Parole Denied For Leslie Van Houten, Ex-Manson Family Member Convicted In 1969 Murder
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday denied parole for Leslie Van Houten, the youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson.
Van Houten is serving a life sentence for killing a wealthy grocer and his wife 47 years ago next month.
Brown said Friday that Van Houten's "inability to explain her willing participation in such horrific violence" leads him to believe she remains an unreasonable risk to society.
The governor's decision overturned a parole board recommendation that Van Houten, 66, be freed. The parole board found that Van Houten was no-longer the violent young woman who committed a gruesome murder and was now fit for release. She has completed college degrees and been a model inmate.
Brown acknowledged Van Houten's success in prison and her youth at the time of the murders, but he wrote in his decision that she failed to explain how she transformed from an upstanding teen to a killer.
"Both her role in these extraordinarily brutal crimes and her inability to explain her willing participation in such horrific violence cannot be overlooked and lead me to believe she remains an unacceptable risk to society if released," Brown wrote.
Van Houten was convicted for her role in the 1969 murders of wealthy grocer Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary in their Los Angeles home. Van Houten admitted she was on LSD when she participated in the murders at the age of 19.
The La Biancas were stabbed numerous times and the word "WAR" was carved on his abdomen.
The couple was killed a day after other so-called "Manson family" members murdered actress Sharon Tate, pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others. The killings were the start of what Manson believed was a coming race war. He dubbed it "Helter Skelter" after Paul McCartney's song from the Beatles' White Album.
Charlie Rose interviewed Manson for CBS News about the murders in 1986.
Rose: "What did you think about Sharon Tate and her unborn baby?"
Manson: "What did I think about it? It's not my world! I don't live in that world!"
Rose: "So you don't care?"
Manson: "Care?! What the hell does that mean, care?!"
But in Van Houten's past parole hearings, she has repeatedly expressed remorse for her involvement.
"You can never make it right, and I sincerely apologize," she said in a 2002 hearing.
Van Houten's lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, said he expected Brown's decision because of the political pressure put upon him. He said he will challenge the decision in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where he hopes Van Houten's parole will fare better "because the judges and the courts have less political pressure than does someone like the governor."
Van Houten's next parole hearing could come in as little as a year, Pfeiffer said.
At her parole hearing, Van Houten described how she helped secure a pillow over the head of Rosemary La Bianca with a lamp cord and held her down while another member of the Manson family began stabbing the woman in her home.
Van Houten said she had looked off into the distance until another Manson follower told her to do something and she joined in the stabbing.
"I don't let myself off the hook. I don't find parts in any of this that makes me feel the slightest bit good about myself," she told the panel.
The La Biancas were stabbed numerous times and the word "WAR" was carved on the stomach of Leno La Bianca.
Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and relatives of the victims last month turned in signatures of 140,000 people opposing Van Houten's release.
"These people need to remain in jail until their passing day, for justice to be served," said Debra Tate, Sharon Tate's sister who delivered the signatures to Brown's office last month and has organized opposition to the release of Manson family members.
Manson, 81, and other followers involved in the killings are still jailed. Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009.
Former Manson follower Bruce Davis was approved for parole but Gov. Jerry Brown blocked his release in 2014, citing the gravity of his offenses and his refusal to fully accept responsibility for his role in the murders of a stunt man and a musician.
Davis was not involved in the Tate-La Bianca murders.
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