SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California parole officials on Tuesday considered releasing a follower of Charles Manson who is dying of brain cancer, but the governor and others said her decades-old crimes were too brutal for her to be shown such mercy.
Susan Atkins' doctors and officials at the women's prison in Corona made the compassionate release 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.
"Why should we continue to incarcerate her at this point in life?" Whitehouse said. "She can't sit up in bed. ... She literally can't snap her fingers. She can put sentences together three or four times a day, but that's the extent of it."
Atkins, two other women and Manson were convicted of the 1969 cult killings of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate. Atkins has been imprisoned for 37 years, longer than any other female in state history.
The request for compassionate leave has generated a small storm of opposition, leading to a packed hearing before the state parole board. Atkins, in a hospital near the Southern California prison where she was housed, did not attend.
In a letter to the parole board, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said 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.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Suzan Hubbard, the state's director of adult prisons, also recommended against Atkins' release.
"They have to stay in, have to serve their time," Schwarzenegger said Tuesday during an unrelated news conference. Even if Atkins is dying, the governor said, "Those kinds of crimes are just so unbelievable, that I am not for compassionate release in that case."
Atkins, Manson and two other cult members, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten maintained their innocence throughout the trial. Once convicted, the women confessed to the killings during the penalty phase.
On the stand, Atkins recounted her role in stabbing Tate, who pleaded for the life of her unborn baby.
"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, 60, has been denied parole 11 times, most recently in 2005. If the parole board decides Atkins should be released, her original sentencing court in Los Angeles County would make the final decision.
Corrections Department spokeswoman Terry Thornton says Atkins' medical treatment has cost state taxpayers more than $1.4 million since March.
