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| Manson Family Killer Susan Atkins Dies in Prison at 61 | |
| 2009-09-26 | |
| Susan Atkins, a member of the Charles Manson "family" who admitted ruthlessly stabbing pregnant actress Sharon Tate to death in the cult's 1969 murder spree, has died in prison less than a month after a parole board turned down a bid for compassionate release. She was 61 and had brain cancer. Atkins, who eventually came to call the crimes a sin, died late Thursday, according to the California Department of Corrections. Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said that at the time of Atkins' death she had been in prison longer than any woman currently incarcerated in California. Sounds okey dokey to me, but then I am rather heartless... Atkins' final chance at freedom was denied on Sept. 2. Terminally ill, she was brought to a parole board hearing on a gurney and slept through most of it, but managed to recite religious verse with the help of her husband, attorney James Whitehouse. Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008, had a leg amputated and was given only a few months to live. She underwent brain surgery, and in her last months was paralyzed and had difficulty speaking. Atkins was the first of the convicted killers to die. Manson and three others involved in the murders -- Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten and Charles "Tex" Watson -- remain imprisoned under life sentences. Atkins, who confessed from the witness stand during her trial, had apologized for her acts numerous times over the years. But 40 years after the murders, she learned that few had forgotten or forgiven what she and other members of the cult had done. Atkins and her co-defendants were originally sentenced to death but their sentences were reduced to life in prison when capital punishment was briefly outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1970s. The matronly, gray-haired Atkins who appeared before a parole board in 2000 cut a far different figure than that of the cocky young defendant some 30 years earlier. "I don't have to just make amends to the victims and families," she said softly. "I have to make amends to society. I sinned against God and everything this country stands for." She said she had found redemption in Christianity. He gave her a cult name, Sadie Mae Glutz, and, when she became pregnant by a "family" member, he helped deliver the baby boy, naming it Zezozoze Zadfrack. His whereabouts are unknown. The Manson slayings remained unsolved for three months, until Atkins confessed to a cellmate following her arrest on an unrelated charge. Police found Manson and other cult members living in a ranch commune in Death Valley, outside Los Angeles. Atkins married twice while in prison. Her first husband, Donald Lee Laisure, purported to be an eccentric Texas millionaire. They quickly divorced. Whitehouse, her second husband, is a Harvard Law School graduate and had recently served as one of her attorneys.
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| Posted by:Cornsilk Blondie |
| #13 Good riddance. |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-09-26 17:14 |
| #12 #5 OK, you can let her out now. As long as she's room temperature. God forgive me...that made me laugh out loud. |
| Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 2009-09-26 13:22 |
| #11 now Manson |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-09-26 13:11 |
| #10 Further down in the article: Atkins also was convicted with Manson of still another murder, of musician Gary Hinman, in July 1969. Nope. No sympathy at all. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2009-09-26 11:30 |
| #9 May some good end up coming from all of this. Fertilizer. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-09-26 09:10 |
| #8 Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008, had a leg amputated clearly one of those tonsil stealing and leg |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-09-26 08:50 |
| #7 It's very rare that someone sentenced to life dies in jail. Justice served. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2009-09-26 08:20 |
| #6 She belatedly started doing the right things, but still ended her days in prison for her inexcusable crimes - and I think most people, anywhere, would agree with that as appropriate treatment. Compare and contrast Britain's New Labour and Scottish National lowlife politicians' 'compassionate' release of the arrogant and unapologetic al Megrahi. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2009-09-26 04:22 |
| #5 OK, you can let her out now. As long as she's room temperature. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-09-26 03:26 |
| #4 As they say in Mother Russia - "Tough s#!tsky". |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2009-09-26 02:16 |
| #3 Sounds okey dokey to me, but then I am rather heartless... I catch spiders and put them outside, I would pay to put up a sign in my neighborhood that says, "watch for squirrels at play" and I think sticks and stones hurt bones but names have the ability to hurt even more. However, I'm feeling cold on this one. She's in God's hands now. Good luck to her. |
| Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015 2009-09-26 00:37 |
| #2 "the baby boy, naming it Zezozoze Zadfrack. His whereabouts are unknown" If that were my name, you wouldn't find me either. Yikes! "diagnosed with brain cancer [then] had a leg amputated" I think I see the problem here.... (And no, I have no sympathy. Sharon Tate couldn't be reached for comment.) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-09-26 00:31 |
| #1 I feel very little sympathy. She was sentenced to life in prison. She served her sentence. God may have mercy on her. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-09-26 00:28 |