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November 22, 2008 10:51:19 AM CST

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Manson Family Member Pleads for Release

Posted Jun 14, 08 8:24 AM CDT in Crime & Courts 

(Newser) – A member of Charles Manson's "family" of killers is asking for compassionate release after 37 years in jail, the Los Angeles Times reports. Susan Atkins, who stabbed Sharon Tate to death while the 8-months-pregnant actress begged for mercy—and then used her blood to write "PIG" on the front door—is dying of brain cancer and wishes to spend the few months she has left as a free woman.

Relatives of the Manson victims are firmly opposed to her release. The prosecutor who pushed for her to get the death penaIty, however, has no objection. "She has paid substantially, though not completely, for her horrendous crimes," he said. Atkins' husband, an attorney who married her 21 years ago, said her condition was so poor she would be unlikely to leave the hospital even if she was freed.

Source Los Angeles Times

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Susan Atkins, at left, returns to court with other Charles Manson co-defendants in this March 29, 1971 photo.   (Associated Press)
Sharon Tate, murdered by Susan Atkins during the Manson family's 1969 rampage, appears in this file photo. Tate's only surviving relative is firmly opposed to Atkins' release on compassionate grounds.   (Archive Photos)
Susan Atkins, the former Charles Manson follower who confessed to killing pregnant actress Sharon Tate during a murderous rampage in 1969, is seen in this 1969 file photo.   (AP Photo)
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