California Governor Denies Parole for Manson Follower Leslie Van Houten

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press

Gov. Brown said in his decision that despite Van Houten saying at her parole hearing that she accepts full responsibility for her crimes, she still lays too much of the blame on Manson

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The governor of California once again denied parole Friday for Leslie Van Houten, the youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson who blamed herself at her parole hearing for letting him control her life.

Gov. Jerry Brown said in his decision that Van Houten still lays 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. “However,” he wrote in his decision “these factors are outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate she remains unsuitable for parole.”

The 68-year-old Van Houten is serving life for the murders of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, when Van Houten was 19. They were stabbed a day after other Manson followers killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people in Los Angeles.

Read more: https://www.snopes.com/2018/01/20/california-governor-denies-parole-manson-follower-leslie-van-houten/

[BigmanPigman]

1. Thank you Gov Brown!

We will miss you!

[LenaBaby61]

11. Thank you Gov Brown!

+1,000

Rot in jail.

[Skittles]

2. she is a posterchild for parole

he just does not want to deal with what would come his way

[marble falls]

3. I agree with you. A posterchild for parole. Its hard tp believe that really would be that much...

backlash to Brown over doing the right thing.

[Canoe52]

4. But is Brown really worried about any backlash?

This is the last year of his being governor

[Skittles]

6. well he must be worried about something

because this is absolute cowardice

[nini]

5. GOOD

She needs to stay where she is.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Yes, all of the Manson family

should rot in prison. It's better than their victims got. Had they done these crimes in somewhere other than California, they would have been executed long ago.

[nini]

10. Her exuberance from the murders the night before

And what she did the next night that got her convicted are enough to keep her there.

It's not like it wasn't planned by people who are basically terrorists.

I remember all that like it was a couple years ago. These aren't your 'average' murderers. yikes.

[cab67]

8. I suppose I'm from the first generation that's allowed to be ambivalent.

I was a very small child when the Manson family murders took place, and I was too young to really understand the circus surrounding the trial. So it didn't affect me the way it did people older than me.

Part of me wonders if the notoriety of the crime is driving the denials of parole. I've heard of people convicted of far more gruesome crimes being granted parole.

Then again, I can certainly understand why the victims' families would want these people in prison forever.

[Jake Stern]

9. Had this not been connected to the Manson Family, Van Houten would have been out years ago

Considering Brown's release of violent killers such as Ernest Morgan, who blew his sister away with a shotgun during a botched burglary, his pronunciations concerning a model inmate who has served nearly half a century in prison ring incredibly hollow.

If a guy who killed his own sister can be freed why can't Leslie Van Houten? Because it's all political.

[link:https://www.cbsnews.com/news/1400-lifers-released-from-california-prisons-in-last-3-years/|]

[Upthevibe]

12. I agree with my Governors decision....Those Manson Murders

were sick on whole other level. I don't think there's anything political about it as he's not running for Governor again...Just my opinion...

[Aristus]

13. Life in prison means life in prison.

If she "accepts full responsibility" for her crimes, then she needs to start picking out a plot in the prison cemetery, instead of showing up for parole hearings.