The 1960s were a tumultuous time in American history. The country was embroiled in a foreign war on Asian soil, the Civil Rights movement was picking up steam, and Dr. Martin Luther King and President John F Kennedy were brutally assassinated. The 1969 “Summer of Love” was giving way to the harsh reality of political strife, the lie of hippy culture, and the prospect of a new decade on the horizon.
However, the nation wasn’t prepared for what happened in the Hollywood hills on the nights of August 8-10. Under the direction of cult leader Charles Manson, four members of the Manson Family brutally murdered actress Sharon Tate and four others. The following night the same four members, along with Manson himself and two others, returned and murdered grocery executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.
Southern California and the nation were thrown into a panic due to the gruesome nature of the killings. Many in Hollywood armed themselves with whatever they could find or simply fled the city altogether. The killers, including Manson, were eventually caught and jailed but have continued to captivate the country over 50 years later.
While most of the Manson cult has died in prison, Leslie Van Houten has shockingly been released from a California penitentiary after half a century behind bars.
Van Houten, a former homecoming queen who, at 19, helped murder Rosemary LaBianca by holding her down and then stabbing her over 19 times, had been up for parole numerous times, but had been denied by former Governor Jerry Brown and current Governor Gavin Newsom.
Van Houten, now 73, was released to parole supervision and driven to transitional housing. According to her attorney: “She has to learn to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash. It’s a very different world than when she went in.”
Van Houten will likely be on parole for three years and, according to her attorney is hoping to get a job. She earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in counseling while in prison and worked as a tutor for other incarcerated people.
Despite the state deeming Van Houten as no longer a threat, the family of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were not happy with the state’s decision. Leno LaBianca’s daughter, Cory LaBianca, said this: “My family and I are heartbroken because we’re once again reminded of all the years that we have not had my father and my stepmother with us. My children and my grandchildren never got an opportunity to get to know either of them, which has been a huge void for my family.
In addition, Anthony DiMaria, whose uncle Jay Sebring was killed along with Tate, said Tuesday the decision was devastating and the families “collectively suffer the pain and loss.”
The governor’s office doesn’t plan to appeal the release, so it appears Van Houten is free to live the rest of her life as a free woman. The parole board deemed her sufficiently rehabilitated to merit release, but considering the graphic, brutal nature of the crimes, Van Houten will always have the specter of her heinous murders hanging over her head.
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