On August 9, 1969, Patricia Krenwinkel, Tex Watson, and Susan Atkins murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles.

During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Scott, but to The Family, she was most commonly known as Katie.

Following the 2009 death of fellow Manson cult member Susan Atkins, Krenwinkel is now the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system.

Patricia was often bullied at school by other students, suffered from low self-esteem, and was frequently teased for being overweight and for an excessive growth of body hair caused by an endocrine condition.

Mesmerized by Manson's charisma and starved for attention, she decided to go to San Francisco with him and the other two girls, leaving behind her apartment, car, and last paycheck.

[3] As the Manson Family grew, Katie (as Krenwinkel was now known) and the others went on a drug- and sex-filled 18-month tour of the American west in an old school bus.

When Wilson returned later that evening, he found Manson and the rest of the Family eating his food, sleeping in his bedrooms, and partying inside and outside his home.

[10] While the Los Angeles police were busy investigating any leads they could find, back at Spahn Ranch, rumors of the involvement of Krenwinkel and the others in the murders began to circulate.

Due to an unrelated investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, parts of stolen cars were spotted in and around the ranch by helicopter.

One week after the murders on August 16, 1969, Krenwinkel, Manson and other Family members were rounded up by police and arrested on suspicion of auto theft.

During their stay from August through October, the group spent its time converting cars it had stolen into dune buggies, but law enforcement eventually caught up with Manson and his followers.

Meanwhile, still in jail, Susan Atkins began to tell all about their involvement in the Tate-LaBianca murders to cellmates Virginia Graham and Veronica "Ronnie" Howard.

Finally, in February 1970, she waived extradition proceedings and voluntarily returned to California to stand trial with defendants Manson, Van Houten, and Atkins.

Krenwinkel's trial attorney, Paul Fitzgerald, suggested that although her fingerprints were found inside the Tate home, she might just have been "an invited guest or friend."

Seemingly unfazed by the possibility of a guilty verdict and a death sentence, Krenwinkel reportedly spent much of the trial drawing doodles of devils and other Satanic figures.

In distancing herself from Manson, she has maintained a perfect prison record, and received a bachelor's degree in Human Services from the University of La Verne.

[18][19] Following the 2009 death of fellow Manson cult member Susan Atkins, Krenwinkel is now the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system.

Krenwinkel was portrayed by Sosie Bacon in Mary Harron's Charlie Says (2018) and played once again by Beaty (listed in the credits as "Katie") in Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).