Convicted murderer Charles Manson, sentenced to life in prison for his role in the grisly deaths of seven people in 1969, will not be released from prison, California's parole board decided Wednesday. The hearing, which Manson did not attend, may have been the 77-year-old's last chance at freedom. His next bid for a parole hearing isn't likely to be heard until 2027.
One person who did attend Manson's parole hearing was Debra Tate, who was 17 when her sister, Sharon Tate, was killed at the Benedict Canyon home she shared with her husband, director Roman Polanski. At the time — Aug. 9, 1969 — Sharon Tate was pregnant.
"I'm done with him," Debra Tate told the AP after the hearing. "I've tried to take this thing that I do, that has become my lot in life, and make it have purpose."
"I've been doing it for Sharon and the other victims of him for the last 40 years," she said.
Manson has been living at Corcoran State Prison. And his sentence has not been served without incident. According to The Los Angeles Times:
"Twice in the last few years, Corcoran guards said they found the notorious killer in possession of a cellphone. Manson called people in California, New Jersey and Florida with an LG flip phone discovered under his prison bunk in March 2009, The Times reported in 2011. A second phone was found a year later. Thirty days were added to his sentence for the first offense, officials said."
"Earlier, a homemade weapon was found in his possession."
The parole board announced its decision much more quickly than media pundits had predicted. Before the decision, Manson's attorney, DeJon R. Lewis, told CNN that his client should be moved to a mental hospital. Lewis also said that he had never met with Manson in person.
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