On Tuesday, March 29, California Governor Gavin Newsom blocked parole for Leslie Van Houten, a former follower of Charles Manson. The move comes after a parole panel recommended that the 72-year-old Van Houten be freed after half a century behind bars.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Blocks Parole for Manson Family Member 72-Year-Old Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Van Houten has been denied parole over twenty times now. In November 2020, Newsom overruled a parole recommendation saying that she “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time.” That statement is pretty much the same this time around and marks the fifth time a governor has shut down a shot at parole.
Just like last time, Rich Pfeiffer—the lawyer for Van Houten—said that the governor’s decision would be appealed. He claimed that Newsom only rejected parole because of his political career. Pfeiffer also pushed his client’s good behavior and record while in prison.
Newsom said that Van Houten’s good behavior isn’t in question as “She’s proven that through her actions for half a century.”
If you’re wondering “Who the hell is Leslie Van Houten?” She was a member of the Manson Family, a cult of squatters and criminals led by Charles Manson in the late 1960s. The group came out of the hippie subculture of the time.
They are best known for the shooting of drug dealer Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe, the murder of UCLA music teacher Gary Hinman, and—most notably—the Tate-LaBianca murders. All of these events occurred between July and August of 1969.
Van Houten—who had joined the Family a year prior—was involved in the LaBianca murders which took five lives. Among them was actress Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski. Van Houten would later claim to have been involved in the LaBianca murders in a bid to save Manson. At the time of the murders, Van Houten was just 19-years-old.
Originally, Leslie Van Houten was sentenced to death but after California ended the death penalty in 1972, her sentence was commuted to life. While Leslie Van Houten has been denied twenty-one times since 1982, in recent years she has gotten favorable recommendations for parole with five panels OK-ing it since 2016.
Over the years there have been opposing pushes for her to be released or remain behind bars. What do you think? Is she still a danger to society even with Charles Manson being dead for over four years now or should she be released?
As always, let us know down below.
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