Charles Manson denied parole again

CORCORAN, Calif. -- A prison panel denied parole yesterday to mass murderer Charles Manson in his 12th and probably final bid for freedom.

Manson, now a gray-bearded 77-year-old, did not attend the hearing, at which the parole board ruled he had shown no efforts to rehabilitate himself and would not be eligible for parole for another 15 years.

"This panel can find nothing good as far as suitability factors go," said John Peck, a member of the panel that met at Corcoran State Prison in Central California.

Playing heavily into the board's decision was something Manson had said recently to one of his prison psychologists that Peck read aloud.

" 'I'm special. I'm not like the average inmate,' " Manson was quoted. " 'I have spent my life in prison. I have put five people in the grave. I am a very dangerous man.' "

Peck then spoke for the record directly to Manson, who will receive a transcription of the proceedings: "This panel agrees with that statement." The panel deliberated 20 minutes before making its decision.

Manson orchestrated a series of gruesome murders on consecutive nights that terrified Los Angeles 40 years ago. His trial with three female acolytes was an international spectacle. He and his followers were convicted in the 1969 slaying of actress Sharon Tate and four others.

Referring to the bizarre scene that included bloody scrawling on walls and the words "Helter Skelter," the prosecutor said the phrase reflected Manson's twisted idea that he could cause a race war with the killings. No clear motive was ever established.

"I'm done with him," Debra Tate, the sister of the actress, said after the hearing.

"Two down, six to go," she added, referring to the death in prison of Manson follower Susan Atkins and the remaining six people being held in prison for murders and other crimes committed under Manson's watch.