Ex-Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released after serving half-century in prison

DETROIT — Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted in the double murder of a California couple in 1969, was released from prison Tuesday after serving more than 50 years of a life sentence.

At 19, Van Houten, and other members of what became known as the Manson family, broke into the home of Leno LaBianca, and his wife, Rosemary, in Los Angeles and stabbed them to death. It was a day after five others ― including celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring and actress Sharon Tate ― were killed.

Van Houten, now 73, “was released to parole supervision,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. Van Houten was initially sentenced to death for helping Manson’s followers carry out the killings.

But the sentence was reduced to life in prison after the California Supreme Court overturned the state's death penalty law in 1972. While the death penalty was later reinstated, it did not apply retroactively to her sentence.

Her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, said she was driven to transitional housing Tuesday morning.

The 1969 slayings and subsequent trials captivated the nation during an era of strife marked by the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

A half-century in prison

Days earlier, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole. He said it was unlikely the state Supreme Court would consider an appeal.

Van Houten was found suitable for parole after a July 2020 hearing, but her release was blocked by Newsom, who maintained she was still a threat to society. She filed an appeal with a trial court, which rejected it, and then turned to the appellate courts.

The Second District Court of Appeal in May reversed Newsom’s rejection of her parole.

Disputing Newsom's claims against Van Houten, judges said she had shown "extraordinary rehabilitative efforts, insight, remorse, realistic parole plans, support from family and friends, favorable institutional reports, and, at the time of the Governor’s decision, had received four successive grants of parole."

Judges also said Van Houten had "many years" of therapy and substance abuse counseling. But Newsom's office said the governor was disappointed by the appeals court decision.

"More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims’ families still feel the impact," the governor’s office said in a July 7 statement.

Van Houten is expected to be on parole for about three years and will spend a year at a halfway house, Tetreault told The Associated Press.

She hopes to get a job as soon as possible, Tetreault added. Van Houten received a bachelor's and a master's degree in counseling while in prison and worked as a tutor for other incarcerated people.

“She has to learn to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash,” Tetreault said. “It's a very different world than when she went in.”

Parole denied: California panel denies parole for Charles Manson follower convicted of slayings in 1969

Troubles starting at 14

Van Houten, a former high school cheerleader and homecoming princess, saw her life spiral out of control at 14 following her parents’ divorce. She turned to drugs and became pregnant but said her mother forced her to abort the fetus and bury it in the family’s backyard.

Van Houten met Manson — who died in prison in 2017 of natural causes at age 83 ― at an old movie ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where he had established his so-called family of about 100 followers who lived an unconventional lifestyle and took mind-altering drugs.

She helped other Manson followers carry out the slayings of the LaBiancas in their home. She later described holding Rosemary LaBianca down with a pillowcase over her head as others stabbed her.

Then, according to Van Houten, she was ordered by Manson follower Charles "Tex" Watson to "do something," which is when she picked up a knife and stabbed Rosemary LaBianca more than a dozen times. The couple's blood was smeared on the walls afterward.

The double murder occurred a day after Manson followers killed Sebring, Tate, and three others. Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings.

Contact Frank Witsil at fwitsil@freepress.com.

Contributing: Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Leslie Van Houten: Ex-Charles Manson follower released from prison