Charles Manson Cult Follower Patricia Krenwinkel Recommended for Parole for First Time in Over 5 Decades

Patricia Krenwinkel, a Charles Manson cult follower, has been recommended for release by a California parole panel for the first time in more than five decades.

According to The Guardian, Krenwinkel was previously denied parole 14 times for the killing of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people in 1969.

Krenwinkel has also helped Manson and other followers kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca the next night in what prosecutors described as an attempt by the cult leader to start a race war.

The parole recommendation on Thursday will be reviewed by the California parole board's legal division before likely going to state governor Gavin Newsom before year's end. The board did not release its reasons for the recommendations.

Newsom has already rejected previous parole recommendations for other followers of Manson, who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California. Manson died in prison in 2017.

Krenwinkel was last denied parole in 2017. However, parole board spokeswoman Terry Thornton could not cite specific reasons for the commissioner's decision.

The now 74-year-old follower of Charles Manson remains imprisoned at the California Institution for Women east of Los Angeles.

Charles Manson Cult Follower Patricia Krenwinkel

Patricia Krenwinkel was a 19-year-old secretary living with her older sister when she met Charles Manson, who was 33 at the time, at a party in the 1960s, according to The Sun.

Krenwinkel admitted that she left everything behind three days later to follow the cult leader as she believed they had a budding romantic relationship.

However, Krenwinkel said her feelings had faded when Manson became physically and emotionally abusive to her and started to traffic her to other men for sex. The Charles Manson's cult follower added that she was usually under the influence of drugs and rarely left alone.

At her last parole hearing in December 2016, Krenwinkel recounted how she chased and repeatedly stabbed Abigail Folger at Tate's home on August 9, 1969.

As she helped kill the LaBiancas, Manson and his right-hand man, Charles "Tex" Watson, told Krenwinkel that she had to "do something witchy."

Krenwinkel then stabbed Leno LaBianca in the stomach with a fork and took a rag, and wrote "Helter Skelter," "Rise," and "Death to Pigs" on the walls with his blood.

In June 2017, Krenwinkel was denied parole for five more years after California officials investigated whether physical, emotional, or mental abuse affected her state of mind during the slayings.

Officials denied her bail application after they seemed to agree with Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who insisted she was still dangerous.

Parole of Another Charles Manson Cult Followers Blocked

Gavin Newsom blocked the parole of another Charles Manson cult follower, Leslie Van Houten, last March. The California governor said in his parole review that Van Houten poses an "unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time."

Van Houten's attorney Rich Pfeiffer said the decision will be appealed in court, according to The Guardian. The lawyer accused Newsom of rejecting the parole as he was worried about his "political future." Pfeiffer added that Van Houten has a spotless prison disciplinary record.

The now 72-year-old Charles Manson cult follower is serving a life sentence for helping the cult leader and others kill the LaBiancas. She was 19 when she and other cult members fatally stabbed the LaBiancas and smeared the couple's blood on the walls.

Newsom noted in his rejection letter that Van Houten had undergone therapy, earned educational degrees, took self-help classes in prison, and had shown "increased maturity and rehabilitation."

However, the California governor said Van Houten also has "gaps in insight" that made her a danger to society.

Krenwinkel, Van Houten, and other followers of Charles Manson were initially sentenced to death. But they were resentenced to life with the possibility of parole after California's death penalty was briefly ruled unconstitutional in 1972.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten on Why They Followed Charles Manson: Part 2 - From ABC News