() — Leslie Van Houten, a former supporter of Charles Manson and convicted of murder, was released from a California jail on Tuesday, a prison spokeswoman told .
Van Houten was released on probation, according to a statement from Mary Xjimenez, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She will have a maximum term of probation of three years, with a review after one year, the official explained.
Van Houten, now 70, was 19 when he met Manson and joined the murderous cult that came to be called the “Manson Family.”
Before her release Tuesday, she was serving concurrent sentences of seven years to life in prison after being convicted in 1971 for her role in the murders of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, at their Los Angeles home.
has contacted Van Houten’s attorney for comment.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Friday that it would not challenge a state appeals court panel’s ruling that opened up parole for Van Houten in May, clearing the way for his release.
“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal crimes, the families of the victims are still feeling the impact, as are all Californians. Governor Newsom revoked Ms. Van Houten’s parole grant three times since he took office and has defended his position against challenges to those decisions in court,” Erin Mellon, the governor’s spokeswoman, said in a statement Friday.
“The Governor is disappointed by the Court of Appeals’ decision to release Ms. Van Houten, but will take no further action as appeal efforts are unlikely to be successful. The California Supreme Court accepts appeals in very few cases, and generally does not select cases based on this type of fact-finding,” the statement added.
Van Houten and his team were “thrilled” with the announcement, Nancy Tetreault, an attorney for the Manson Family member, told on Friday.
After 53 years behind bars, Van Houten will participate in a transitional housing program to help her with job training, teach her how to get a job and support herself, Tetreault told last week.
“If you think about it, he’s never used an ATM, he’s never had a cell phone,” Tetreault said. The attorney told that she and her client discussed the likelihood that she would feel overwhelmed when she returned to normal activities, such as going to the grocery store.
Following her conviction, Van Houten was sentenced to death, but capital punishment was vacated after California abolished it, and her sentence was commuted to life in prison. She was first granted parole in 1977 and a California parole board panel first recommended her release in 2016, after she had appeared before the board 22 times, she reported. .
That decision, however, was blocked five times by state governors: twice by former Gov. Jerry Brown, who cited the horrific nature of the killings and Van Houten’s enthusiastic involvement, and three times by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In 1994, Van Houten described his involvement in the murders in a Prison interview with ‘s Larry King.
“I walked in and Mrs. LaBianca was lying on the floor and I stabbed her,” said Van Houten, who was 19 at the time of the murders. “In the lower back, about 16 times.”
Natasha Chen and Virginia Langmaid, both at , contributed to this report.
