Criminal Law
A Manson Family Member’s Parole Is Reversed For the Fifth Time
California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected the state’s parole board recommendation to release Leslie Van Houten, a former Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer, from prison, saying she continues to pose a threat to public safety.
Van Houten was 19 when she met Manson and joined the murderous cult that came to be called the “Manson family.” In 1971, she was convicted for her role in the grisly stabbing murders of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, at their home.
She is now 72.
“Ms. Van Houten continues to lack sufficient insight into the risk factors that led to her violent conduct in the past and the skills to protect against her becoming susceptible to similar pressures in the future,” the governor said in his Tuesday decision.
