California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday blocked parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, reversing a panel’s recommendation that she be freed after spending a half-century in prison
FILE - This March 29, 1971, file photo, shows Leslie Van Houten in a Los Angeles lockup. On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked parole for Charles Manson follower Van Houten, reversing a panel's recommendation that she be freed after spending a half-century in prison. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — — California Gov.
Her attorney, Rich Pfeiffer, disputed that view and said the decision will be appealed in court. He accused Newsom of rejecting parole because he is worried about “his political future" and noted that Van Houten has a spotless prison disciplinary record. Van Houten is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and others kill Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in August 1969. Van Houten was 19 when she and other cult members fatally stabbed the LaBiancas and smeared the couple’s blood on the walls.
In his rejection letter, Newsom noted that Van Housen had undergone therapy, earned educational degrees and taken self-help classes in prison and had shown “increased maturity and rehabilitation."