Patricia Krenwinkel (1947-present) was a member of the infamous Manson Family.
Patricia Krenwinkel (1947-present) was a member of the infamous Manson Family.
In honor of the spookiest month, we’re revisiting our favorite Womanica episodes featuring villains, troublemakers, magic, and mystery all October. Join host Jenny Kaplan — with a few special introductions — as she takes you back in time, highlighting women like Sadie the Goat, Marie Laveau, Patricia Krenwinkel and more who were ruthless, vengeful, and mystical. The riveting stories of these women are sure to keep you up at night.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello! I’m Aria Goodman, graphic designer at Wonder Media Network, and I’m so excited to be introducing this “best of” episode of Womanica.
Today’s Womanican was known for committing disturbing acts of violence. If you’re listening with young children, you might want to sit this one out.
This episode was originally part of our August 2019 theme “Villainesses.”
Today, we’re talking about a woman who went on to commit some of the most infamously disturbing crimes in U.S. history.
What’s so special about this episode is that we get to hear this woman’s story told by the person who played her in the 2018 movie Charlie Says.
Now here’s guest host Sosie Bacon to talk about Patricia Krenwinkel, one of the original members of the Manson Family.
Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel was born in 1947 in Los Angeles, California. Her father was an insurance salesman, and her mother was a homemaker.
Patricia’s teen years weren’t exactly easy. She suffered through the divorce of her parents, as well as relentless bullying at school for her weight and appearance. After her parents split, she stayed with her father in Los Angeles until she graduated from high school.
Patricia was religious. She taught catechism and considered becoming a nun for a bit before deciding to go to Spring Hill College, a Jesuit school in Alabama. That didn’t last long. She dropped out and returned to LA after just one semester.
Patricia first met Charles Manson in Manhattan Beach in 1967, while working as an office clerk. She claims that Manson was the first person to ever tell her she was beautiful, and she slept with him that same night. After that, Patricia left her life behind. She went with Manson, along with Lynette Fromme and Mary Brunner, to San Francisco, abandoning her apartment, car, and last paycheck.
The growing so-called “family” started traveling around the country in an old school bus. Patricia -- now dubbed Katie -- acted as a mother figure to the rest of the group. At first, Manson and his group’s exploits seemed unusual, but not necessarily dangerous. They ran through the woods while Manson played the flute, they did a lot of partying, and they briefly crashed with the drummer of the Beach boys.
The group eventually decided to establish a more stable base. They moved to Spahn Ranch, a deteriorating former movie ranch located in Los Angeles County. Manson had long been preaching the racist notion that tensions between black and white people were about to erupt into an apocalypse of sorts. Some believe this was the ideology that spurred the impending murder spree.
In early 1969, the Manson Family moved to a yellow house in Canoga Park to monitor those supposed tensions. In August that year, Patricia took part in the first horrific crime the Family would become known for -- the murders of the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, along with her visiting friends.
Patricia and some of the other Manson group members invaded the house, cutting the phone line and climbing an embankment to sneak onto the property. They killed 18-year-old Steven Parent as he was leaving, and then entered the house to kill Sharon and her guests, which included the coffee heiress Abigail Folger.
Patricia stabbed Abigail to death, chasing her even as she attempted to escape. During Patricia’s trial, she recalled that she felt nothing during the murder, saying, “I mean, what is there to describe? It was just there, and it was right."
Five people were murdered that day, and Patricia participated in more killing the very next night. She and other Manson family members invaded the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, brutally stabbing both of them to death. Patricia wrote “Death to Pigs” in blood on the wall, and also misspelled “Helter Skelter” on the fridge.
After a few arrests and Patricia was bailed out by her father and moved back in with her mother in Alabama. Manson told her to go and to stay there until he sent word for her return. Instead Manson was arrested a couple days later.
Patricia lived in Alabama until fellow Manson group member Susan Atkins, who was still in jail, started talking about the Tate and LaBianca murders. Patricia was arrested in Alabama on December 1, 1969. The next day, she was indicted for seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. After a 9 month trial, Patricia was convicted of all counts and sentenced to death.
In the California Institution for Women prison, Patricia slowly began to lose loyalty to Manson and the rest of the Family. Her death sentence was commuted to life in prison as soon as the death penalty was outlawed in California, and she went on to participate in many prison activities. She got a bachelors in human services, she was active in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and she taught reading to illiterate inmates.
She has since been interviewed by journalists like Diane Sawyer and seems to show remorse. Patricia and the Manson family have also been portrayed in movies such as this year’s “Charlie Says.”
Patricia insists that Manson ordered all the murders, despite his denying involvement. She said, “There wasn't one thing done--that was even allowed to be done--without his express permission."
Despite claims that Patricia suffered from battered woman syndrome at the hands of Manson, she’s been denied parole 14 times, the last time at a hearing in 2017.
She is the longest-imprisoned woman in the California prison system.
The Tate-LaBianca murders went down in American history as some of the most disturbing crimes ever committed, known for shocking the US out of the carefree and idealistic era of the 60’s.
All month, we’re bringing you the best of villainy, magic, and mystery. Tune in tomorrow for another of our favorite episodes.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!