More information: the history of Charles Manson and the murders and trial are described at TruTV at this link.