Manson Murderer Seeks Freedom To Die

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Manson Murderer Seeks Freedom To Die
Saturday June 14, 2008

A former devotee of the notorious Californian murderer Charles Manson is pleading to be freed from prison because she has a terminal disease. Susan Atkins, who confessed to killing pregnant actress Sharon Tate during a murderous rampage in 1969, has asked for a compassionate release for her final days. Atkins, 60, has been incarcerated at the California Institution for Women at Frontera for 37 years - longer than any other female in state history.

A Department of Corrections spokeswoman confirmed the prisoner was "very ill" but would specify the nature of her medical condition. "Her condition is very serious and her prognosis is poor," she added. The authorities said a doctor had determined that Atkins has less than six months to live - which could make the application for release futile because of the time the process will take.

Atkins was the most notorious of the three women charged with Manson in the grisly slayings of Tate and six other people in the summer of 1969. It was Atkins who disclosed that the Manson Family, a cult living in a ranch commune, had been responsible for the murders. Her lawyer later complained that prosecutors broke a promise to her of leniency for breaking the case.

After a sensational 10-month trial in which she originally pleaded not guilty, Atkins took the stand and confessed in graphic detail. She calmly recounted her own role in breaking into the home Tate shared with director Roman Polanski and stabbing the pregnant Tate, who pleaded for the life of her unborn baby. In her chilling testimony, she said, "I don't know how many times I stabbed her and I don't know why I stabbed her.... She kept begging and pleading and begging and pleading and I got sick of listening to it, so I stabbed her."

She said the killings were committed under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. "I was stoned, man, stoned on acid," she testified.

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I doubt they'd give her any time off - she's too famous.