|
Manson follower Van Houten recommended
for parole after more than four decades
Send a link to a friend
[April 15, 2016]
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Leslie Van
Houten, who as a follower of cult leader Charles Manson took part in one
of the most notorious mass murders of the 20th century, on Thursday was
recommended for parole, a first step towards freedom after more than
four decades in prison.
|
|
 Van Houten, 66, has been serving a life sentence for the murders
of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, who were stabbed to death in their
Los Angeles home on Aug. 9, 1969.
Manson, now 81 and serving a life sentence, directed his mostly
young, female followers to murder seven people in what prosecutors
said was part of a plan to incite a race war between whites and
blacks.
A two-member panel of California's Board of Parole Hearings
recommended parole for Van Houten after a hearing with her at the
state prison in Corona, California, where she is serving her
sentence.
 The ruling is subject to an administrative review by attorneys for
the board before going to Governor Jerry Brown. Brown can uphold the
recommendation, overturn it or order further hearings.
Van Houten was found guilty of the LaBianca murders in 1971 and
sentenced to death but that conviction and sentence were overturned
on appeal. She was retried, convicted and sentenced to life in
prison in 1978.
The La Biancas were stabbed to death, after which the killers used
their blood to write "Rise," "Death to Pigs" and "Healter-Skelter",
a misspelled reference to a Beatles song, on the walls and a
refrigerator door. Also among the victims of the Manson Family was
actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski.
She was stabbed 16 times by cult members.
[to top of second column] |
Four other people were stabbed or shot to death at Tate's home that
night by the Manson followers, who scrawled the word "Pig" in blood
on the front door before leaving. Van Houten was not involved in the
Tate murders.
Manson is serving a life sentence at Corcoran State Prison in
California for the seven Tate-LaBianca killings and the murder of
another man, Gary Hinman, in July 1969.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office,
which prosecuted Van Houten, had no immediate comment on the ruling.
(Reporting by Sara Catania and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and
Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Editing by Howard Goller)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
