Squeaky released from prison today

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was released from Fort Worth's Federal Medical Center Carswell this morning.

To be honest I'm disappointed as I have a feeling Fromme is still a follower of Manson. While I cannot confirm this I feel that there are other Manson followers that are more deserving of release. I say this as Fromme has followed Manson even when other former followers have been able to see Manson for what he was/is. However, there is something to be debated. Fromme did not murder anyone as the other imprisoned followers did. So, is she more or less guilty if she is still devoted to Manson?

According to Associate Press she has refused interview requests, and prison officials would not say where she planned to live or what she planned to do after more than 30 years behind bars.

Squeaky was imprisoned for pointing a semiautomatic .45- caliber pistol at President Ford in 1975. The 26 year old Manson follower received a life term and became the first person sentenced under a special federal law covering assaults on U.S. presidents. It is a statute enacted after the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.


(time.com)
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme on the cover of Time Magazine

According to CNN she said she knew Ford was in town and near her, "and I said, 'I gotta go and talk to him,' and then I thought, 'That's foolish. He's not going to stop and talk to you.' People have already shown you can lay blood in front of them and they're not, you know, they don't think anything of it. I said, 'Maybe I'll take the gun,' and I thought, 'I have to do this. This is the time.' "

Fromme has said that it never occurred to her that she might be sent to prison. Fromme has said that she feels her incarceration is unnecessary but she has no regrets when it comes to what she did. Fromme said, "No. No, I don't. I feel it was fate."

Ford died in 2006 at ge 93. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation has not yet commented on Fromme's release.

( mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com)
Barker Ranch in the Panamint Mountains where the Manson Family lived

Fromme was sentenced to life in prison and parole was an option at the time. It is reported that the federal system later abolished her right to parole. Inmates however, receive "good time" -- for every year and one day they serve and 54 days are taken off their sentence.

Fromme first became eligible for parole in 1985 but Fromme had denied her right to her parole hearings for years. According to CNN the Beareau of Prisons would not say whether she changed her mind and requested a hearing.

Fromme was in July 2008 but was not released as she had accrrued extra time to her sentence for an escape from the West Virginia prison in 1987. She was found two days later, only a few miles from the prison. Fromme is reported to have stated that she escaped to be near Manson.

(news.aol.com)

FMC-Carswell spokeswoman Maria Douglas would not comment on Fromme's behavior in prison in recent years. It is not known if Fromme is still a follower of Manson. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if she still holds a torch for him. Other former Manson followers have made great efforts to rehabilitate but Fromme's last interview in 2005 revealed her on going devotion.


(crimeshots.com)
Susan Atkins 2001

Susan Atkins is California's longest serving female inmate. She has a spotless prison record.
Atkins is now 60 and is dying of brain cancer and is mostly paralyzed. A parole board hearing is expected in September on her request for compassionate release.


(freerepublic.com)
Leslie Van Houten

Van Houten here at a 2002 parole hearing. She was convicted in the murders of the LaBiancas couple. The LaBiancas were murdered the night after actress Sharon Tate. Van Houten has a clean prison record and is a mentor in a college program for inmates. Her next opportunity at parole will probably be in 2010. Like Atkins, Van Houten is a woman of Christian faith and has accomplished a lot in prison. Some of these accomplishments include working with various 12-step and behaviorial programs, running bible meetings within the prison and working with women who enter prison due to poor life choices.

Director John Waters has developed a friendship with Van Houten over the years and has been advocating her release.

Charles "Tex" Watson

Watson was imprisoned for stabbing four people, including Sharon Tate. Additionally, Watson and fatally shot two other people. In 1975 he converted to Christianity and in 1983 he was ordained as a minister. Watson has also founded a website for a prison outreach program. Watson is now 63 years old and to date has been denied parole 13 times. His next hearing is set for November 2011.



(realitywired.com)
Charles Manson

Charles Manson has been denied parole 11 times and it has gotten to the point where he doesn't even attend his own hearings. His next hearing is scheduled for 2012.

I am curious as to what Fromme will do with her new life. She has been imprisoned for 34 years and no doubt the world is much changed since she was out and free.