Charles Manson follower seeks freedom, more than 40 years after LaBianca murders

Leslie Van Houten will ask before a parole board on Tuesday to be released from prison -- four decades after being convicted in the Manson murders.

Van Houten, 60, was convicted in the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in Los Feliz. She has sought parole more than a dozen times -- and has always been rejected.

Leslie Van Houten, a former homecoming princess from Monrovia, became alienated from her family as a teenager and said she was introduced to Manson by a boyfriend. She said she came to view Manson as Jesus Christ and believed in his bizarre plan to commit murders and blame African Americans in hopes of sparking a race war.

"I'm deeply ashamed of it," she told a parole board in 2002. "I take very seriously not just the murders but what made me make myself available to someone like Manson."

Van Houten has been characterized by supporters as the least culpable member of the so-called Manson family. She did not take part in the Aug. 9, 1969, killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others at Tate's rented Benedict Canyon home.

She did, however, willingly join Manson and others the following night when they invaded the LaBianca home, chosen at random. She held down Rosemary LaBianca while she was stabbed by an accomplice and, when told to "do something" by cohort Charles "Tex" Watson, she stabbed the woman about two dozen times in the back.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay told a parole board in 2002 that such "vicious" acts make parole for Van Houten at any time unwise. Kay, who took part in four of the Manson trials, has attended all 58 parole hearings for each of the five imprisoned murderers.

-- Shelby Grad

Photos, from top: Charles Manson, then and now. Credits: Los Angeles Times / State of California.  Leslie Van Houten at her 2002 parole hearing. Credit: Los Angeles Times. From left, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins and Leslie Van Houten enter court on Feb. 11. 1971, during the penalty phase of their trial. Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[Silhouette]

Some of you younger folks seemed to have forgotten about "Squeaky" Frome who tried to assassinate Gerald Ford YEARS after Manson was incarcerated...let her rot away, safely behind bars.

[Robert Doug Schrecengost]

No parole for Van Houten! She viciously participated in the gruesome stabbing murder of Rosemary LaBianca. Van Houten should have been executed, but we taxpayers have been paying for her health care, dental, meals, and all else for decades. Van Houten does not deserve freedom ever. Rosemary La Bianca and her husband were a nice couple who were butchered in their home by Van Houten and her associates. Giving parole to Van Houten would be like spitting on the graves of the La Bianca couple. Remember Van Houten smiling in court and in photos after she had murdered Rosemary! Van Houten was proud of murdering a nice successful married couple after the murders. Van Houten enjoyed the fame and attention she was getting for being a member of a group of murdering butchers. She is a murderer, and is trying once again to con her way out of prison.

[Richard]

Seymour --- get your facts straight. The death penalty was overturned by the CA Supreme Court in 1972, 3 years before Brown became Gov. Ronald Reagan was in the statehouse at that time.

[SicknTired]

Personal responsibility! That is what it comes down to. They were adults and responsible for their actions. They knew the crimes they committed were wrong and punishment would be harsh. For that they stay in prison for life, even though they should be put down quickly and with as much pain as possible.

[John from the Westside]

>> but for Jerry Brown's appointees to the Calif. Supreme Court, which threw out the death penalty

WRONG!!! It was the UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT during a Republican Administration, actually. There were no executions in the United States from 1968 until 1977 because of the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia ruling, and all those on death row had their sentences commuted to life as a result.

Let's have someone who left the state with a surplus, not someone spending $150 million of her own money for a job paying $225,000 a year -- while telling us she knows how to rein in spending. Ha!

[Angry american]

When does the trial start for Shorty Shea's murder? What information can Leslie Van Houten provide. What about the other murders in Death Valley? NO parole ever!

[kwitcherbellyakin]

What will she do if released? Join the rest of the miserably unemployed? She's better off staying where she is rehabilitated or not. Also life imprisonment means life. We need a powerful deterrent message to young wanna-be thugs, "if you can't do the time, don't commit the crime".
Her's a tale of caution. Perhaps the best use of her is to parade her around to middle school kids to tell how rebelling against her parents landed her where she is today; a life wasted away behind bars and a reputation forever sullied by relinquishing her conscious to some strange charasmatic male. I'm sure she's repentant but the LaBianco family suffer the loss of their hardworking, loving family everyday and get no repreve from the anguish and loss at her hands. I'm always sorry too after the fact, but since I don't wish to end up behind plexiglass wearing orange and eating turkey, carbs and listneing to loud jail clatter with a bunch of insane and viloent types, I don't do henious acts. Leslie, you and the others asked for what you got. God Bless and lucky you, we pay your rent and buy your food and medical care... you're welcome.

[Gino]

I'm sorry but this woman or any of the Manson clan should never be released. As another reader commented, post murders and capture, these people were proud of the horrible acts they commited. There was absolutely no remorse whatsoever! I can't imagine that when I was that age, even for a second would I have been influenced by such a person to do anything even remotley close to what they did. And if for some ridiculous reason I had, I would have likely been in constant and instant regret and my tears and sobbing in the public eye would have been proof of that... That's remorse. That's a human being with a heart of which none of them had and is not something you will likely grow in prison... Leave them be.

[No Name]

They all should have been killed a longtime ago. I meet Leslie Van Houten one time through her brother. She was creepy.

[PGelsman]

Let her rot!

[Sassy]

You know I'm always amazed at the gall convicted murderers have whenever they come up for parole. I always wonder "What about the victims? Do they get to petition the grim reaper for parole? The victims are dead they don't get second chances."

IMHO I feel that convicted murderers shouldn't get parole since their victims aren't eligible for parole.

[AlwaysThinking]

Keep her in prison, because that is what a life sentence is.

It has nothing to do with whether she is or no longer may be a threat to society. It is about simple justice - she committed murder.

She deserves death, but life in prison will have to suffice.

[just a thought]

Why not let her go and send her after the illegal immigrants? That would get her off the taxpayers backs and she'd be doing the state a favor!

[Estella]

what if she does get out? What will she do? My concern is that she will try to contact Manson or get involved in another cult because she can't hack outside life. Her original sentence was death. let her stay in and do what she can inside the prison cell.

[Milton Billingsley]

Only after she admits Sharon Tate's husband hired them.

[markiejoe]

She deserves parole. Let her go.

[PT1]

Given that the crime happened before I was born, and since I am now a middle-aged man, it seems that holding her longer is pointless. Her role was negligible and she was 19 when it happened. T

he crime was terrible, granted, but her sentence has far outlasted other people who committed far worse crimes. Notoriety is not reason enough to incarcerate.

[Big C]

I'm Sure she is NOT a Threat any longer, however that was a Vile Act of Murder. We need to send a Message to the Murderers of today, that you will ROT in Jail.

[alex]

Michael, what does her being with Manson one year have to do with anything? The point is that there are still 2 people dead that she chose to hold down while being brutally stabbed. Let's see how much leniency you would have if they had been your parents? As long as the Biancas are dead, let her stay in prison and reflect her actions, whether she will do harm to society at this point is not a factor.

[KRK]

uh, sorry but that was so incredibly horrible that no God fearing person could ever allow this creature to see a single free day.

[Ambrose Bierce]

The only reason she has not been parolled, is because of the sensational, high profile nature of the crime.
There have been MANY examples of people being parolled for much more heinous crimes and multiple homicides.
The difference is their victims were not among the Hollywood elite, and no books or movies were made about them.
Leslie Van Houten is a symbol of all of our irrational fears, media manipulation and hype, and our obsession with the bizarre.
Until we free ourselves of those qualities, Leslie Van Houten will stay in prison.
As another poster accurately stated, even the prosecutor in the Manson case, Vincent Bugliosi, believes she should be parolled. Vince Buglisosi is no bleeding heart liberal, just a keen observer and former participant in our justice system.

[Gaga]

"Why not let her go and send her after the illegal immigrants? That would get her off the taxpayers backs and she'd be doing the state a favor!

Posted by: just a thought | July 06, 2010 at 10:46 AM"

Hmm-- so you're saying we should let her go so she can kill the illegal immigrants? This comment was not only THOUGHTLESS, but just plain moronic. Your ignorant regurgitation of topics that get people riled up to reference stories that aren't even correlated is pathetic.

[Willard]

I remember how vicious this band of hate animals were. The murders were so shocking back then and if they'd happened last week they would be shocking for this day and age. This 'creature' who is trying to make parole, laughed on camera and in court about her evil participation. She was happy to be part of killing. She said so. She was sentenced to death. No parole, no release. Keep this killer where she belongs, IN JAIL!!!

[karma2]

Prediction: she won't be released.

[Willard]

She knew "the group" had viciously slain Tate and the others the night before so she was aching to be part of the continuing slaughter. She said she was sorry she was not in on the first night murders. She's evil and does not deserve to see the free light of day. PERIOD!!!