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HOUSTON,
August 15, 2009 – Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who tried to assassinate
President Gerald Ford in 1975 and was a follower of mass murderer
Charles Manson, was released from a Texas prison on Friday after serving
her sentence, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.
Fromme, 60, had been serving a life sentence for the assassination
attempt but was eligible for parole almost 25 years ago. She had waived
her right to parole previously and chose to remain in prison.
Ford was unharmed when a Secret Service agent grabbed the handgun that
Fromme aimed at the president in Sacramento, California, on September 5,
1975.
Fromme had been a follower of Manson, who was convicted of orchestrating
the murders of actress Sharon Tate and eight others in California in
1969 and is still serving time in prison. Fromme was never implicated in
those crimes.
Fromme was released from the Federal Medical Center Carswell near Fort
Worth, bureau spokeswoman Felicia Ponce said. The facility provides
specialized medical and mental health care to female offenders, the
agency said on its website.
Fromme had told her defense attorney she staged the attack on Ford
because she "wanted to get some attention for a new trial" for Manson
and members of his group.
Fromme wrote to Manson from a prison in Alderson, West Virginia, where
she briefly escaped in 1987 before being recaptured by federal agents.
(Reporting by Chris Baltimore; Editing by Eric Beech)
Source: Reuters
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