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Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins dies at 61

Elaine Woo Los Angeles Times 09/24/2009 21:52
Susan Atkins at her parole hearing at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.

Susan Atkins at her parole hearing at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.


Susan Atkins, who committed one of modern history's most notorious crimes when she joined Charles Manson and his gang for a 1969 killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles and put her in prison for the rest of her life, has died. She was 61.



Atkins died at the Central California Women's facility in Chowchilla on Thursday night, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Atkins, who had been receiving medical care at the prison's nursing facility over the past year, died of natural causes, Thornton said. Sources told The Times she had been battling brain cancer. She was pronounced dead at 11:46 p.m.

She had been in hospice care in recent days.

Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008 as she neared her fourth decade of incarceration at the California Institute for Women in Corona. The cancer caused paralysis and the loss of one leg.

Convicted of eight murders, Atkins served 38 years of a life sentence, which made her the longest-serving prisoner among women currently held in the state's penitentiaries, said Thornton. That distinction now falls to Patrcia Krenwinkle, who was convicted along with Atkins for the Tate-LaBianca murders.

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