Ex-Manson family member Van Houten details night of murders

[webfact]

Ex-Manson family member Van Houten details night of murders
By AMY TAXIN

CHINO, Calif. (AP) — Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten described in graphic detail Thursday how she helped secure a pillow over the head of murder victim Rosemary La Bianca with a lamp cord and hold her down while someone else stabbed the woman in her home in 1969.

Van Houten recounted the killing during her 21st parole hearing at the California Institution for Women, saying 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 parole board panel.

Van Houten, a one-time homecoming princess, has spent more than four decades in prison for participating in the killings of wealthy grocer Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary.

The La Biancas were stabbed numerous times and the word "WAR" was carved on the stomach of Leno La Bianca.

Van Houten was the youngest Manson follower to take part in one of the nation's most notorious killings after she descended into a life of drugs and joined Manson's cult in the 1960s.

Behind bars, Van Houten, now 66, has completed college degrees and demonstrated exemplary behavior.

The La Biancas were 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 a Beatles song.

Van Houten's lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, said in an earlier interview that she presents no danger to the public and should be freed.

"The only violent thing she has ever done in her entire life was this crime and that was under the control of Charles Manson," he said. "She is just not a public safety risk, and when you are not a public safety risk, the law says you shall be released."

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to comment ahead of Thursday's hearing.

Sharon Tate's sister, Debra, has started an online petition opposing parole for Van Houten, saying she failed to show remorse for years after the crimes and can't be trusted.

At her last hearing in 2013, a parole commissioner told Van Houten she had failed to explain how someone as intelligent and well-bred as she could have committed such cruel and atrocious crimes.

Van Houten told the panel she had been traumatized by her parents' divorce when she was 14, her pregnancy soon after and her mother's insistence she have an abortion. During the hearing, she apologized to everyone she had harmed.

Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings but went along the next night when the La Biancas were slain. She was 19 at the time.

Her defense lawyers portrayed her as a young woman from a good family who had been a homecoming princess and showed promise until she got involved with drugs and was recruited into Manson's cult.

During the penalty phase of her trial, she confessed to joining in stabbing Rosemary La Bianca after she was dead.

Van Houten's conviction was overturned on appeal. She was retried twice and convicted in 1978 of two counts of murder and conspiracy.

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.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-04-15

[ezzra]

She should get no sympathy what so ever, and if she continue to rot in jail until her last breath,

this also be too good for the unthinkable and aberrant crimes she took part in.....

[webfact]

Panel OKs parole for former Manson cult member Van Houten
AMY TAXIN, Associated Press

CHINO, Calif. (AP) — A California panel recommended parole Thursday for former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten more than four decades after she and other cult members went to prison for the notorious killings of a wealthy grocer and his wife.

The now-66-year-old Van Houten was "numb" after the panel announced its decision following a five-hour hearing at the California Institution for Women in Chino, said her attorney Rich Pfeiffer.

"She's been ready for this for a long time," Pfeiffer said outside the prison, adding that those who signed an online petition opposed to her release don't know the woman she is today.

"It really should have happened a long time ago," he said.

The decision will now undergo administrative review by the board. If upheld it goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has final say on whether Van Houten is released.

Van Houten, a one-time homecoming princess, participated in the killings of Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary a day after other so-called "Manson family" members murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in 1969.

The killings were the start of what Manson believed was a coming race war that he dubbed "Helter Skelter" after a Beatles song. Van Houten said the group planned to retreat to the desert and hide in a hole.

Van Houten was the youngest Manson follower to take part in the killings after she descended into a life of drugs and joined Manson's cult in the 1960s.

Since then, she has completed college degrees and been commended for her behavior as a model prisoner.

"Your behavior in prison speaks for itself. Forty-six years and not a single serious rule violation," Commissioner Ali Zarrinnam told Van Houten Thursday at the close of her 20th parole hearing.

Brown previously blocked the parole of former Manson follower Bruce Davis, citing his refusal to fully accept responsibility for his role in the murders of a stunt man and a musician and the gravity of his offenses.

On Thursday, Van Houten described in graphic detail for the panel how she helped secure a pillow over the head of Rosemary La Bianca with a lamp cord and hold 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.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office vehemently opposed Van Houten's release. After the decision, District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement she would evaluate how to proceed.

Louis Smaldino, nephew of Leno La Bianca, pleaded with the panel not to release Van Houten after the horror she and the others inflicted by taking a carving knife used at annual Thanksgiving dinners to mutilate his family.

"The Manson family are terrorists, albeit homegrown," he said. "They're long before their time. What we're seeing today, these people were back in the 60s."

At her last hearing in 2013, a parole commissioner told Van Houten she had failed to explain how someone as intelligent and well-bred as she could have committed such cruel and atrocious crimes.

Van Houten told the panel she had been traumatized by her parents' divorce when she was 14, her pregnancy soon after and her mother's insistence she have an abortion. During the hearing, she apologized to everyone she had harmed.

Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings but went along the next night when the La Biancas were slain. She was 19 at the time.

During the penalty phase of her trial, she confessed to joining in stabbing Rosemary La Bianca after she was dead.

Van Houten's conviction was overturned on appeal. She was retried twice and convicted in 1978 of two counts of murder and conspiracy.

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.

Davis was approved for parole but Brown blocked his release in 2014. Davis was not involved in the Tate-La Bianca murders.
___

This story has been corrected to say it was Van Houten's 20th parole hearing, not 21st.
___

Linda Deutsch, retired AP special correspondent, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-04-15

[freebyrd]

"The only violent thing she has ever done in her entire life was this crime and that was under the control of Charles Manson," he said. "She is just not a public safety risk, and when you are not a public safety risk, the law says you shall be released - the only violent thing - what loony thinks like that?!

At 12 years old I knew right from wrong. She was some years older when she took part in this. I was a soldier, "kill the enemy", yes sir, "kill those children", no sir. we all have a choice, unlike Sharon Tate and others who were butchered by these crazies.

Put her back in a cell on her own and let her rot. She should be grateful that she has been alive all these years while the innocent victims have long since turned to dust.

[NickJ]

I agree.....She is right where she belongs.

[grumpyoldman]

We're in a country that if you admit to the crime, they sentence you to life and then the typical scenario is they do half.

This lady has done her half. She was an on drugs cult brainwashed 19 year old at the time. Now she is a 66 year old lady who clearly admits what she took part in was horrible.

I don't see any point keeping this lady locked up.

[Ireland32]

I agree 46 years is long enough, won't be easy on her, adjusting

[helpisgood]

We're in a country that if you admit to the crime, they sentence you to life and then the typical scenario is they do half.

This lady has done her half. She was an on drugs cult brainwashed 19 year old at the time. Now she is a 66 year old lady who clearly admits what she took part in was horrible.

I don't see any point keeping this lady locked up.

I agree.

Also, losing your freedom from age 19 to 66 is a heavy price. It sounds like her teen years were very troubled, too. Not much of a life.

I am just a little younger than her, and I know that I am a much different person than I was at 19. I loved to go back to 19 and have a long talk with me then, and I was a pretty good kid. People can change.

I also think that one important point is what the State of California is reporting on her behavior during her incarceration.

[KarenBravo]

The typical common, or garden variety murderer, sentenced to life is out in 15 years. So why has she done 40? She didn't even kill the person. Maybe because it was a high profile case extensively covered by the media?

[Scott]

I tend to give a fair amount of trust to the parole board. They have a lot more experience with these situations than the average person. Parole boards have a lot of heavy-duty expertise both on the board as well as available to them. If they think it's time to move her out of the prison, then I would tend to agree with them.

She will not be freed in the ordinary sense of the word. She will be on parole and will be subject to some fairly stringent conditions on her parole.

All that said, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable living in a house next to her. I'd get a little nervous when I saw her out with sharp tools trimming the hedges.

[jesimps]

We're in a country that if you admit to the crime, they sentence you to life and then the typical scenario is they do half.

This lady has done her half. She was an on drugs cult brainwashed 19 year old at the time. Now she is a 66 year old lady who clearly admits what she took part in was horrible.

I don't see any point keeping this lady locked up.

Am I glad that you aren't on the parole board. And how you can call this monster a lady is beyond me. I hope she dies in pain.

Edited April 15, 2016 by jesimps

[Baerboxer]

We're in a country that if you admit to the crime, they sentence you to life and then the typical scenario is they do half.

This lady has done her half. She was an on drugs cult brainwashed 19 year old at the time. Now she is a 66 year old lady who clearly admits what she took part in was horrible.

I don't see any point keeping this lady locked up.

"I don't see any point keeping this lady locked up."

Yep - she should be put down quietly. Should have done that a long time ago.

[Jonmarleesco]

'... a parole commissioner told Van Houten she had failed to explain how someone as intelligent and well-bred as she could have committed such cruel and atrocious crimes.' Evidently suffering delusions that only the poor and uneducated commit murder.

[Jonmarleesco]

"The only violent thing she has ever done in her entire life was this crime and that was under the control of Charles Manson," he said. "She is just not a public safety risk, and when you are not a public safety risk, the law says you shall be released - the only violent thing - what loony thinks like that?!

At 12 years old I knew right from wrong. She was some years older when she took part in this. I was a soldier, "kill the enemy", yes sir, "kill those children", no sir. we all have a choice, unlike Sharon Tate and others who were butchered by these crazies.

Put her back in a cell on her own and let her rot. She should be grateful that she has been alive all these years while the innocent victims have long since turned to dust.

It's unfortunate that the law, in general, takes the perverted view that 'children' can't tell right from wrong; hence some of the ludicrous decisions its representatives make.

Could've been a U.K. parole board, and those idiots would have released Jack the Ripper, had they been around then, and had he/she ever been caught.

[freebyrd]

"The only violent thing she has ever done in her entire life was this crime and that was under the control of Charles Manson," he said. "She is just not a public safety risk, and when you are not a public safety risk, the law says you shall be released - the only violent thing - what loony thinks like that?!

At 12 years old I knew right from wrong. She was some years older when she took part in this. I was a soldier, "kill the enemy", yes sir, "kill those children", no sir. we all have a choice, unlike Sharon Tate and others who were butchered by these crazies.

Put her back in a cell on her own and let her rot. She should be grateful that she has been alive all these years while the innocent victims have long since turned to dust.

It's unfortunate that the law, in general, takes the perverted view that 'children' can't tell right from wrong; hence some of the ludicrous decisions its representatives make.

Could've been a U.K. parole board, and those idiots would have released Jack the Ripper, had they been around then, and had he/she ever been caught.

A child at 19? In the UK we are legally classed as adults at 18.

[MyFriend You]

We're in a country that if you admit to the crime, they sentence you to life and then the typical scenario is they do half.

This lady has done her half. She was an on drugs cult brainwashed 19 year old at the time. Now she is a 66 year old lady who clearly admits what she took part in was horrible.

I don't see any point keeping this lady locked up.

so now she will be released, go on Social Welfare, get all sorts of social benefits, after spending 3/4's o her life in Prison, not contribution to anything in the way of Taxes............college degree?? good luck finding a job at 66 years old............she will be a public charge th rest of her life - or maybe they will make another movie about her..............sorry, she has not paid her debt in my eyes, she has had '3 hots & a cot 'for almost fifty years, she should die in prison after what she took art in.

Edited April 15, 2016 by TunnelRat69

[GOLDBUGGY]

After 46 years in prison and being 66 years old now, I am not sure I would want to start a new life on the outside.

Good Luck with that college degree and explaining where you have been for the past 46 years.

[rgraham]

She needs to die in her cell, those she helped murder did not get any second chances.