Leslie Van Houten

Leslie Louise Van Houten was born on August 23, 1949, in Altadena, California. She was raised in a middle-class family and performed well academically during her early school years. Friends and relatives later described her as an intelligent and outgoing teenager whose life changed significantly following her parents' divorce.

As a teenager, Van Houten became involved in California's counterculture and experimented with drugs, including LSD. In 1968, she met members of Charles Manson's group and eventually joined the Manson Family. She lived with other followers at Spahn Ranch, where Manson exercised increasing psychological influence over members through isolation, drugs and his apocalyptic "Helter Skelter" beliefs.

Unlike several long-term Family members, Van Houten joined the group relatively late but quickly became devoted to Manson and adopted the beliefs promoted within the commune.

On the night of August 8–9, 1969, Van Houten did not participate in the murders at the Tate residence.

The following night, August 9–10, Charles Manson accompanied Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Steve Grogan as they searched Los Angeles for another target. Manson selected the Los Feliz home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.

After entering the residence, Manson and Watson restrained the couple before Manson left the house, instructing the others to carry out the killings. Watson fatally attacked Leno LaBianca while Van Houten and Krenwinkel took Rosemary into another room. Van Houten repeatedly stabbed Rosemary after Watson had initiated the attack. Prosecutors established that she also stabbed the victim after death, later admitting she continued stabbing because she believed she was expected to participate.

The following morning, members of the Family returned to Spahn Ranch after leaving blood-written messages throughout the LaBianca home in accordance with Manson's instructions.

Van Houten participated in the murders as part of a group acting under Charles Manson's direction rather than as an independent offender. The LaBiancas were attacked inside their home after being restrained, with knives used during the killings.

Her role focused on the murder of Rosemary LaBianca. Working alongside Patricia Krenwinkel, Van Houten repeatedly stabbed Rosemary while Charles "Tex" Watson murdered Leno in another room. The crime formed part of Manson's broader plan to create fear and encourage what he believed would become a race war.

Unlike Watson and Krenwinkel, Van Houten was involved only in the LaBianca murders and was not convicted in connection with the Tate murders.

Following the murders, Van Houten remained with the Manson Family until members of the group were arrested during investigations into unrelated offences at Barker Ranch later in 1969.

As investigators connected the Tate and LaBianca murders to Charles Manson and his followers, Van Houten was identified as one of the participants in the LaBianca killings. Testimony from Linda Kasabian and other evidence established her role in the conspiracy.

She was arrested and charged alongside Charles Manson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel.

Van Houten was initially tried with Charles Manson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel. In 1971, she was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to death.

After the California Supreme Court invalidated the state's death penalty in 1972, her sentence was automatically reduced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

Her original conviction was later overturned because of legal issues involving her attorney's death during the proceedings, resulting in two retrials. The second retrial ended in a hung jury. At a third trial in 1978, Van Houten was again convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She again received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

During more than five decades in prison, Van Houten appeared before the California Board of Parole Hearings numerous times. Beginning in 2016, parole commissioners repeatedly found her suitable for release, citing decades of rehabilitation, acceptance of responsibility and a low risk of future violence. Those recommendations were repeatedly reversed by Governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom.

In May 2023, a California appellate court ruled that Governor Newsom's latest reversal was unsupported by the evidence. Newsom chose not to appeal the decision, and Leslie Van Houten was released on parole on July 11, 2023, after serving approximately 53 years in prison.

Van Houten spent decades participating in educational, vocational and therapeutic programs while incarcerated. She earned a bachelor's degree, worked as a tutor and counsellor for other prisoners and consistently received positive psychological evaluations during her later parole hearings.

Her release generated significant public debate because she became the first person convicted in the Manson Family murder cases to be released after participating directly in the Tate-LaBianca conspiracy. Supporters argued she had demonstrated exceptional rehabilitation over five decades, while prosecutors and victims' relatives maintained that the severity of the murders justified continued imprisonment.

Throughout her parole hearings, Van Houten accepted responsibility for her actions and acknowledged the lasting impact of the murders on the victims' families, while describing the psychological control Charles Manson exercised over members of the Family.

• California Board of Parole Hearings
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
• California Court of Appeal
• California Governor's Office
• Los Angeles Times
• Associated Press