After more than half a century behind bars, the youngest member of Charles Manson’s ‘”family” — Leslie Van Houten — will likely be released after California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office indicated the Democrat will no longer contest her parole.
Unlike her fellow “family” members, then-19-year-old Van Houten was not present for the brutal deaths on Benedict Canyon’s infamous Cielo Drive of actress Sharon Tate, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, and 18-year-old Steven Parent.
She was, however, on Waverly Drive the following night with Tex Watson, Steve “Clem” Grogan, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Linda Kasabian, and Charles Manson himself at the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
(Video: YouTube)
After Manson left with Atkins, Grogan, and Kasabian, the LaBiancas were savagely stabbed to death.
Since the brutal murders, Van Houten has been recommended for parole on five different occasions. Former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) rejected her release twice, and Newsom has blocked it three times, claiming Van Houten, now 73, still posed a threat to society and failed to provide a consistent, adequate explanation of her relationship with Manson.
In May, the state appeals court reversed Newsom’s decision and ruled that she should be released, arguing that there is “no evidence to support the Governor’s conclusions” about the inmate.
“Van Houten has shown extraordinary rehabilitative efforts, insight, remorse, realistic parole plans, support from family and friends, favorable institutional reports, and, at the time of the Governor’s decision, had received four successive grants of parole,” the judges wrote, according to the Associated Press. “Although the Governor states Van Houten’s historical factors ‘remain salient,’ he identifies nothing in the record indicating Van Houten has not successfully addressed those factors through many years of therapy, substance abuse programming, and other efforts.”
While serving her life sentence, Van Houten has been described as a model inmate who earned bachelor’s and advanced degrees.
Newsom’s communications director, Erin Mellon, said in a statement that the governor is “disappointed” with the court’s ruling but will not attempt to appeal it to the California Supreme Court, The Hill reports, which means Van Houten will likely be released.
According to her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, Van Houten could be released in as little as two weeks to a halfway house where she will live for about a year in order to learn how to cope in a society that has seen 53 years of changes.
“She’s just grateful that people are recognizing that she’s not the same person that she was when she committed the murders,” Tetreault said.
In a 2010 interview with Diane Sawyer, Van Houten described the way Manson “nurtured” the girl’s “violence.”
“I think that the violence in us is somehow nurtured and brought out and brought forth,” she said. “You know, it didn’t happen overnight. He spent a lot of time taking middle-class girls and remolding them.”
Manson died in 2017 from natural causes.
“Another Manson ‘family’ member, Susan Atkins, died from cancer in 2009,” The Hill reports. “Members Tex Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel remain in prison.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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