Leslie Van Houten, former member of the infamous Manson Family, was sentenced to death for stabbing two store owners to death in 1969.
On Tuesday, over 50 years later, she was released from prison in California, reports CNN.
Leslie Van Houten, today 73 years old, was only 19 years old when she met Charles Manson and joined the murderous cult that has come to be known as the Manson Family.
In 1969, she was sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to life imprisonment, for stabbing store owners Rosemary and Lena LaBianca to death in their Los Angeles home. Van Houten herself has admitted that she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca 16 times.
The murder took place the day after other followers of Charles Manson murdered actress Sharon Tate and four other people.
Again a free woman
Since Leslie van Houten was sentenced to prison for the murders, the timing of a possible parole has been on the table several times. At the latest last year, the refusal was justified by the fact that she still posed a danger to the public.
But on Tuesday, the news came that she would be released from prison.
The lawyer: “Accepted full responsibility”
Her lawyer, Nancy Tetreault, tells CNN that she understands that the announcement may arouse anger among the victims’ relatives, but that Leslie van Houten, according to the law, is entitled to parole as she “no longer poses a danger to society” – which she is therefore no longer considered to do.
Tetreault also says that she did not try to prove Van Houten’s innocence, but emphasizes that her client “accepted full responsibility for the crime.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he would not challenge the decision that opened the possibility of parole.
“Cold-Blooded Killer”
Anthony DiMaria, nephew of celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring who was murdered at the same time as Sharon Tate by members of the Manson family, is critical of the governor’s decision.
“I have real respect for Governor Newsom and the Attorney General, but our families strongly oppose their decision not to appeal,” he told CNN.
He describes Leslie Van Houten as a “cold-blooded killer in one of the most infamous murders in American history.”