Charles Manson fan Leslie Van Houten was released from a California prison on Tuesday after serving a 53-year sentence for her involvement in two notorious murders.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Van Houten “She was placed on probation under supervision”.
Leslie Van Houten, in a 2017 photo.
Credit: Stan Lim/AP
Why was Leslie Van Houten released?
His release comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not appeal a state appeals court’s decision to grant Van Houten parole.
Van Houten, now 70 years old, received a life sentence for helping Manson supporters carry out the 1969 murders of Leno LaBianca. a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife Rosemary.
She was released from prison in the early hours of the morning and taken to temporary accommodation, her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, said.
Van Houten was deemed eligible for parole after a July 2020 hearing, but Newsom subsequently blocked her release, saying she was still a threat to society. In May, an appeals court overturned Newsom’s decision.
What did Leslie Van Houten do?
Van Houten was convicted of being an accessory to the 1969 murder of Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary.
The LaBiancas were murdered in their home. with extreme violence: his attackers smeared the walls of the residence with his blood.
Van Houten later described how he held Rosemary LaBianca with a pillowcase over her head while others stabbed her before she, too, stabbed the woman at least 10 times.
The killings came the day after Manson supporters killed actress Sharon Tate. then wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski and eight months pregnantand four other people.
Van Houten, then 19, was not involved in the Tate murders.
Manson died in prison of natural causes in 2017 at the age of 83 after spending nearly half a century behind bars.
He is accused of killing sex workers and Mexico is demanding his extradition: they compare him to serial killer Ted Bundy