Where Are the Manson Family Members Now?

More than fifty years after the Tate-LaBianca murders, the question of where the Manson Family members are now has a mixed answer: Charles Manson and several of his followers are dead, two convicted members have been paroled and are living outside prison, and four others remain incarcerated in California, repeatedly found suitable for release by parole boards but kept inside by successive governors.

Still Incarcerated

Patricia Krenwinkel

Krenwinkel, 77, is the longest-serving female prisoner in California, with more than 56 years of continuous incarceration at the California Institution for Women in Corona.¹ She has been denied parole more than a dozen times. The Board of Parole Hearings recommended her release in 2022 and again in May 2025, and Governor Gavin Newsom reversed both decisions.²

In his October 13, 2025 reversal, Newsom wrote that Krenwinkel “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison,” citing a 2025 psychological evaluation that found “deficits in self-awareness” and a “tendency to externalize blame.”³ Her attorney, Keith Wattley, called the reversal “100% political” and argued the governor violated a California law requiring him to give “great weight” to the fact that Krenwinkel is a documented survivor of domestic violence.⁴

Charles “Tex” Watson

Watson, who personally carried out much of the killing on both nights, is held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. He has been denied parole 18 times, most recently in 2021, and his next hearing is scheduled for 2026.⁵⁶

Bobby Beausoleil

Beausoleil, 77, is serving a life sentence for the July 1969 murder of music teacher Gary Hinman. A parole panel found him suitable for release in January 2025, following earlier denials in 2020 and 2022 and a 2019 recommendation that Newsom reversed.⁷ On May 2, 2025, Newsom overturned the 2025 recommendation, finding that Beausoleil “continues to lack sufficient insight” into the murder. In October 2025, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge upheld the governor’s reversal.⁸

Bruce Davis

Davis, 81, is at San Quentin, convicted for his role in the Hinman killing and the murder of ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea.⁹¹⁰¹¹ He was denied again in August 2024. His next hearing is scheduled for August 2027. Davis has emphysema and has undergone multiple hip replacement surgeries.¹²

Released

Leslie Van Houten

Van Houten walked free on July 11, 2023, after 53 years in prison, becoming the first Tate-LaBianca defendant to be released.¹³ The parole board had recommended her release five times between 2016 and 2023; Governors Brown and Newsom blocked each one.¹⁴

The breakthrough came in May 2023, when the California Second District Court of Appeal reversed Newsom’s denial in a 2-1 ruling. The court held that his decision was “not supported by a modicum of evidence in the record,” that his concerns about her lack of insight were “speculation,” and that the law must be applied “evenhandedly regardless of the inmate’s notoriety.”¹³ Newsom declined to appeal, with his office saying he remained “disappointed.”¹⁴ On release she entered a transitional living facility under parole supervision for up to three years.¹⁵

Steve “Clem” Grogan

Grogan was paroled in 1985, the first convicted Manson Family member to be released. His cooperation with authorities in locating the remains of Donald Shea factored into that decision.⁶

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme

Fromme played no part in the 1969 murders but stayed devoted to Manson. In September 1975 she pointed a loaded gun at President Gerald Ford in Sacramento and was convicted of attempted assassination, drawing a life sentence.¹⁶ She escaped from a West Virginia federal prison in December 1987, was recaptured, and received additional time.¹⁷ She was paroled in August 2009 and remains on parole for life under the U.S. Parole Commission.¹⁸ As of 2019 she was living quietly in Marcy, New York, with a partner, and had published a memoir, Reflexion, in 2018.¹⁹

Deceased

Charles Manson died on November 19, 2017, at age 83 in a Kern County hospital while serving his life sentence at Corcoran State Prison. The causes were cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, and colon cancer.⁵

Susan Atkins died in prison on September 24, 2009, at age 61 from brain cancer. She was then the longest-serving female inmate in California and had been denied compassionate release weeks earlier.²⁰ Linda Kasabian, who had testified against the others under a grant of immunity, died on January 21, 2023, at age 73.¹⁷

Why the Rest Are Still Inside

The pattern behind the four remaining incarcerations is now familiar. Under California law, parole boards decide whether an inmate currently poses an unreasonable risk to public safety. The board has repeatedly concluded that aging Manson Family members meet the criteria. Governors have repeatedly disagreed and reversed.

The Second District’s Van Houten ruling tested that practice, telling the governor he could not substitute “unsupported intuition” for evidence or apply a standard no inmate could satisfy.¹³ Whether that precedent will carry over to the others is unsettled. Newsom has continued to reverse grants for Krenwinkel and Beausoleil using similar reasoning, and in October 2025 a trial court upheld his Beausoleil reversal.⁸

California’s Elderly Parole Program, authorized by Penal Code section 3055, gives inmates 50 or older who have served at least 20 years special consideration based on age and physical condition.²¹ Krenwinkel, Watson, Beausoleil, and Davis all qualify, but the program only shapes the board’s review; it does not touch the governor’s reversal power. A 2023 bill that would have required governors to meet a higher evidentiary standard when denying parole was vetoed by Newsom.¹¹ All four remaining incarcerated members are in their late seventies or eighties and continue to age behind bars.

1
OPB. Manson Family Member Patricia Krenwinkel Recommended for Parole
2
The Guardian. Charles Manson Follower Parole: Patricia Krenwinkel
3
CBS News Sacramento. Ex-Manson Follower Patricia Krenwinkel Again Denied Parole
4
ABC7 New York. Governor Gavin Newsom Denies Parole for Manson Family Follower Patricia Krenwinkel
5
Press Democrat. Manson Family Killers, Prison, Newsom
6
People. Where Are the Manson Family Members Now
7
Spectrum News. Panel Recommends Parole for Former Manson Follower
8
CieloDrive.com. Court Upholds Beausoleil Parole Reversal
9
Corrections1. Charles Manson’s Right-Hand Man Bruce Davis Denied Parole for Seventh Time
10
KCRA. Parole Denied for Manson Follower in 1969 Slayings
11
Alta Online. California Parole: Incarcerated Bruce Davis
12
CieloDrive.com. Bruce Davis Parole Hearings
13
NPR. Leslie Van Houten, Manson Murder Follower, Freed From Prison on Parole
14
CBS News. Leslie Van Houten: Gavin Newsom Won’t Appeal Parole
15
ABC News. Charles Manson Follower Leslie Van Houten Released From Prison
16
BBC News. Charles Manson’s Family: Where Are They Now
17
Biography. Manson Family Members Today
18
ABC News. Squeaky Fromme Released From Prison
19
New York Post. Charles Manson’s Top Follower Is Now a Friendly Upstate Neighbor
20
The Guardian. Charles Manson Family Member Susan Atkins Dies
21
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Elderly Parole Hearings Overview