Mass Murderer Charles Manson Up for Parole
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California Department of CorrectionsUPDATE: Mass murderer Charles Manson was denied parole Wednesday by the California parole board.
(LOS ANGELES) — A California parole board will meet on Wednesday to determine if mass murderer Charles Manson could be considered “suitable” for parole.
Manson has been denied parole 11 times over the years and his several violations of prison rules do not bode well for any hopes of freedom. He is serving a life sentence for seven murders in a 1969 killing spree in Los Angeles.
“We do not expect that Manson will show up. He has not shown up for several of his latest hearings, since 1997,” California Department of Corrections spokesman Luis Patino told ABC News. “He told his counselor that he did not plan on attending.”
Manson has been less than a model inmate. He has violated several rules in the five years since his last parole hearing, California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton told ABCNews.com.
He has been caught in possession of a weapon, threatened a peace officer, and has been caught twice with contraband cellphones in the past three years, Thornton said.
Manson placed calls and messaged people in California, New Jersey, Florida, British Columbia and elsewhere, Thornton said. The incidents, in 2009 and 2011, are still under investigation and Thornton could not comment on how he obtained the phones.
Those present for the hearing will include a commissioner, deputy commissioner, attorneys for both sides and family members of Manson’s victims.
Attorneys from both sides will give presentations and read any documents by victims’ relatives or other interested parties. They will also go over Manson’s prison records.
The hearing could last anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, Patino said. Then, the commissioners will go into closed deliberations and a decision is expected later in the afternoon.
The commissioners will decide if Manson is suitable or unsuitable for parole. Once they make that determination, it could be upheld, denied or sent back by the governor to the full board of parole. Even if Manson were granted parole, by law no formal decision would be made for 90 days.
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