Former Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from prison at 73

12 July 2023

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has made no secret of his opposition to releasing members of the Charles Manson family who, since the early 1970s, have been imprisoned for murder and other crimes.

In October 2022, Newsom blocked the release of former Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel after she was granted parole. And Newsom has expressed his vehement opposition to the release of another ex-Manson follower, Leslie Van Houten, who has been granted parole and is now out of prison after more than half a century.

Newsom, however, has said that he will not appeal Van Houten's parole, as he believes he would not prevail in court.

Now 73, Van Houten was only 19 when, on August 9, 1969, she participated in the vicious murders of Los Angeles-based grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca. Van Houten, according to the late prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, stabbed Rosemary LaBianca at least 14 times after fellow Manson follower Tex Watson had already stabbed her. Patricia Krenwinkle, another Manson family member, also took part in the LaBianca killings.

Van Houten was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. But her sentence was commuted to life without parole when the California Supreme Court struck down the death penalty in its 1972 ruling People v. Anderson.

Vincent Bugliosi, who died in 2015, successfully prosecuted not only Van Houten, but also, Manson himself along with followers Watson, Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins.

It was on August 8, 1969 — the night before the LaBianca murders — that members of the Manson cult murdered actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time, along with several of her companions.

In an official statement, a Newsom spokesperson said of Van Houten's release, "More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal offenses, the victims' families still feel the impact, as do all Californians."

Manson was 83 when, in 2017, he died in prison. Atkins, convicted in eight murders, died in prison in 2009, and Watson, now 77, is still in prison.

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