California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he would drop his try to deny parole to considered one of the murderous “families” of Charles Manson followers, paving the way in which for Leslie Van Houten to be released from prison after greater than 50 years.
In May, a California appeals court overruled Newsom and ruled that Van Houten, 73, was eligible for parole from her life sentence.
The governor could appeal the choice to the California Supreme Court.
“The governor is disenchanted with the Court of Appeals’ decision to release Ms. Van Houten, but will take no further motion as further appeals are unlikely to achieve success,” Erin Mellon, the governor’s communications director, said in a press release.
Van Houten’s attorney, Nancy Tetreault, said she could be released on parole in a couple of weeks, NBC News reported.
![from left: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten go to court to stand trial for their roles in the iconic 1969 killings of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, in Los Angeles, California.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Manson-Family-Killings.jpg?w=1024)
![Sheriff's deputies escort Leslie Van Houten (left) and Linda Louise Kasabian (center) back to prison after two defendants in the Sharon Tate murder case appeared in court again, January 6, 1970, Los Angeles, California.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/AP7001060370.jpg?w=1024)
Van Houten was 19 when the murders were committed, making her the youngest Manson admirer. The Parole Board really useful her for early release five times since 2016, but was turned down thrice by Newsom and twice by his predecessor, Democrat Jerry Brown.
Manson died in prison in 2017 on the age of 83, becoming probably the most notorious criminals of the twentieth century for leading the murder spree that terrorized Los Angeles in the summertime of 1969.
Manson ordered his mostly young and feminine followers to murder seven people, including actress Sharon Tate, in August 1969, which prosecutors said was a part of a plot to incite a race war.
![Leslie Van Houten (R), after being denied parole on June 28, 2002 at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/AFP_33GP7EN.jpg?w=1024)
Van Houten was convicted of the fatal stabbing of grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary at their Los Angeles home on August 10, 1969.
The words “Death to Pigs” and “Healter Skelter” – an erroneous reference to a Beatles song – were found with the victims’ blood on the partitions and refrigerator.
The night before, members of the Manson cult had broken right into a hillside home in Los Angeles that Tate shared along with her husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, who was in Europe on the time.
Tate, who was 26 and eight months pregnant, was murdered together with 4 friends of the celebrity couple, including coffee heiress Abigail Folger and hair stylist Jay Sebring.