Featured Image Credit: KTLA 5/ABC News
Topics: US News, Crime, True crime
Dominic Smithers
Convicted Manson Family murderer Leslie Van Houten has been released from prison.
She was one of cult leader Charles Manson's followers who participated in the killing of two people in 1969.
The group murdered Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary.
The decision to release Van Houten was made by an appeals court in California, reversing an earlier ruling by Governor Gavin Newsom, who rejected her parole back in 2020.
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She has been recommended for parole five times since 2016, however, each one of those recommendations was rejected by either Gov Newsom or former California governor Jerry Brown.
Van Houten was 19 when she was sentenced to life for helping Manson and other followers murder Leno and Rosemary.
The murders happened the day after another group of Manson's followers brutally killed actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant at the time, as well as four others.
In 2017, Manson died of natural causes in prison at age 83, having spent almost half a century behind bars.
Gov Newsom had claimed that Van Houten, now 73, still posed a threat to society.
Rejecting her request for parole, he said that her explanations for her involvement with Manson and what happened were inconsistent.
However, recently, the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled 2-1 to reverse his decision.
Making the ruling, the court said that there was 'no evidence to support the Governor’s conclusions' regarding whether or not Van Houten should be released.
The judges wrote: "The Governor’s refusal to accept Van Houten’s explanation amounts to unsupported intuition."
Van Houten's attorney Nancy Tetreault said she was released from prison in the early hours of the morning and taken to transitional housing.
She told the Associated Press: "She’s still trying to get used to the idea that this real."
Tetreault went on to say that it will take a long time for Van Houten to get used to being free again.
She added: “She’s been in prison for 53 years. ... She just needs to learn how to use an ATM machine, let alone a cell phone, let alone a computer."
However, despite her relief, Cory LaBianca - Leno LaBianca’s daughter - said she and the family were 'heartbroken' over the news.
She said: "My family and I are heartbroken because we’re once again reminded of all the years that we have not had my father and my stepmother with us.
“My children and my grandchildren never got an opportunity to get to know either of them, which has been a huge void for my family."