California Gov. Gavin Newsom has reversed a parole board’s decision to release Patricia Krenwinkel, a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson and one of the perpetrators of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.
In a decision issued Oct. 13 and obtained by Fox News, Newsom wrote that Krenwinkel, now 77, “lacks the requisite insight she needs to be safely released.”
“Ms. Krenwinkel has engaged in productive introspection,” the governor’s order says, quoting the psychologist who evaluated her, “but she exhibits some deficits in self-awareness, such as a tendency to externalize blame for her prior transgressions.”
Newsom said he agreed those factors remain relevant to her current risk and concluded that, despite her “commendable” progress, she “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released.”
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MENENDEZ BROTHERS’ BID FOR NEW TRIAL REJECTED AS KILLER SLAMS JUDGE’S DECISION AS ‘MENTAL GYMNASTICS’
Charles Manson is shown in the custody of Los Angeles police officers. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
Krenwinkel was 21 years old when she joined other members of Manson’s so-called “Family” in two nights of killings that left seven people dead, including actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant.
According to the governor’s summary of the case, Krenwinkel and others fatally stabbed Tate’s friend Abigail Folger, and helped restrain or attack several of the victims. The following night, the group murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, leaving phrases such as “Death to Pigs,” “Rise” and “Healter [sic] Skelter” written in blood around their home.
The parole board has held 17 hearings for Krenwinkel since 1977, denying parole 14 times, and she voluntarily declined to seek it once.
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In May 2022, the board found her suitable for release, but Newsom reversed the decision that October, citing her lack of insight and tendency to externalize blame. Krenwinkel’s challenge to that reversal was denied by the Los Angeles County Superior Court in January 2024, and the ruling was later affirmed on appeal.
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Murder victims Jay Sebring and Sharon Tate, left, and Charles Manson, right.(Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Getty Images)
The board held another hearing on May 30, 2025, at which Krenwinkel exercised her right not to testify. Newsom’s current decision reverses the board’s latest proposed grant of parole.
In his latest review, Newsom acknowledged that Krenwinkel was 21 at the time of the crimes and noted that psychological evaluations described her as displaying “transient immaturity, impulsiveness and recklessness” and “a lessened capacity to extricate herself from disadvantageous environments.” Still, he determined that her current self-awareness remains insufficient.
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The governor credited her extensive rehabilitation — self-help programs, vocational training, multiple college degrees and mentoring work — but concluded that these gains are outweighed by her continuing “deficits in self-awareness” and “tendency to externalize blame.”
CULT LEADER CHARLES MANSON CONFESSED TO ADDITIONAL MURDERS IN NEWLY REVEALED PHONE CALL
From left, Susan Denise Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten laugh after receiving the death sentence for their part in the Tate-LaBianca killings at the order of Charles Manson.(Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
He also considered elderly parole factors, noting Krenwinkel’s chronic medical conditions and declining strength at age 77, yet wrote that “her current physical condition is not the most relevant indication of her current risk level.”
“When considered as a whole, the evidence shows that she currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time,” Newsom concluded.
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Krenwinkel’s attorney, Keith Wattley, disputed the governor’s findings and called for her release.
“Patricia Krenwinkel is the longest-incarcerated woman in the United States,” Wattley said in a statement. “For more than five decades, she has committed to deep healing and rehabilitation, earning degrees, counseling others and becoming a mentor to younger women inside.”
From left: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten walk to court to appear for their roles in the 1969 killings.(George Brich/ AP)
He argued that under California law, parole must be granted when a person no longer poses “an unreasonable risk to public safety.”
“Patricia’s record meets that standard. She deserves to be paroled,” Wattley said, adding that her transformation from “the lost 19-year-old who sought guidance from Charles Manson” to “a compassionate mentor” demonstrates the purpose of the state’s parole system.
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Advocates also emphasize that Krenwinkel qualifies under youth offender parole, elderly parole and domestic violence survivor parole provisions — laws designed to recognize offenders who were young, vulnerable or under coercive control at the time of their crimes.
The parole board finalized its most recent decision on Sept. 27. Newsom had until Oct. 27 to either affirm the release, block it or refer the case for an en banc review. With the reversal now in effect, Krenwinkel remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Women.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
Stepheny Price is a Writer at Fox News with a focus on West Coast and Midwest news, missing persons, national and international crime stories, homicide cases, and border security.
The University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve a $1.55 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year.
But they asked university leadership to return with an amended proposal by Dec. 15, when more details about future budget cuts will be known.
FILE — The Board of Trustees recently approved next year’s budget for the University of Oregon. The vote comes several weeks after the school’s president announced that he wants the university to reduce its annual budget as revenues and out-of-state enrollment decline.
Brian Bull / KLCC
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The vote comes several weeks after University of Oregon President Karl Scholz announced that he wants the school to reduce its annual budget by around $65 million.
At a trustees meeting Monday, Scholz said the estimated budget shortfall for next year is just around $23 million. But he said out-of-state enrollment is below historical norms for the second year in a row, and it’s unlikely to bounce back.
“One year can be an aberration. Two years is a pattern,” said Scholz. “And I believe we have to treat it as a new reality.”
Scholz said in May that discussions about the budget would happen over a six-month period. He said no final decisions about cuts would be made over this summer.
On Monday, UO Senate President Dyana Mason told trustees that the Senate had approved a new process to allow for community feedback in the cost-cutting process.
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Mason said the provost will work with the deans on budget proposals, finding “clear rationale” for why programs are considered for elimination.
The provost would then bring those proposals to the Senate Committee for Academic Modifications—which includes staff, faculty and students—for feedback.
Once the plans are nearly finalized, the Senate could then hold a period for public comment.
Mason told trustees that a six-month timeline is better than the three months that frustrated some staff last year, but she recommended taking however much time is necessary.
“The worst situation would be rushing forward to make decisions without appropriate evidence, data, feedback from the people that are most in the know about the impact on our students,” said Mason.
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UO’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Holwerda said that every week that university delays the decisions could cost them millions of dollars.
Nathan Wilk is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom.This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
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Last year, a Reddit thread circulated asking the question, “Who is the worst Canadian?” To little surprise, Ted Cruz was among those who were named.
You know Ted, right? That unctuous Texas Senator who revels in appearing smart but who gives off spider vibes? His name being on the list was not a surprise.
Neither was Elon Musk who, while not born in Canada, does bear a Canadian passport since his mother was born there. You know, birthright stuff.
At the time, Elon was dismantling much of the United States infrastructure in the name of DOGE. (Did you ever get your $2,000 check? Do we currently miss USAID in the emerging Ebola zones?) It’s little wonder that Elon scored so well on the dishonor list, never mind that he wasn’t even living in Canada during the polling.
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Other prominent names included hockey legend Wayne Gretzky (a living example of the motif ETTD—Everything Trump Touches Dies—if there ever was one), politician and philosopher Jordan Peterson, who affirms that masculinity is under assault while he assaults everything, plus Gavin McInnes, a Proud Boys founder who had relocated to the good ole USA.
The list morphed into an NCAA playoff structure, with brackets that culled the field down to a final winner. I’m going to ask the editors at City Weekly to create a similar bracket that our readers can vote in to find this year’s Worst Utahn.
Can you imagine a showdown between Mike Lee and Trevor Lee in the finals? I can. Or maybe it could be 2024 Spencer Cox against 2026 Spencer Cox—one cusping on bad, the other embracing it.
Utah’s new favorite authority, Kevin O’Leary, might also be on the Worst Utahn list, due to his proximity to all things powerful and secret at the state government level. If Kevin gets his way with the proposed giant data center in Box Elder County, he might even be a full-fledged Utah resident by then. That means, woefully, I’ll have to boycott Box Elder County.
I’m no good at boycotts. I’m weak—so yeah, I lied. I’ll still eat the great peaches and I’ll still eat at Maddox Steak House in Perry. But only when Kevin isn’t around.
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We’ve been warned, you know. Along with the other worst Canadians on the Canada list was “Mr. Wonderful” himself, Kevin O’Leary. What kind of snipe would embrace calling himself Mr. Wonderful? Especially one as handsome-reverse as Kevin O’Leary? Well, there’s one, and it’s more apropos—the late, great Paul Orndorff of World Wrestling Federation fame. He had a better run at being Mr. Wonderful than O’Leary ever will.
O’Leary didn’t give himself the name. One of his fellow billionaire panelists on Shark Tank provided that moniker after he tried to mind-wrassle an inventor out of a money-making idea. He even trademarked the name. If that sounds Trumpian, it is.
Among the many dubious qualities that are associated with O’Leary is the recurring one that he often emulates president—and fellow self-proclaimed brilliant businessman—Donald Trump. He does sound like him here and there, in both brashness and bullshit.
Utahns don’t need reminding that one day, we were blissfully unaware that anyone was even purchasing land in Box Elder County, only to awaken the next day to find that an O’Leary-led cabal of Utah political sad sacks had quietly compiled a 40,000-acre aggregation destined to become the largest water and land-use boondoggle known to modern man. We Utah historians correctly note that the floods that floated Noah were of grander scale, but this one is right up there.
The hue and cry from all corners were loud and clear: Utah does not welcome the idea of an interloper coming in with paid-off politicians in arms, selling the prospect of a massive data center and arriving without so much as a local hearing. Utah was blindsided.
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When locals protested, O’Leary again donned his Donald Trump costume, marched into the friendly studios of Fox News and spouted off the lies that protesters were bussed in, that we must love our country in this critical time and that China can’t win the data center wars.
The USA has 40% of all data centers worldwide, with more coming. But such information cannot dissuade the average Fox viewer, who is over 65 years old and will be dead when the data center begins siphoning Utah water and cooking the remaining residents of Box Elder County inside their very own Air Fryer.
But O’Leary’s biggest lie was saved for two women—also a Trumpian move. He accused Utah-born Gabi Finlayson and Jackie Morgan (both of Elevate Utah, which is indeed politically aligned toward the Democratic party) as being paid agents of China. Their crime? Exposing O’Leary, Cox and the rest as being as useless as teats on a Box Elder bull.
Finlayson and Morgan took to their own social media, delivering a master class in mockery that accelerated them to social media stardom and exposed O’Leary as a bumbling asshole. Not dissuaded, O’Leary also stupidly punched at Senate candidate Caroline Gleich, who similarly punched back with the reminder that while she has no foreign ties, O’Leary himself is not only Canadian by birth, but is also a citizen of the UAE—who is the foreigner again?
I’m thrilled to no end to see these “masculine” men kneecapped by stronger women.
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If they see this, I’ll buy tequila shooters for Gabi, Jackie and Caroline. By the looks of things, all across the entire political spectrum, it will be women who save us from ourselves and from unwelcome political grabs.
We may need data centers. We don’t need Mr. Not-So-Wonderful.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) – The Washington County Sheriff’s Office released video of deputies using a drone to track down a man wanted for damaging a car.
On Saturday, May 30, a 911 caller reported a man damaging a car outside their home on Southwest 179th Avenue in Aloha. The sheriff’s office said it was reported the suspect, 21-year-old Santos Paulino Castro-Ramirez, was punching the car.
Deputies used a drone to follow the suspect as he ran toward Southwest Barcelona Lane. The sheriff’s office said Castro-Ramirez then entered a white SUV that did not belong to him on SW Barcelona.
Deputies arrested Castro-Ramirez. He was booked into the Washington County Jail for first-degree burglary and attempt to commit a crime – second-degree theft.
