The 53-year prison sentence for Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten has come to an end. Van Houten was involved with the two horrific murders of Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in 1969.
Van Houten’s attorneys claimed that she was brainwashed by Charles Manson and has since expressed remorse for her actions. Now, as noted via TMZ, she has been granted parole after 53 years. This follows her appeal against California governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to have her parole rejected.
As for what comes next for Leslie Van Houten:
“She’ll be sent to a halfway house where she’ll learn basic skills and get up to date on all the new technology that’s come out since she was imprisoned.”
Indeed, the world has changed monumentally since her imprisonment. Thus it’s unknown what exactly Van Houten plans to do with her newfound freedom. But it’s been said that, in addition to having found faith, that she has also shown an interest in both teaching and learning.
Additionally, her lawyers note that she no longer poses any threat to society. So, regardless of her life sentence, those on the parole boards seem to have agreed that Van Houten should be released. It was even considered a losing effort by the governor’s office to try and fight her release, and so, they decided to drop it altogether.
Van Houten was initially convicted with two counts of first-degree murder in addition to one count of conspiracy to commit murder. These convictions go as far back as 1971 for the aforementioned LaBianca killings. She’s said to have held down Rosemary LaBianca while another person stabbed her. Then, after she was dead, Van Houten claims to have further stabbed her herself.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any potential updates as we have them. For now, this is a surprising development for Van Houten and her life that has mostly seen her behind bars.