Leslie Van Houten, ex-follower of bloodthirsty “guru” Charles Manson, was released from prison on Tuesday after spending more than 50 years behind bars for a double murder committed in 1969, California prison authorities have confirmed.
In the summer of 1969, members of Charles Manson’s satanic cult sowed terror in Los Angeles, where they committed at least nine brutal murders. Among their victims was actress and model Sharon Tate, then married to filmmaker Roman Polanski.
Follower of the “Manson Family”, Leslie Van Houten had been convicted of having participated in the murder of a couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, at their home in August 1969. Initially sentenced to death, she had finally received a life sentence after several trials.
Now 73 years old, Ms.me Van Houten “was released on parole on July 11, 2023,” the California Correctional Service said in a statement.
American justice had already ruled five times in favor of his conditional release. But each time, the governors of California Jerry Brown then Gavin Newsom had vetoed.
In his last refusal in 2022, Mr. Newsom had considered that this woman “Currently represents too great a danger to society”.
At the end of May, a California appeals court overturned this veto. The judges ruled that there was “no evidence to support the governor’s conclusions.” They highlighted her behavior as an exemplary prisoner and her “decades of therapy”.
After that decision, Mr. Newsom decided not to ask the court to take the case to the Supreme Court of California, a process that could have taken several years.
“The governor is disappointed by the decision of the appeals court to release Mr.me Van Houten but will not initiate new actions given the little chance that they will succeed, ”said one of its spokespersons on Saturday.
The families of victims “still feel the brutal impact” of the murders committed by the Manson Family, she added, however.
M’s lawyerme Van Houten said she was “very happy” that this release came “so quickly” after the governor’s resignation.
The ex-convict must now spend “a year in a reintegration center to acquire the necessary skills to face a world that has changed a lot over the past five decades”, said Nancy Tetreault, in a press release.
According to the lawyer, she will also “seek employment in fields that rely on the diplomas […] that she got in prison. »