Mike Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 YES!!! SACRAMENTO -- -- For more than 90 minutes, supporters of Manson family killer Susan Atkins had the floor, painting for parole board members a picture of a remorseful, changed woman who should be released on compassionate grounds. They spoke Tuesday of her imminent death but also about her "incredibly superhuman" record in prison, about how the young woman who had killed so wantonly decades ago had become a loving aunt and friend. A social worker who flew in from New York, an independent filmmaker, a brother and nieces all stood up to assert that Atkins had more than paid her debt to society. Then the tall woman with the long, blond hair stood at the podium. She spoke on behalf of the sister of one of those murdered by Atkins and the Manson gang. "I will start out by saying that Susan Atkins is a coldblooded murderer," Lynn Matthews said as the audience looked on, captivated. Though supporters of Atkins' release outnumbered them at the hearing, Matthews and others who opposed it carried the day. The 12-member California Board of Parole voted unanimously to deny Atkins' request for a court hearing that could have released her to die outside prison. Tellingly, opponents of Atkins' release spoke for only about 20 minutes. But that seemed long enough. In those minutes, relatives and friends of the eight people killed by the Manson gang brought back the horror of that summer in 1969. Atkins, 60, played a central role in the slayings of Tate and others in a bloody two-night rampage in the Los Angeles area. She has served 37 years in prison, longer than any other woman currently a prisoner in California, officials say. Now ill with brain cancer, with one leg amputated and the other paralyzed, Atkins has only months to live, doctors have said. The petition for Atkins' release ignited debate about what mercy is appropriate, particularly considering the grisly crimes for which she was convicted. With the rejection by the panel, the process is effectively over, making it highly likely that she will die in custody. In opposing Atkins' release, some family members had to bring back painful memories. Pam Turner, a cousin of Sharon Tate, recalled the pregnant actress' return to the United States, and dreaming of helping her with her baby. Then she spoke about wanting to die after finding out that Tate and her unborn son had been stabbed to death. "I was a child, but I was so sick with grief that I wished I too could die," Turner said, sobbing. She described how Tate's mother, her aunt, "howled like a wounded animal." And she recalled how her late aunt had been overcome with emotion when Turner became pregnant herself. "She once put her hands on my pregnant belly and just cried," she said. "She didn't have to say what she was crying for. I knew. She was looking right through me and seeing Sharon and what could have been." Those backing Atkins' release argued unsuccessfully that the cost of keeping her in prison,estimated at $1.4 million for medical care and security just since March, should count in favor of releasing her because it would save the state substantial amounts of money. "She has without a doubt paid her debt to society," said her niece, Sharisse Atkins, 17. "You see her as part of the Manson family. I see her as part of our family. I hope you can find it in your heart to do the right thing." Her supporters drew attention at the hearing to former Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's support for Atkins' release. In an e-mail this week to Atkins' attorney, Bugliosi wrote that it was wrong to say that "just because Susan Atkins showed no mercy to her victims, we therefore are duty-bound to follow her inhumanity and show no mercy to her." Anthony DiMaria, the nephew of Jay Sebring, a hairdresser killed at the home of Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, read a quote from Atkins' husband, James Whitehouse, in which he alluded to the "ridiculous" amount of money spent guarding someone so ill." "To sum up these murders in terms of cost efficiency trivializes the victims' lives and the lifelong impact on the victims' families," he said, reading a statement toward the end of the hearing. "In my mother's words, 'Susan Atkins repeatedly committed crimes requiring full premeditation and executed them in a cavalier manner that afforded her victims no mercy,' " DiMaria continued. "You will hear various opinions and perspectives today. But you will hear nothing from the many people who lie in their graves." Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I feel sorry for her miserable physical condition but she is right where she belongs. Her victims were not allowed to live and face the hazards of old age. She's already gotten more mercy than she deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I have been emotionally involved with the Tate/LaBianca murders since the mid-seventies. When I first became an avid Beatles fan and read the book Helter Skelter (that drove chills down my spine!) and then watched the film for the first time. Yes; every single one of these "monsters" deserved to die incarcerated ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 "She has without a doubt paid her debt to society," said her niece, Sharisse Atkins, 17. "You see her as part of the Manson family. I see her as part of our family. I hope you can find it in your heart to do the right thing." Too bad she didn't HAVE A FRIGGIN' HEART when she stabbed Sharon to DEATH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I feel sorry for her miserable physical condition but she is right where she belongs. I disagree. She is NOT right where she belongs. She belongs IN THE GROUND! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I wonder what in the hell she would do if she got out. After 37 years, minus both legs, and with terminal cancer, what's waiting for her on the outside, exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuzikTyme Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Parole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcM Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 "Ms. Atkins is one of the most notorious mass murderers in United States history," Sequeira told the board. "Ms. Atkins personally stabbed Sharon Tate 16 times. She told witnesses she stabbed Ms. Tate until she stopped screaming." Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a letter to the parole board that the nature of Atkins' crimes should rule out any release. He noted that after Atkins stabbed Tate, she tasted her blood and used it to write the word "Pig" on the victim's door. "She kept begging and pleading and begging and pleading and I got sick of listening to it, so I stabbed her," Atkins said during her testimony. "She claimed she was on LSD at the time, but did not apologize until a parole hearing years later. Atkins has been denied parole 12 times, corrections department spokesman Seth Unger said." Death is too good for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Vivante Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Good riddance. Let 'er rot in jail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 "She claimed she was on LSD at the time, but did not apologize until a parole hearing years later. Yeah, yeah, yeah, blame it on poor LSD... I used to paint or play music while on lsd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcM Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 I was focusing on the not apologizing part . I have never in 18 1/2 years come across someone who was violent while on LSD. In fact, I have come across very few people that were frying. I guess LSD is not too popular in the hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Yeah, yeah, yeah, blame it on poor LSD... I used to paint or play music while on lsd... When I used to take LSD, I would occasionally stab people to death....but I would always apologize when I came down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 There's a word for people like Atkins when she killed... EVIL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel2Velvet Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 There's a word for people like MiamiSammy ... ANTI-EVIL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 When I used to take LSD, I would occasionally stab people to death....but I would always apologize when I came down. Oh , you're a dead little piggy -if I can find you ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcM Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 When I used to take LSD, I would occasionally stab people to death....but I would always apologize when I came down. aS LONG AS YOU SAID YOU WERE SORRY...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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