Susan Atkins
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Susan Denise Atkins a/k/a Sadie Mae Glutz (born May 7, 1948) is an American murderer and former member of the Charles Manson "Family". She swore before a Grand Jury to have stabbed actress Sharon Tate to death, and to have been present at, or an accomplice to, several other murders.
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Early life
Born in San Gabriel, California, Atkins had a difficult childhood and grew up in an abusive household. Both of her parents were alcoholics, and her mother died of cancer when Atkins was 14 years old. Afterwards, her father sent her and her younger brother to go live with relatives. Her older brother had previously left home to join the navy. Atkins dropped out of high school at 18 and went to San Francisco, where she supported herself as a topless dancer and by selling narcotics. She also briefly worked for Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey as a stage actress in a production which featured her as a vampire. While living in a house with some friends, Atkins met Charles Manson seated in the living room and playing his guitar. Captivated by his music, she began to travel with him and some of his female followers in a school bus they painted all black. She was given the nickname "Sadie Mae Glutz" by Manson and a man who was creating a fake ID for her at the time. Atkins later claimed to have believed Manson to be Jesus. The growing Family settled at the Spahn Ranch in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, where in 1968, she bore a son whom Manson named Zezezose Zadfrack Glutz. He was not the father.
The Sharon Tate Murders and Atkins' claims
On August 9, 1969 Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski and Steven Parent were murdered at Tate's Beverly Hills home. The following night in Los Feliz, an elegant older section of Los Angeles, grocery store owner Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary were murdered. The two murders were not immediately linked but each was the subject of wide media coverage.
By November 1969, Atkins, along with Manson and a number of "Family" members, had been incarcerated for car theft and arson. While in prison, Atkins began bragging to a fellow inmate that she had been involved in a murder. She described how she had personally stabbed Sharon Tate to death after ignoring her pleas for mercy. By coincidence the other inmate, Virginia Graham, had known Jay Sebring and had dated him for a short period of time. Also by coincidence, Graham had attended a party at the Tate residence a few years earlier, when the house had been occupied by different tenants. Atkins's descriptions of both Sebring and the house were accurate, and Graham began to believe she was telling the truth. She would later prove to be a valuable prosecution witness. <ref>King, Greg. Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders, Barricade Books, 2000. ISBN 1569801576 pg 257 </ref>
Grand Jury
By this time, Manson and the "Family" had been linked to the murders, but the prosecution case was not considered strong. Atkins was therefore offered immunity from prosecution in exchage for her continued cooperation, and appeared before a Grand Jury. She described how Charles Manson had instructed her, along with Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian to go to that particular house and kill everyone there. The motive was to incite a race war which was to be called Helter Skelter. The song of the same name by the group The Beatles was interpreted by Manson and his followers as being an instruction to start this war. She said she had not known any of the victims and had not cared who would be killed. She restated what she had previously told Graham and added details that lost her the sympathy she had been trying to attract. When asked to identify the body of Steven Parent from a photograph she said "yes that's the thing I saw in the car". Later, when describing the death of Sharon Tate, she told how Tate had begged for the life of her unborn child. Atkins said she had replied, "Look bitch, I have no mercy for you. You're going to die and you'd better get used to it". According to Atkins's testimony it was then that she began stabbing Tate because she was "sick of listening to her". She also showed no emotion as she described taking a towel and smearing it with Tate's blood and then using it to write the word "PIG" on the front door. <ref>Bugliosi, Vincent and Gentry, Kurt. Helter Skelter, Arrow Books Limited, 1974. ISBN 0099975009 pp236-241 </ref>
Describing the sequence of events, she stated that Watson had shot Steven Parent in his car in the driveway because Parent had seen them enter the grounds of the residence. Linda Kasabian had been horrified by Parent's murder and had waited outside the house while the others entered. Watson shot Jay Sebring when he attempted to defend Sharon Tate. Krenwinkel and Atkins had both stabbed Frykowski but he'd struggled and had fled outside where Watson had then stabbed him until he stopped moving. Abigail Folger had then broken free and had fled out the back door with Krenwinkel in pursuit. Krenwinkel had stabbed her a number of times before being joined by Watson who had just finished killing Frykowski. He continued to stab Folger until she was dead. According to Atkins, Tate had been the last to die. <ref>Bugliosi, Vincent and Gentry, Kurt. Helter Skelter, Arrow Books Limited, 1974. ISBN 0099975009 pp236-241 </ref>
Atkins said she had not entered the LaBianca residence the following night, and incriminated another "Family" member Leslie Van Houten, who had not been present at the Tate residence. <ref>Bugliosi, Vincent and Gentry, Kurt. Helter Skelter, Arrow Books Limited, 1974. ISBN 0099975009 pp244-245 </ref>
Atkins also admitted that she had participated in the murder of music teacher Gary Hinman, once again at the instruction of Charles Manson, in 1968.
Trial and Sentence
Atkins refused to cooperate any further and the offer of immunity was withdrawn. Immunity was then offered to Linda Kasabian, and this was seen to be a more reasonable compromise as Kasabian had not entered either the Tate or LaBianca residences and had confronted Manson after the murders, telling him that she could not kill somebody. Manson, Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Atkins were sent to trial on June 15, 1970. Watson was later tried separately as he was at this time in Texas attempting to fight extradition. Throughout the trial all defendants caused disruptions to proceedings and were all noted for both their lack of remorse for their victims, and their lack of concern for their own fates. <ref>King, Greg. Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders, Barricade Books, 2000. ISBN 1569801576 pp 263-273</ref>
Atkins and the other defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death on March 29, 1971. The death sentence was later automatically commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court's People v. Anderson decision resulted in the invalidation of all death sentences imposed in California prior to 1972. <ref>King, Greg. Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders, Barricade Books, 2000. ISBN 1569801576 pp 273-275</ref>
Atkins's life since being sentenced
The time Atkins spent with Manson and the Family, prison experiences and religious conversion were detailed in her autobiography "Child of Satan, Child of God", which was published in 1977. Since 1974, Atkins has been a "born-again Christian", studied art and married a lawyer. It was her second marriage while incarcerated, the first being annulled three months after it had occurred. She now uses her married name Susan Atkins-Whitehouse and has set up a website where her admirers and supporters can communicate with her. She has applied unsuccessfully for parole on eleven occasions. She also began to recant her earlier testimony in 1991, maintaining that she was present during the murders but did not participate. During each hearing she has spoken of her remorse, but to no avail, as she has not convinced the board members of her sincerity. Her prison records have otherwise described her as a model prisoner. <ref>King, Greg. Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders, Barricade Books, 2000. ISBN 1569801576 pp 281-285</ref> Her husband represented her at her 2000 hearing and again in 2005.
During her 2000 hearing, Sharon Tate's sister Debra, read a statement written by their father, Paul Tate, which said in part, "Thirty one years ago I sat in a courtroom with a jury and watched with others. I saw a young woman who giggled, snickered and shouted out insults, even while testifying about my daughter's last breath, she laughed. My family was ripped apart. If Susan Atkins is released to rejoin her family, where is the justice?" <ref> Think Quest article April 1, 2003. Retrived January 7, 2006</ref>
In 2003, she petitioned the state against her sentence on the grounds that she has become over the years a political prisoner but her petition was denied. <ref>Associated Press Dated June 1, 2003. Retrieved January 7, 2006. </ref>
Since receiving their sentences, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten have been housed at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California.
On June 1, 2005, Atkins was denied parole for the 11th time. She will not be eligible for parole again until 2009. <ref>Parole hearing transcript Dated June 1, 2003. Retrieved January 7, 2006</ref>
Notes and references
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Popular Culture
The song "Sadie" by Alkaline Trio is about Susan and features the lyric "Sadie G, she's crazy, see?/ That's what the white coats say/ Now Ms. Susan A, you're losing every opportunity/ To put us all away".
The quote near the end of the song is a quote from Susan's testimony which is spoken by Heather Hannoura, the band's merchandise and artwork creator.
"He represented a God to me, that was so beautiful that I'd do anything for him. I'd do anything for God. Even murder, if I believed it was right. How could it not be right if it is done with love? I have no remorse for doing what was right for me. I have no guilt in me."