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Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten walked out of a California prison Tuesday after serving 53 years of a life sentence for her participation in two infamous murders. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Van Houten 'was released to parole supervision.' Her release comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole. .....

LOS ANGELES -- California’s governor announced Friday that he won’t ask the state Supreme Court to block parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, paving the way for her release after serving 53 years in prison for two infamous murders. In a brief statement, the governor’s office said it was unlikely that the state's high court would consider an appeal of a lower court ruling that Van Houten should be released.

Manson family killer Leslie Van Houten's recent whiff of freedom will not be snuffed out by California Gov. Gavin Newsom ... he says he won't block her upcoming parole. Newsom's office announced the decision in a Friday afternoon news dump, saying the governor would not challenge an earlier appeals court decision clearing the way for Van Houten's release.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court has denied a potential bid for freedom by Leslie Van Houten, a Charles Manson follower serving a life sentence for her role in the murder of a Los Angeles grocer and his wife in 1969. The high court on Wednesday refused to hear Van Houten’s appeal of a lower court ruling last December that denied her petition for a review. That petition had challenged what it deemed as denial of due process by Gov. Gavin Newsom in reversing a 2020 parole board recommendation. The petition also said Newsom had refused to provide documents...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom overruled a parole board’s decision to free Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten on Monday, marking the third time a governor has stopped the release of the youngest member of Manson’s murderous cult. Van Houten, 69, is still a threat, Newsom said, though she has spent nearly half a century behind bars and received reports of good behavior and testimonials about her rehabilitation. “While I commend Ms. Van Houten for her efforts at rehabilitation and acknowledge her youth at the time of the crimes, I am concerned about her role in these killings and her potential...

Gov. Jerry Brown D-Calif. has once again denied parole for Leslie Van Houten, the youngest follower of late murderous cult leader Charles Manson who blamed herself at her parole hearing Friday for letting him control her life. Brown said in his decision that Van Houten, 68, still laid too much of the blame on Manson, who died two months ago at 83. Brown acknowledged that Van Houten's youth at the time of the crime, her more than four decades as a model prisoner and her abuse at the hands of Manson make it worth considering her release. While in prison,...

The youngest of Manson's followers, Van Houten has been considered the least blameworthy member of the group and has been portrayed by supporters as a misguided teen under the influence of LSD on the night of the slayings. A former homecoming queen from Monrovia, she did not join in the Aug. 9, 1969, murders of Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of film director Roman Polanski, and four others at the Benedict Canyon home that Tate was renting. But the following day, Van Houten was part of a group that stormed into the LaBiancas' home in Los Feliz. As Charles "Tex"...

Leslie Van Houten, a former Charles Manson follower who killed for the mass murderer in 1969, has been granted parole in California. Van Houten, the youngest of Manson’s followers, was scheduled to appear before a parole panel for the 21st time on Wednesday. She was 19 when she took part in a series of murders during the summer of 1969 in Los Angeles. Gov. Jerry Brown now has a 120-day period to affirm, reverse or take no action on the decision.

It’s hard to believe it has been almost fifty years since the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969. Unfortunately, we are reminded of these murders on too regular a basis. They were again in the news recently when Gov. Brown overruled the parole board’s recommendation to release Leslie Van Houten, one of several Manson Family members convicted of murder. Good call -- she is where she belongs. If you lived in southern California at the time, you likely have strong memories of those events. It was an unusually hot August that year, when the Tate murders hit the news. Six people...

HOLLAND, Mich. — The 39-year-old father of Michigan's first surviving set of sextuplets suffered a heart attack and died after setting up a trampoline for his children, a relative said. Ben Van Houten died Wednesday night, said Sue Herweyer of Dykstra Life Story Funeral Homes in Holland.

A parole board on Wednesday rejected Manson family member Leslie Van Houten's 19th attempt to win freedom. The board also decided she could not seek parole again for five years. Van Houten, 63, was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in Los Feliz. She has repeatedly been denied bids for parole over the last four decades. “Given the brutality of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and Van Houten’s willing and active participation in this evil, pre-planned and violent crime, we are pleased with the parole board’s decision...

LOS ANGELES — Leslie Van Houten, the one-time Charles Manson follower long seen as the most likely of his ex-acolytes to win freedom someday, was denied parole Tuesday for a 19th time in the killings of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca. At the conclusion of the emotional three-hour hearing, the chairman of the parole board, Robert Doyle, said Van Houten was not yet suitable for parole because she had failed to gain complete insight into her crime and its motivation.

Leslie Van Houten, the one-time Charles Manson follower long seen as the most likely of his ex-acolytes to win freedom someday, faces her 19th parole hearing with a new lawyer and new case law which may give her the best chance yet for release. Even if there is a finding of suitability for parole at Tuesday's hearing, freedom would not be immediate. The entire state parole board would review the decision within 120 days and it would then be submitted to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a final ruling. Van Houten, 60, remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Women at...

CORONA, Calif. -- Leslie Van Houten, the former Charles Manson follower convicted of taking part in a murderous rampage that terrorized Los Angeles 38 years ago, was denied parole Thursday for the 18th time. The two-year denial issued by the parole board means Van Houten, 58, must wait until 2009 to petition again for her release. Van Houten, who is serving time at the California Institution for Women in Corona, was last denied parole in September 2006. "We still feel she's a considerable risk to society," said Patrick Sequeira, a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County, who attended the...

Manson Family Member Van Houten Loses Parole Bid LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California prison board on Wednesday refused for the 15th time to parole Leslie Van Houten, a Charles Manson disciple who was sentenced to life behind bars for her role in the sensational cult murders. Van Houten, now 55 and serving her sentence at the California Institution for Women in Frontera, was rejected in her bid for parole despite a tearful apology for her part in the grisly 1969 crimes. (snip) The former homecoming princess admitted to holding down Rosemary LaBianca while two other Manson followers, Charles "Tex"...