Former Manson follower Robert Beausoleil denied parole

A state parole board panel denied parole Friday for former Charles Manson follower Robert Beausoleil, who was among those convicted of a musician’s 1969 stabbing death.

Beausoleil, now 74, was denied parole for three years by a state Board of Parole Hearings panel, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

He was initially sentenced to death in connection with the July 26, 1969, slaying of Gary Hinman in his Topanga Canyon home.

But Beausoleil’s sentence — along with those of Manson and a number of his followers — was later commuted to life in prison following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on new requirements for capital cases.

A state parole board panel had recommended in January 2019 that Beausoleil be granted parole, but Gov. Gavin Newsom subsequently rejected parole for him in April 2019. He was subsequently denied parole in July 2020, according to records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.