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

[Mike&Ike]

She was 20 when she committed the crime. I'm 20 now and me along with other 20yo in the world arent going to let someone they just met corhorse them into killing someone. I mean she only knew the guy 1 year i dont care how manipulative he is no one can make me kill or participate in the action of killing. I wont even be a lookout in a murder. I say she lucky she didnt get the death penalty and just take her loses

[AMY]

She assisted in the murders of two human beings.

They, the victims, cannot be paroled; The LaBiancas will not get a second chance at life, why should one of the individuals responsible for taking their lives be given that chance?

Let her and all the others involved rot where thay stand today.

[noespanol]

Some people are just defective and she must be one of those. How else can you explain sociopathic behavior like laughing about her crime in court? I remember it well. Those girls weren't even on drugs at that point.

[guest]

let her out when she is fitted in a pine box.....

[JSA26]

If any crimes are heinous enough to warrant life imprisonment, the Manson murders qualify.

Saying I'm sorry is just not good enough.

Holding down a women while she is being stabbed and then stabbing her repeatedly in the back is not something that warrants the "I was young and stupid, you know girls will be girls" defense.

Sorry, Leslie but being the least culpable of a gang of insane murders is still culpable enough to warrant never seeing the light of day as a free woman again.

[Tee]

What a waste of tax money. It sickens me to see her face on a regular basis.

We should all laugh at her hideously - just as they laughed at us and the law back in the day, every time a camera was on them.

This woman will never get out, neither will Manson.

[Pat]

Knowing what had happened to Sharon Tate the night before, she went to the LaBianca house, and held Rosemary LaBianca down while another Manson family member stabbed her, then stabbed the victim herself two dozen times. If she is the least culpable of the Manson family, they should all stay in gaol permanently. There is no mercy, and no parole for horror like that.

[Pat]

Knowing what had happened to Sharon Tate the night before, she went to the LaBianca house, and held Rosemary LaBianca down while another Manson family member stabbed her, then stabbed the victim herself two dozen times. If she is the least culpable of the Manson family, they should all stay in gaol permanently. There is no mercy, and no parole for horror like that.

[Ruckas]

These are prisoners of the establishment. All of these killers would have been paroled years ago. The thing that keeps them locked up is not the crime. It's the victims that were involved. If Manson would have picked a blue collar neighborhood in down town L.A. This case would have made the headlines for about a week or so, there would be no books, no movies, and no new news. Why don't we hear about, Herbert Mullins, John Lindys Fraizer, or Edmund Kemper,
all mass murders in Santa Cruz, CA in the early 1970's. Why, because they killed people that only mattered to there family's. The writers, the Media, and the movie makers couldn't make any money off of them is the bottom line. So I say let her and the rest of them out. Remember Kids Charlie loves you.

[Mr. C]

WWJD God would have had these people stoned to death from day 1 of being captured, which is what it was called. You catch people. You capture animals. What would you think if you were a member of the murdered family? Would you desire the support of the public/or would you also be scared for your life? I don't get the idea; what was the sentence? Death. And then it was commuted to "life in prison." What prompts even a question? If that were my family, I'd still be screaming, and rightfully so. A few people were found to be 'guilty', and that gave them the sentence. Why are these people ever receiving even the amount of a consideration? What did they offer to do for the people who were screaming for mercy? They offered NONE. WALA. If we do not begin enforcing the law, there are gonna be worse and worse crimes committed. Put her out of her misery. Whay was the death sentence ever commuted to begin with?

[Mr. C]

Why is this thing even being given reconsideration? What do people not understand about the sentence, 'life without parole?' Were they forgiving when the couple they were murdering was begging, screaming, for mercy? They were without mercy, killed, in their own home, where they should be able to feel free, and have absolutely NO worries. Does anyone truly believe that people in prison learn great and wonderful things from their counterparts??? How many times would you give this being the opportunity to enter your home??? NOT 1 TIME at MY HOME. Give her the same as she gave them. If ya can't do the time...

[John from the Westside]

>> I'm 20 now and me along with other 20yo in the world arent going to let someone they just met corhorse them

And a product of the California Educational system, right?

You don't have to answer and I won't "corhorse" it from you.

[Sue Rhodes Calhoun]

Perhaps all those who think Leslie Van Houten should be released on parole might put their names in a hat and draw lots to see who gets her as a next door neighbour. She belongs in prison and that is where she should stay.

[Renee]

While I understand the whole 'life without parole' the argument that this is sending a message is a joke due to the fact we know criminals who killed more people are out on the street when they were given life without parole, so why shouldn't she try since our justice system seems to send the message that you can get out even after what the judge says.

Sending a real message would be letting those who were sentenced to this not have a parole and not to attempt parole.

Yes what she did was awful but our system shows that everyone else can make the attempt so why not her? Until our system actually does what it needs to, she's going to play the system like other harden criminals who are out on our streets due to this 'message' that is not being sent.

[omg]

i cant believe they let her out. she doesnt deserve any of that... just because shes old.

[charles curitis healy 11]

they sould never be let go , nor sould not be given a second chance, because they killed someone,once you kill,you well kill again,even if it was fourty years ago, they sould never be let loose or set free no matter what.sined by charles curitis healy the second

[Ruckas]

If you scroll down and read some of the comments made here, you can see how un-informed the public really is when it comes to this crime. The majority of these people have no idea of what they are saying or how to comment on such a case. There thought process has been so turned around by the press the true facts have been left to the imagination for most, for the ones that are tuned in the truth is as clear as can be, but the truth will never be allowed to make it in the press because there are to many careers at stake after all these years. Leslie should be released, she would make a good admin for the District Attorney, office. She has proven that she can keep a secrete.

[S S Kere]

This woman does not deserve parole. When the state of California abolished the death penalty, they should have substituted life without parole, for first degree murder. Since then, California has passed a law to incarcerate many for life merely for three felonies none of them violent. The Manson case is a travesty of justice. Manson and all of his killer followers should have been executed long ago. Instead, they continue to live at enormous public expense.