Bobby Beausoleil was convicted of the first degree murder of Gary Hinman, who died in July 1969 in Los Angeles County, California. He was tried separately from the others charged over the death and was sentenced to death in 1970. The sentence was commuted to life in 1972. Since then he has been before California parole authorities more than twenty times. Panels found him suitable for release in January 2019 and January 2025, and the Governor reversed both decisions. In July 2026 he was denied parole for three years.
The death occurred in July 1969, and the charge was murder. Beausoleil was arrested on August 6, 1969, and his case was dealt with in a separate prosecution.
The Court of Appeal for the Second District, ruling in June 1977 on another defendant's appeal, recorded that Beausoleil "was separately indicted and separately tried for the murder of" the victim "and judgment of conviction was affirmed." The same opinion shows how the cases of the others charged over the death were resolved. Susan Atkins entered a plea of guilty and was given life imprisonment. Bruce Davis was tried separately, and his conviction was affirmed on March 31, 1976. Charles Manson was tried on three counts, including that murder, was found guilty on all three, and the jury fixed the penalty at life imprisonment.
Beausoleil was convicted of first degree murder, and the jury returned a sentence of death in 1970.
In 1972 the California Supreme Court ruled that the state's death penalty was unconstitutional. The death sentences then pending in California, including Beausoleil's, were commuted to life imprisonment, a sentence that carries the possibility of parole.
By October 2016 Beausoleil had been denied parole eighteen times; the denial that month was the eighteenth.
On January 3, 2019, a parole panel found Beausoleil suitable for parole for the first time. In April 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom reversed the grant, citing a lack of insight into his motives for violent conduct.
In July 2020 a parole panel denied parole. On January 28, 2022, a panel of the Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for three years.
On January 7, 2025, a panel of the Board of Parole Hearings found Beausoleil, then 77, suitable for parole for the second time. The recommendation went to a review that can take up to 150 days. On May 2, 2025, Newsom reversed the grant. The decision, summarized in the Governor's Annual Executive Report on Parole 2025, finds that Beausoleil "currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time." The Governor weighed the mitigating factors, which were youth offender factors, elderly parole factors and his programming, and found that they were outweighed. The reasons listed were that he had not adequately explained the internal processes behind his violence and tended to minimize his conduct; that a November 2024 letter to a member of the victim's family portrayed him as a victim; that he continued to take part in interviews connected to the group around Manson despite saying he wanted distance from it; and that he needed to show better judgment and coping skills in managing his notoriety.
In July 2026 he was denied parole for three years. He was 78 and remains in California state custody under the sentence of life imprisonment.
The Governor's reversals rest on findings of insight and risk, which are matters of judgment and not of guilt. His conviction was affirmed on appeal and has not been disturbed.
July 1969: The death occurs in Los Angeles County.
August 6, 1969: Beausoleil is arrested.
1970: Beausoleil is tried separately for murder and sentenced to death.
1972: The California Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional; the sentence is commuted to life.
March 31, 1976: A co-defendant's separate conviction is affirmed.
June 23, 1977: The Court of Appeal affirms a further defendant's conviction and records the outcome of the separate cases.
October 2016: Parole denied for the eighteenth time.
January 3, 2019: A parole panel finds him suitable for parole.
April 2019: The Governor reverses the grant.
July 2020: Parole denied.
January 28, 2022: A Board of Parole Hearings panel denies parole for three years.
January 7, 2025: A Board of Parole Hearings panel finds him suitable for parole.
May 2, 2025: The Governor reverses the grant.
July 2026: Parole denied for three years.