LOS ANGELES -- A parole hearing is scheduled Wednesday afternoon for onetime Manson family member Susan Atkins, who is serving a life sentence at the California Institution for Women at Frontera.

Atkins, now a 57-year-old self-described born-again Christian, has been turned down for parole nearly a dozen times over the years, most recently in December 2000.

She was a dark-haired young woman when she was convicted of the Aug. 9, 1969, murder of 26-year-old pregnant actress Sharon Tate. Teen-age caretaker Steven Parent of El Monte, coffee heir Abigail Folger, Folger's lover, Voytek Frykowski, and Hollywood hair stylist Jay Sebring, a former Tate fiance, also were killed at Roman Polanski's rented Benedict Canyon home on Cielo Drive in the early morning hours.

Atkins, who also was convicted of killing Topanga musician Gary Hinman, told the parole board at her last hearing that she has done what she can over the years to repay her debt to society.

Atkins, known as the Mason family member who used Tate's blood to write "pigs" on the wall, has said she was under the influence of LSD and the charismatic Charles Manson when she and others carried out the killings.

Polanski, who had worked with Frykowski in the past on films in Poland, was in Europe at the time of his young wife's death.

Tate's sister and Sebring's sister and nephew are scheduled to argue against Atkins' release at the hearing, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutor Steve Kay, who represented the district attorney's office in arguing against parole for Manson and his followers at countless hearings over the years, has retired. The hearing for Atkins will be the first for his successor, Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequeira.

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