Court rejects Manson Family murderer’s parole bid

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to hear a petition by 72-year-old murderer Leslie Van Houten to reverse Governor Gavin Newsom’s denial of her parole. Van Houten, a member of notorious killer Charles Manson’s ‘family,’ was involved in two murders.

The court’s decision came after the California Department of Corrections recommended Van Houten for parole in November, a recommendation that was shot down by Newsom, who said that she “poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison.” Van Houten has been recommended for parole five times since 2016, with Governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom rejecting each recommendation.

Van Houten is currently serving a life sentence for taking part in the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a supermarket executive, and his wife Rosemary. She was also convicted of conspiracy to commit the murders of actress Sharon Tate and Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, and Jay Sebring a day earlier. 

Van Houten received the death penalty, as did two other female defendants and Manson himself, but all had their sentences reduced to life imprisonment in 1972, after California temporarily struck down capital punishment.