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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he would not ask the state Supreme Court to block the parole of Charles Manson supporter Leslie Van Houten.
The governor’s office said it was unlikely the state supreme court would consider an appeal against a lower court’s decision that Van Houten should be released. That means Van Houten is likely to be released after serving 53 years in prison for his involvement in the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, who were murdered in their Los Feliz home in 1969.
The killings came two nights after actress Sharon Tate and four others were killed in Benedict Canyon. Van Houten was not involved in the Tate mansion murders.
“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal murders, the victims’ families are still feeling the effects,” the statement said.
Van Houten, now in his 70s, was serving a life sentence. She could be released from the California Institution for Women in Corona in two weeks, her attorney Nancy Tetreault said.
She has been recommended five times parole since 2016, but Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown rejected all of those recommendations.
Van Houten is released into a transitional home to learn basic life skills.
“She has been in prison for 53 years. … She just needs to learn how to use an ATM, let alone a cell phone, let alone a computer,” her attorney said.
“My family and I are heartbroken because we are reminded once again of all the years that we didn’t have my father and stepmother with us,” Cory LaBianca, Leno LaBianca’s daughter, said in a phone interview with The on Friday Associated Press.
“My kids and my grandchildren never got a chance to meet either of them, which was a huge gap in my family,” said Cory La Bianca, who is 75.