The woman who killed actress Sharon Tate will learn if she is to be set free from prison by the end of the week (ends04Sep09).
A parole board in Chowchilla, California met on Wednesday (02Sep09) to consider a request by Manson Family member Susan Atkins to leave jail.
Atkins, 61, played a central role in the slayings of Tate and others in a two-night rampage in the Los Angeles area in 1969. She is stricken with brain cancer and wants to live out what is left of her life as a free woman.
Tate's family and the relatives of the other victims of the cult, led by Charles Manson, are expected to testify against her release.
Atkins has served 37 years behind bars - longer than any other woman prisoner in California.
Doctors insist the murderer has just months to live.