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Leslie Van Houten, a former Charles Manson follower, was released on Tuesday after spending 53 years in prison. The same has been confirmed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. According to Houten’s lawyer, she is currently in a “transitional living facility.” Houten was convicted when she was just 19 years old for being involved in the 1969 killings that the Manson followers committed.
73-year-old Leslie Van Houten was first found “suitable” for release by the state’s parole board in 2016. However, the governor’s office vetoed the decision, and she remained in jail. Finally, in May, the court sided with Houten and ordered that she be released.
Leslie, born to Paul and Jane Van Houten, has an older brother, and two adopted siblings from Korea. However, it is not known if she's still in touch with her family.
Leslie reportedly worked as a tutor while in jail and also earned a master’s degree in humanities. She further got herself involved in several self-help and mental health programs while in prison. The court also acknowledged these accomplishments and ordered her release.
Convicted killer Leslie Van Houten was reportedly addicted to substance abuse at a very early stage in her life
The release of the infamous killer Leslie Van Houten has been making headlines since Tuesday following her release. At the young age of 19, Leslie was convicted of carrying out the murders of Leno LaBianca, a Los Angeles grocer, and his wife Rosemary in 1969. Houten was also a member of the infamous Charles Manson cult. After spending over five decades in jail, the court ordered her release in May. According to her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, Leslie Von Houten has spent 40 years in therapy.
“She’s really thrilled, but she’s been in prison for 53 years and turns 74 next month so this is a huge change. She’s gratified that people are recognizing that she’s completely reformed because she really is. I’ve never had a client who has dedicated herself to reform like she has. She spent 40 years in therapy and 30 years in what they call rehabilitative programming.”
Tetreault further spoke about Leslie Van Houten and mentioned that she would be under parole supervision after her release. The attorney said that Houten was influenced by Charles Manson and got involved in the horrific killings. However, she has worked on herself throughout the time she was behind bars to get over the cult principles and indoctrination.
“She had a long job of detaching herself from the cult mentality and accepting responsibility for her crimes. It took her a long time. She had decades of therapy. So, she felt guilt and deep remorse.”
Tetreault also stated that her client has shown extreme remorse for her wrongdoings.
“I think she’s just happy that her crimes are no longer defining her.”
A look into Leslie Van Houten’s background revealed that she got into substance abuse at a very young age. Her relationship with her mother worsened after she forced Leslie to abort her baby. Houten was born in 1949 in Altadena, California, into a middle-class family. Shortly after her equations worsened with her mother, she started having an interest in yoga for a while. Eventually, Leslie became a hippie and came across Catherine Share.
Share was the one who helped Leslie get into the Manson family. In August 1969, Houten, along with other members of the commune, killed Leno and Rosemary. She initially received a death sentence, which was later reduced to life imprisonment after the California Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was unconstitutional in People v. Anderson in 1972. After appealing for parole several times and getting rejected every time, the court finally accepted her appeal and ordered her release after 53 years in jail.
Leslie’s parole appeal had reportedly been blocked several times by Governor Newsom
Governor Gavin Newsom has been strongly against Houten's release. Newsom further expressed his disappointment after the court sided with Leslie Van Houten. Newsom’s spokesperson said,
“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal offenses, the victims’ families still feel the impact, as do all Californians.”
Governor Newsome added that he wouldn’t contest a decision given by the California appellate court to release Leslie Van Houten on parole.
California's governors reportedly blocked her parole around five times.
The Manson Family was active from the late 1960s to around the early 1970s in California, and the cult reportedly had around 100 followers. The members were known to consume several psychoactive drugs and hallucinogens, like LSD, quite often.
Most of the cult followers were young women like Leslie Van Houten, who were attracted by hippie culture. One of the most infamous murders by the Manson cult members was that of then-American actress and model Sharon Marie Tate Polanski in 1969.
Charles Manson, the leader of the Manson family, served almost 50 years behind bars before he died in 2017 at the age of 83. Another ex-Manson follower, Patricia Krenwinkel, was granted parole last year. Krenwinkel was also convicted of murder. Despite the parole grant, Newsom blocked her release. Susan Atkins, known as “Sadie Mae Glutz” within the family, was convicted of being involved in eight murders. Atkins, too, died in September 2009.
