California Governor Gavin Newsom said Friday that he will not ask his state’s Supreme Court to block parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten.
An appeals court reinstated parole in May for the 73-year-old inmate, who has served 53 years in prison for the 1969 murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, after Newsom rejected the state parole board’s recommendation for her release earlier this year, as CrimeOnline previously reported. The parole board had recommended released five times, and each time a California governor rejected the recommendation.
According to the Associated Press, Newsom’s office said in its brief statement that an appeal to the higher court was unlikely to succeed.
“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims’ families still feel the impact,” the statement said.
Van Houten was initially sentenced to death, but her sentence was commuted to life in prison when California abolished the death penalty.
Read Related Also: ‘It is what it is’: Accused Long Island Serial Killer’s Wife Had Few Words When Confronted with His Arrest
She was 19 when she participated in the LaBiancas murders, a day after other Manson followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others. Van Houten was not present for those killings.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: FILE – Leslie Van Houten reacts after hearing she is eligible for parole during a hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017 at the California Institution for Women in Corona, Calif. Van Houten, the youngest of Charles Manson’s murderous followers, was granted parole by a California board Wednesday. (Stan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File)]
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘249856382045099’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
