Susan Denise Atkins, a former member of the Manson family who killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate during a two-day killing spree in 1969, has died, according to a California corrections spokesman. She was 61.
Susan Atkins, here with husband James Whitehouse, died Thursday night after a battle with brain cancer.
Susan Atkins, here with husband James Whitehouse, died Thursday night after a battle with brain cancer.
Atkins died at 11:46 p.m. PT Thursday (2:46 a.m. Friday ET) at the California Women's facility in Chowchilla, said Terry Thornton with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Atkins, California's longest-serving female inmate, was suffering from terminal brain cancer. Since she entered prison in 1971, she became a born-again Christian who worked to help at-risk youth, victims of violent crimes and homeless children, among others, according to a Web site maintained by her attorney and husband, James Whitehouse.read more
