SACRAMENTO -- — For more than 90 minutes, supporters of Manson family killer Susan Atkins had the floor, painting for parole board members a picture of a remorseful, changed woman who should be released on compassionate grounds.
They spoke Tuesday of her imminent death but also about her "incredibly superhuman" record in prison, about how the young woman who had killed so wantonly decades ago had become a loving aunt and friend.
A social worker who flew in from New York, an independent filmmaker, a brother and nieces all stood up to assert that Atkins had more than paid her debt to society.
Then the tall woman with the long, blond hair stood at the podium. She spoke on behalf of the sister of one of those murdered by Atkins and the Manson gang.
"I will start out by saying that Susan Atkins is a coldblooded murderer," Lynn Matthews said as the audience looked on, captivated.
Though supporters of Atkins' release outnumbered them at the hearing, Matthews and others who opposed it carried the day.
The 12-member California Board of Parole voted unanimously to deny Atkins' request for a court hearing that could have released her to die outside prison. Tellingly, opponents of Atkins' release spoke for only about 20 minutes. But that seemed long enough.
In those minutes, relatives and friends of the eight people killed by the Manson gang brought back the horror of that summer in 1969.
Atkins, 60, played a central role in the slayings of Tate and others in a bloody two-night rampage in the Los Angeles area.
She has served 37 years in prison, longer than any other woman currently a prisoner in California, officials say.
Now ill with brain cancer, with one leg amputated and the other paralyzed, Atkins has only months to live, doctors have said.
The petition for Atkins' release ignited debate about what mercy is appropriate, particularly considering the grisly crimes for which she was convicted. With the rejection by the panel, the process is effectively over, making it highly likely that she will die in custody.
In opposing Atkins' release, some family members had to bring back painful memories.
Pam Turner, a cousin of Sharon Tate, recalled the pregnant actress' return to the United States, and dreaming of helping her with her baby.
Then she spoke about wanting to die after finding out that Tate and her unborn son had been stabbed to death.
