California governor rejects parole bid for Manson family killer

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday blocked parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who’s serving a life sentence for the 1969 homicide of a Los Angeles couple who have been stabbed to loss of life with knives and a fork.

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Newsom’s determination reversed a panel’s suggestion that Van Houten, 72, be freed after spending half a century behind bars.

She “presently poses an unreasonable hazard to society if launched from jail right now,” Newsom wrote in his rejection letter. The governor acknowledged that Van Houten had “proven elevated maturity and rehabilitation” in jail however added that “gaps in perception” proceed to make her a threat to the general public. 

File picture of Leslie Van Houten attending her parole listening to on the California Establishment for Girls in Corona, California in 2017. (Stan Lim/Los Angeles Every day Information through AP, Pool, File)
(Stan Lim/Los Angeles Every day Information through AP, Pool, File)

Van Houten was a 19-year-old teenage runaway when she helped different cult members fatally stab Los Angeles grocery retailer proprietor Leno LaBianca and his spouse, Rosemary, at Manson’s path. 

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The murderers used a carving fork to jot down the phrase “WAR” on Leno LaBianca’s abdomen as he lay dying from 26 stab wounds, in line with trial testimony. The Manson acolytes then used the couple’s blood to jot down “Demise to pigs” on the partitions. 

Someday earlier, Manson followers, with out Van Houten, had murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and 4 others at her residence in Benedict Canyon.

Jail picture of serial killer Charles Manson taken in 2014. (California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation through AP, File)
(California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation through AP, File)

Van Houten has had 21 parole hearings since 1982, with 5 panels recommending her launch since 2016. Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown have shot down every of her bids for freedom. 

Van Houten’s lawyer, Wealthy Pfeiffer, mentioned his shopper had a spotless jail report and accused Newsom of blocking her parole over issues about his personal “political future.” He added that Van Houten was a “good individual.”

Manson died of pure causes in 2017 whereas serving a life sentence.

The Related Press contributed to this report