Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
Susan Atkins, who admitted being responsible for stabbing Sharon Tate 40 years before, lost the 18th appeal to freedom on Wednesday. She is critically ill from brain cancer and mostly slept oblivious of the grueling 4 hour trial where her lawyer-husband James Whitehouse desperately appealed to the authorities for her swift release, on compassionate grounds.

The Tate family however, nurturing their hostility to Atkins, asked the parole commissioners to deny any mercy to her even at her deathbed. Debra Tate , the sister of a victim, told sources that she would pray for the soul of Atkins who was nearing her death, but would nevertheless want her to be kept behind bars. Atkins can barely manage to utter two or three words in an entire day according to the information given by her husband.

Atkins has become the only woman to serve such a long tenure in the California prison. The 61 year old who has an amputated leg, and is 85% paralyzed, was not shown any clemency.She is held for the 7 Tate-LaBianca murders which is perhaps one of the most talked about mass murders in the Californian history. Atkins had confessed to have mercilessly neglected the plea of actress Tate whom she killed in the Benedict Canyon. She was mercilessly stabbed many times by the group of murderers who maliciously enjoyed writing “Pig” with her blood before they left the scene of the crime.

She is putting up in Central California Woman’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla California. Atkins, Manson , Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten had got the death penalty, in 1969 which was later altered to life sentence in 1970s when death sentence was done away with.

Manson will be having his future hearing in 2012. Even he has been denied parole for 11 times.