Manson Family murders: Disciple Leslie Van Houten released from prison on parole after 53 years

Leslie Van Houten, convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family cult, was released from prison on parole on Tuesday (July 12) after 53 years.

Van Houten was once part of the Manson Family that carried out its leader Charles Manson's orders and went on a killing spree in 1969.

She was charged with a double murder which terrorised the entire Los Angeles.

That was one of at least nine killings carried out by members of the Manson cult in the city that year.

She remained in prison as the court ruled in 1972 that the death penalty was unconstitutional, hence she was sentenced to life in prison.

However, her release had been expected after California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday announced he would give up trying to deny parole for the 73-year-old.

In the latest veto in 2022, Newsom argued that Van Houten could still be a danger to society. However, the appeal judges overturned the veto in May, stating that "there is no evidence to support the Governor's conclusions," and ruling in favour of her release.

Last week, a spokeswoman for Newsom said he was "disappointed" by the court's decision to release but would "not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed".

In the latest development, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said that Van Houten was released "to parole supervision".

Lawyer Nancy Tetreault said that Van Houten was released "early this morning to parole and is safely at her transitional living facility".

Tetreault told the news agency AFP: "She will spend a year in transitional living developing skills for dealing with a world that has changed greatly in the past five decades."

What did she do?

Van Houten was 19 years old when she joined Manson's "family" - responsible for a bizarre plot to commit murders across Los Angeles in hopes of sparking a race war.

Manson, who led his gang to murder heavily pregnant actor Sharon Tate and her friends in the killing spree, died in prison in 2017.

While Van Houten was not involved in those murders, she has admitted to participating in further killings by the group on the following night, during which she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca, a grocer's wife, up to 16 times.

(With inputs from agencies)

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