An accomplice of Charles Manson has told a US parole board that she was a victim of battered women's syndrome at the time of the infamous cult killer's crimes.
The two-person panel delayed a decision on Patricia Krenwinkel - who is the longest-serving female inmate in California.
The decision was delayed "because they felt information discussed at the hearing was cause for an investigation," board spokeswoman Vicky Waters said.
The hearing will be continued once the investigation is concluded, she said
The sister of Sharon Tate, Debra Tate, said the parole officials told her the hearing was likely to be postponed about six months while they research to see if Krenwinkel meets the criteria for having battered women's syndrome.
Krenwinkel's attorney, Keith Wattley, confirmed that account but did not comment on the postponement.
"She totally minimised her actions and blamed everything on other people the whole hearing," Tate said.
Tate said she didn't buy the concept that Krenwinkel was a victim because she was free to leave at any time and participated in murders two nights in a row.
"We all have to be accountable for our actions. I don't buy any of this stuff. She was there because she wanted to be there. Nobody held a gun to her head," Tate said.
In August 1969, Krenwinkel was among four members of the Manson Family gang who broke into the home of Sharon Tate, a Hollywood actress, and stabbed her to death.
They also killed four other people who were at the house at the time.
Tate was eight months pregnant when she was killed.
The decision to delay the decision came after 69-year-old Krenwinkel was previously denied parole 13 times, most recently in 2011.
Krenwinkel acknowledged during her trial that she chased down and repeatedly stabbed Abigail Ann Folger, the 26-year-old heiress of a coffee fortune, at Tate's home.
She also admitted to helping kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, the following night.
Prosecutors say Krenwinkel carved the word "war" into Leno LaBianca's stomach then wrote "Helter Skelter" in blood on the couple's refrigerator.
Krenwinkel testified at her previous hearing in 2011 that she became a "monster" after she met Manson.
"I committed myself fully to him. I committed myself to the act of murder," she said then. "I was willing to sacrifice others' lives for my own."
Prosecutors say the slayings were an attempt to ignite a race war after which Manson and his followers would rise from the rubble to rule the world.
