
Leslie Van Houten, whose devotion to Charles Manson resulted in her participating in the brutal murders of a married couple inside their Los Angeles home in 1969, is free after spending 53 years in custody.
Van Houten, who is in her 70s, left the California Institution for Women in Corona on Tuesday, less than a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not fight a state appeals court's ruling that said the former "Manson Family" member should be granted parole.