Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten to be freed from prison

Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is a step closer to being freed from prison after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not block her parole.

Newsom’s announcement Friday paves the way for her release in the coming weeks, according to her attorney Nancy Tetreault.

“She’s thrilled and she’s overwhelmed,” said Tetreault. “She’s just grateful that people are recognizing that she’s not the same person that she was when she committed the murders,” the attorney added.

Newsom opposed Van Houten’s release in 2022. But in a statement Friday, Newsom’s office said it was unlikely the state would win an appeal of a court ruling in May that allowed Van Houten’s parole.

“More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims’ families still feel the impact,” Newsom’s office said in the statement.

Now in her 70s, Van Houten has been serving a life sentence for her role in the 1969 murders of Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife.

Van Houten admitted holding Rosemary LaBianca down with a pillowcase over her head while others stabbed her. Van Hoten later stabbed LaBianca herself more than a dozen times.

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Following a review of her record and the processing of necessary paperwork, Van Houten could be freed from the California Institution for Women in Corona in approximately two weeks, according to Tetreault.

Van Houten was recommended for parole five times since 2016 — but Newsom and his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, rejected proposals for her release.

A state appellate court ruled in May that Van Houten should be released, citing her “extraordinary rehabilitative efforts, insight, remorse, realistic parole plans, [and] support from family and friends.”

Upon her release, Van Houten will spend about a year in a halfway house to reacclimate to society, said Tetreault.

“She’s been in prison for 53 years. … She just needs to learn how to use an ATM machine, let alone a cell phone, let alone a computer,” the lawyer said.

Charles Manson died in prison in 2017 at the age of 83, having spent nearly 50 years behind bars.

With News Wire Services