Manson Family Culprit Leslie Van Houten Released From Prison

Leslie Van Houten, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, has been released from prison after serving over 50 years behind bars for her role in the 1969 double homicide of Los Angeles couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Van Houten, now 73, "was released to parole supervision," the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement, per The Associated Press.

Her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, said Van Houten left the California institution in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 11, and was driven to transitional housing.

"She’s still trying to get used to the idea that this real," Tetreault told the publication, noting that her client has spent over five decades in prison.

"She has to learn to use to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash," her attorney continued. "It's a very different world than when she went in."

Van Houten—who was 19 at the time of the murders—was initially sentenced to death after being convicted on two counts of murder in 1971, though her sentence was later reduced to life in prison after California outlawed capital punishment the following year.

She has previously admitted to holding down Rosemary LaBianca at the time of the attack, during which she and other members of the Manson family stabbed the victims to death in their own home.

The gruesome LaBianca murders took place in August 1969, just one night after other Manson followers killed five people at the home of film director Roman Polanski, including his wife and famous actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time. Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings.

In July 2020, Van Houten was found suitable for parole, but her release was blocked by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who believed she still posed a threat to society.

Newsom had reversed Van Houten's parole grant three times since taking office, and was "disappointed" by the Court of Appeal's decision to release her, a spokesperson for the governor told The New York Times. However, it was said that Newsom "will not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed."

Van Houten's lawyer said her client, who will likely be on parole for three years, hopes to get a job as soon as possible after earning a bachelors and a masters degree in counseling while in prison.

Next: Linda Kasabian, Former Manson Family Member and Prosecution’s Star Witness, Dead at 73