Manson murderess Susan Atkins dies at 61

[Drakken]

Good riddance, bitch! Don't let the door hit your ass going to Hell.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-mew-susan-atkins26-2009sep26,0,4942953.story

Manson follower Susan Atkins dies at 61

Susan Atkins, who committed one of modern history's most notorious crimes when she joined Charles Manson and his gang for a 1969 killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles and put her in prison for the rest of her life, has died. She was 61.

Atkins died at the Central California Women's facility in Chowchilla on Thursday night, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Atkins, who had been receiving medical care at the prison's nursing facility over the past year, died of natural causes, Thornton said. Sources told The Times she had been battling brain cancer. She was pronounced dead at 11:46 p.m.

She had been in hospice care in recent days.

Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008 as she neared her fourth decade of incarceration at the California Institute for Women in Corona. The cancer caused paralysis and the loss of one leg.

Convicted of eight murders, Atkins served 38 years of a life sentence, which made her the longest-serving prisoner among women currently held in the state's penitentiaries, said Thornton. That distinction now falls to Patrcia Krenwinkle, who was convicted along with Atkins for the Tate-LaBianca murders

Although prison staffers and clergy workers commended Atkins' behavior during her many years behind bars, she was repeatedly denied parole, with officials citing the cruel and callous nature of her crimes. In June 2008, she appealed to prison and parole officials for compassionate release, but the state parole board denied the request. On Sept. 2, she was wheeled into her last parole hearing on a hospital gurney but was turned down by a unanimous vote of the 12-member California Board of Parole.

Atkins confessed to killing actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski who was hanged and stabbed 16 times; Tate's nearly full-term fetus died with her. The next night, Atkins accompanied Manson and his followers when they broke into the Los Feliz home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and killed them.

"She was the scariest of the Manson girls," said Stephen Kay, who helped prosecute the case and argued against Atkins' release at her parole hearings. "She was very violent."

Former chief prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, who sought and won death sentences for Atkins, Manson and other followers, said Atkins would be remembered "obviously as a member of a group that committed among the most horrendous crimes in American history. She apparently made every effort to rehabilitate herself."

He added: "It has to be said that she did pay substantially, though not completely, for her incredibly brutal crimes. And to her credit, she did renounce -- and, I believe, sincerely -- Charles Manson."

It was Atkins who broke open the case when she bragged of her participation in the slayings to cellmates at Sybil Brand Institute in East Los Angeles, where she was being held on other charges; two of her cellmates told authorities of her confession. After prosecutors promised not to seek the death penalty against her, Atkins appeared before a grand jury, providing information that led to her own indictment, as well as that of Manson and others. Later, in a lurid 10-month trial, she provided crucial testimony that fed the public's fascination with Hollywood celebrities, drugs, sex and violence.

It also left an unshakable image of Atkins as a remorseless killer, who taunted the court at her sentencing with chilling words: "You'd best lock your doors," she said, "and watch your own kids."

In 1971, two separate juries found Manson, Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson guilty on seven counts of first-degree murder. Another Manson follower, Leslie Van Houten, was convicted of two murders. All received the death sentence, later reduced to life terms after the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972. (The Legislature later reenacted the death penalty statute.) Manson, Krenwinkel, Watson and Van Houten remain in prison.

Atkins also pleaded guilty to the murder of musician Gary Alan Hinman, who was killed in a dispute over money shortly before the Tate-LaBianca murders. She received another life sentence for the Hinman killing.

In prison, Atkins embraced Christianity and apologized for her role in the crimes. Prison staff endorsed her release at a hearing in 2005, but she was denied parole for the 13th time.

Born Susan Denise Atkins in San Gabriel on May 7, 1948, she grew up in San Jose, the middle child of three. When she was 15, her mother died of cancer. Her father sold the family home and all their furnishings to pay the hospital bills. Atkins began failing school and her father became an alcoholic who frequently left Susan and her younger brother, Steven, to fend for themselves.

Her father eventually abandoned them for good. Susan and her brother moved to Los Banos, where their grandparents lived. Susan enrolled in high school and got a job as a waitress but was overwhelmed by the stress of trying to care for her brother, work and go to class. At one point, she and Steven were in foster care. Susan dropped out of school in the 11th grade and started drifting.

Years later, she would describe her frame of mind during this period as "extremely angry, extremely vulnerable and directionless."

Of all the Manson family killers, except for Manson, Atkins "had the most unfortunate background," Bugliosi said.

[C.C.R.]

Born Susan Denise Atkins in San Gabriel on May 7, 1948, she grew up in San Jose, the middle child of three.

Should have used the "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" defense...

[Syt]

I'd hit it.

[Drakken]

Would you really, you sick German perv?

[Syt]

Would you really, you sick German perv?

No, only the young, homicidal version.

[Ed Anger]

Manson was an earlier adherent of the seduction community.

[Zanza]

So what exactly was the purpose of having her kept imprisoned for the last 20 days of her life? I still think they should have let her out on compassionated grounds. After 38 years, giving her a last few days with her loved ones is really something society can and should afford in my opinion.

[Grey Fox]

I wouldn't hit it, the 70s had horrible fashion.

[Malthus]

So what exactly was the purpose of having her kept imprisoned for the last 20 days of her life? I still think they should have let her out on compassionated grounds. After 38 years, giving her a last few days with her loved ones is really something society can and should afford in my opinion.

Fear she might hunt Polanski down and finish the job. 

[Eddie Teach]

If you turn a girl down because of the clothes she's wearing, you might just be gay.

[Grey Fox]

If you turn a girl down because of the clothes she's wearing, you might just be gay.

Hair fashion.

Not the one you see in the picture too.

[Malthus]

If you turn a girl down because of the clothes she's wearing, you might just be gay.

All the more reason to get her out of them. 

Of course, in her case it might just be to avoid the bloodstains. 

[C.C.R.]

So what exactly was the purpose of having her kept imprisoned for the last 20 days of her life? I still think they should have let her out on compassionated grounds. After 38 years, giving her a last few days with her loved ones is really something society can and should afford in my opinion.

Cultural differences, I guess.  We could go 'round & 'round about this for hours, but in the end we won't be any closer to agreeing than right now...

[Strix]

So what exactly was the purpose of having her kept imprisoned for the last 20 days of her life? I still think they should have let her out on compassionated grounds. After 38 years, giving her a last few days with her loved ones is really something society can and should afford in my opinion.

To be totally honest, it's more compassionate to keep her locked up the last 20 days. She has no family. Her only real family is inside the prison now.

[Valmy]

So what exactly was the purpose of having her kept imprisoned for the last 20 days of her life? I still think they should have let her out on compassionated grounds. After 38 years, giving her a last few days with her loved ones is really something society can and should afford in my opinion.

What loved ones?  Did you read the article?