Breaking news: Leslie Van Houten, 73, Manson family killer, is released from prison after serving 53 years of life in prison
- Leslie Van Houten left a California prison on Tuesday
- Her attorney Nancy Tetreault said she was taken to temporary accommodation
- This comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not seek parole
Leslie Van Houten left a California prison on Tuesday after serving 53 years to life in prison for her involvement in two of the infamous Manson murders.
California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Van Houten was “released for parole supervision” and placed in transitional housing.
According to her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, the convicted killer is expected to spend about a year in temporary accommodation, learning basic skills like going to the grocery store and getting a debit card.
“She’s still trying to get used to the idea that this is real,” the attorney said.
Van Houten’s release comes just four days after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not appeal a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be paroled. He said it was unlikely the state Supreme Court would consider an appeal.
Leslie Van Houten, a supporter of Charles Manson, walked out of a California jail on Tuesday after serving a 53-year life sentence for her involvement in two notorious murders
The 73-year-old was serving a life sentence for helping Charles Manson’s supporters in the 1969 assassination of Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. Manson is pictured above
Newsom had denied Van Houten’s parole three times during his tenure, but in May a state appeals court denied his most recent parole denial.
The 73-year-old was serving a life sentence for helping Charles Manson’s supporters in the 1969 murder of Leno LaBianca, a Los Angeles grocer, and his wife Rosemary.
Van Houten was 19 when she and other cult members stabbed the couple to death as part of Manson’s mad plan to start a race war by terrorizing Los Angeles with a killing spree.
She has shared how she held Rosemary when she was murdered before stabbing her 16 times in the stomach.
The killings came the day after Manson supporters killed actress Sharon Tate and four others. Van Houten was not involved in the Tate murders.
Van Houten was initially sentenced to death for her crimes, but her sentence was reduced to life imprisonment after the death penalty was outlawed in California in 1972.
The Manson family claimed at least seven other victims – including pregnant actress Tate and coffee heiress Abigail Folger.
Manson died in prison of natural causes in 2017 at the age of 83 after spending nearly half a century behind bars.
This is an evolving story