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Today could be the final parole hearing for the notorious leader of the 1971 Manson Family killings. Charles Manson's lawyer plans to argue that her client should be in a mental hospital not prison.
"Charles Manson does not need incarceration at this point in his life," his lawyer DeJon R. Lewis told CNN. "He needs hospitalization."
We're going to go out on a limb and guess that this request is the longest of longshots, given that even his follower Susan Atkins was denied parole on her deathbed.
Manson didn't show up to his last parole hearing 15 years ago (he's been denied parole 11 times total). Debra Tate, the sister of the slain Sharon Tate, has showed up dutifully to each hearing to remind the court of the pain that his 1971 killing spree caused decades after the fact. She plans to show up again today and she hopes Manson will show up for the sake of closure. Since Manson might not be up for parole for another 15 years—at which point he would be 92 years—this could be his last parole hearing ever.
"He needs to look into our eyes, victims' eyes, and see the pain that he has caused," Tate told CNN. "I think that that is something that is essential to his coming to peace, perhaps before he passes."
Related:
Photo: Charles Manson at Age 77, A Week Before His Next Parole Hearing
Where are Manson's Children Now?