Leslie Van Houten gets parole after incarcerating for 53 years

After incarcerating for log 53 years in prison, Leslie Van Houten has been released on a three-year parole. A former follower of notorious cult leader Charles Manson, she was serving a life sentence for two murders. She was 19 when she was convicted of killing a grocer and his wife in Los Angeles in 1969.

Leslie Van Houten was the youngest member of the ‘Mansion Family’, a group of followers of the cult leader when she was indicted for her role in the murder of grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. She held Rosemary, who was killed by someone else. But Van Houten later said that she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca after her death.

Charles Manson is considered one of the most dangerous cult leaders in the U.S.A. He ordered his followers to kill nine people each so that a race war begins. He died in jail in 2017. His followers called themselves members of the ‘Mansion Family’.


Leslie Van Houten made many attempts to get parole and failed at least a dozen times. She was recommended for parole in 2016. But California Governor Gavin Newsom and his predecessor Jerry Brown turned down the recommendations. Her parole was blocked again in 2020, but this time a California Appeals court turned down the rejection.

Expressing his disappointment over the Appeals court’s decision, the governor said that the relatives of the people killed still feel the impact of the murder after fifty years.

While incarcerated in prison, Leslie Van Houten received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and worked as a tutor for the inmates.

Her lawyers said that Van Houten worked hard to move away from the cult mentality. She expressed regret many times and said that she let the cult leader overpower her thinking.

The lawyer said that Van Houten will have to learn to live in a new way as the world has changed in fifty years. She will have to learn how to use the Internet and make online payments.

FAQs:

Q1:Who was Charles Mansion?
Charles Mansion was one of the most notorious cult leaders in the U.S.A. He asked his followers to kill nine people each so that a race war begins. He died in prison in 2017.

Q2:Why was Leslie Van Houten jailed?
Leslie Van Houten was serving life imprisonment for two murders. She was convicted for killing a Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in 1969. She was a follower of cult leader Charles Mansion at that time.