Leslie Van Houten, infamous Manson family member, released from prison

Manson family member Leslie Van Houten was released from prison Tuesday after more than five decades, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

Van Houten, 73, was serving a life sentence for her role in the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Angeles in 1969.

Gov. Gavin Newsom denied Van Houten’s parole multiple times but was overruled by a California appeals court earlier this year. On Friday he said he would not challenge an appellate court’s decision to allow parole for Van Houten.

A former homecoming queen from Monrovia, Van Houten became involved with the Manson family in the 1960s. Supporters described her as a misguided teen under the influence of LSD on the night of the killings.

She was involved in the second of the Manson family murders — the killings of Los Feliz grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, at their home in 1969.

Van Houten and another woman held down Rosemary LaBianca as Charles “Tex” Watson stabbed Leno LaBianca. After Watson stabbed Rosemary LaBianca, he handed Van Houten a knife. She testified to stabbing the woman at least 14 more times.

“And I took one of the knives, and Patricia had one — a knife — and we started stabbing and cutting up the lady,” Van Houten testified in 1971. (Patricia Krenwinkle was a co-defendant and family member).

In chilling detail, Van Houten described the killing of Rosemary LaBianca, who offered anything to have her life spared.

She said she got into a fight with LaBianca, prompting Krenwinkle to collect knives and other utensils from the kitchen. She said LaBianca kept promising not to call the police.

“And it seemed like the more she said, ‘Police,’ the more panicked I got,” she testified.

Van Houten went through three trials for her role in the killings. The first led to her conviction and a death sentence, which was overturned on appeal because her lawyer disappeared before the verdict.

The second trial ended with a hung jury, and the third led to her murder conviction and a sentence of seven years to life with the possibility of parole.

She has expressed remorse for her crimes.

At a 2002 parole board hearing, Van Houten said she was “deeply ashamed” of what she had done, adding: “I take very seriously not just the murders, but what made me make myself available to someone like Manson.”

But the victims’ family members had fought efforts to set her free.

In the 1990s, a Christian group backed parole for her and fellow Manson family member Susan Atkins. The group described Van Houten as a “gentle, kind woman who quietly waits for her freedom” and said she was a victim of Manson’s “mind control.”

Alice LaBianca responded to Van Houten’s supporters in the 1998 letter.

“Leslie Van Houten chose her own path,” she wrote. “She chose to follow the instructions of Charles Manson. She chose drug-crazed killers as her family and she became one of them. But what about my family? When do we get our parole? When does Leno get his parole?”