FRONTERA, Dec. 17 — Former Charles Manson family member Susan Atkins, convicted in the 1969 cult slayings of actress Sharon Tate and seven others, was denied parole Friday for the seventh time.

Despite tears and expressions of remorse from Ms. Atkins, 40, the state Board of Prison Terms denied parole after 45 minutes of deliberations following a four-hour hearing at the California Institute for Women.

Ms. Atkins was convicted along with Manson, Patricia Krenwinkle, Leslie Van Houten and Charles “Tex” Watson — who all remain in prison — of the grisly cult slayings.

Miss Tate was 26 years old and eight months pregnant when she was repeatedly stabbed to death Aug. 9, 1969, by Ms. Atkins in a Los Angeles canyon home the actress rented with her husband, movie producer Roman Polanski.

Board Commisioner Rudolph Castro, who presided over the hearing, said Ms. Atkins still presents an unreasonable risk to society.

He cited the heinous nature of the crime, calling it “despicable, and conduct far removed from what could be tolerated in our society.”

Castro said she is unsuitable for parole because of her past criminal and anti-social background and past drug abuse.

The panel also looked unfavorably on the fact she refused to take a standardized psychological test.

Ms. Atkins, dressed in a navy blue suit, was tearful throughout the hearing and at one point told how she regrets the murders.

“If I could change what I did, if I could take away the pain in the hearts of all the parents … I’d do that,” Ms. Atkins said.

Also slain were hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and boyfriend Voityck Frykowski and Steven Parent, a friend of the caretaker at the home.

The victims were stabbed and shot, and the words “Pig” and “Healter Skelter” (sic) were scrawled in blood on the walls of the home.

The next night, wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were butchered in a similar way in their home in Los Angeles’ affluent Los Feliz area.

At one point in the hearing, when Los Angeles County prosecutor Stephen Kay accused Ms. Atkins of ending a one-year marriage because she discovered her husband was not rich, she shot back, “That’s speculation.”

Castro said Ms. Atkins’ inability to control her temper during the hearing was another reason she was denied parole.

He added she has shown short-term improvement, but that more is needed.

Ms. Atkins’ last parole hearing was in December 1985.