Former Manson Family Member Leslie Van Houten Released From Prison

[Daltonio]

Rolling Stone: Former Manson Family Member Leslie Van Houten Released From Prison

Leslie Van Houten, who in 1969 participated in a double murder at the direction of Charles Manson, was released from prison on Tuesday morning. Nancy Tetreault, a lawyer for Van Houten, confirmed her release to Rolling Stone and said the prison had kept the exact date and time confidential. “She is safely in her transitional living facility and doing well,” Tetreault says. She is the first participant in the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders to be released.

Van Houten, 72, was granted parole after five failed attempts at parole since 2016 and after serving more than 50 years behind bars. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday, July 7, that he would not contest a decision to grant parole to the former Manson Family member. “The Governor is disappointed by the Court of Appeal’s decision to release Ms. Van Houten but will not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed,” a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement released Friday. The governor’s office declined a request for further comment on Tuesday.

The decision came after a panel of three judges on a California appeals court voted two-to-one to reinstate a Board of Parole decision that found her suitable for parole, vacating Newsom’s most recent decision in late 2020 to overturn it.

Prior to Tuesday, Van Houten had been serving a life sentence for her role in the 1969 murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, a married couple who ran a grocery store in Los Angeles. (She did not participate in the murders that took place a day earlier when Manson family members killed actress Sharon Tate and four others at Tate’s home). Van Houten was 19 at the time. At trial, she testified that she had stabbed Rosemary LaBianca 14 to 16 times in the couple’s home. In 1971, she was sentenced to death, but that ruling was overturned.

She became eligible for parole starting in 1977 and, over the decades, applied for parole more than 20 times. The parole board first recommended her for release in 2016. While the decisions by Newsom and his predecessor, Jerry Brown, to overturn those parole board rulings were generally upheld on appeal, this time her efforts succeeded.

Thoughts?

 

[MrDawn]

I don't know how I feel about her release. Her being a model inmate doesn't mean anything. So was John Wayne Gacy.

"She was a model prisoner from the day she entered prison," Tetreault said. "She's been involved in therapy for 40 years. She just she's really a different person."

Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from California prison

Once part of the "Manson family" that carried out Charles Manson's orders in a killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles in 1969, she was released from prison on parole after 53 years.

www.reuters.com

 

[passenger]

I would have voted to keep her locked up.

 

[MrDawn]

I would have voted to keep her locked up.

A lot of people aren't happy about it and I can't say that I blame them.

 

[safeinsanity]

Should have killed them all!

 

[MrDawn]

Should have killed them all!

I've heard of prisons releasing senior inmates when they're old and used up so they can go die somewhere. In her case, that's probably why they let her out.

The release of aging people in prison is only considered under certain circumstances. When a person reaches the end of life and is frail, sick, and unlikely to be a threat to society despite their previous criminal history, then early release might be an option.

The release of these individuals would take a huge burden off the already overburdened prison system.

The release of elderly prisoners and the issue of aging in prison leads to questions with difficult solutions yet to be determined.

In our ever-changing world, we must often re-evaluate some of the long-standing ways we have done things in the past and reconsider the best way to address the problems that present themselves in today's world with compassion and understanding.

The difficulty comes in trying to do this while maintaining the integrity of our legal system

Seniors in Prison: What Happens to Elderly Prisoners?

Crime and punishment have no age limit - but what happens to prisoners when they get old and can no longer survive in the general prison population?

www.griswoldhomecare.com

 

[Nebulous]

I would have voted to keep her locked up.

I would have too but you know what they say about California? Its the lands of fruits and nuts

 

[Draconis]

Is she still hot? lol

 

[MrDawn]

Is she still hot? lol

No. She looks like a nursing home resident.

 

[Draconis]

No. She looks like a nursing home resident.

That's called "karma". lol

 

[NeoMetallix]

I probably shouldn't say this(for privacy reasons) but she has the same last name as me.

 

[MrDawn]

That's called "karma". lol

The sad part is she probably has some fans that took her in after she was released.

 

[Draconis]

The sad part is she probably has some fans that took her in after she was released.

I wouldn't be surprised if she gets married to one of them!

 

[MrDawn]

I wouldn't be surprised if she gets married to one of them!

Debra Tate sure wasn't happy about her release. Can't say that I blame her. Model inmate my ass.

 

[Draconis]