Manson Family cult member released from California prison
FILE – Leslie Van Houten attends her parole hearing at the California Institution for Women Sept. 6, 2017 in Corona, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, July 7, 2023, that he will not fight a state appeals court decision that Van Houten should be let out on parole. (Stan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File)
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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.
Van Houten, now in her 70s, received a life sentence for helping Manson’s followers carry out the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary.
She was released from prison in the early morning hours and driven to transitional housing, her attorney Nancy Tetreault said.
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