Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten has been released from a California prison after serving more than five decades of a life sentence for her participation in two infamous murders.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said that Van Houten “was released to parole supervision” on Tuesday.
Her lawyer, Nancy Tetreault, said that she left the California Institution for Women in Corona, east of Los Angeles, in the early morning hours and was driven to transitional housing.
Ms Tetreault said: “She is still trying to get used to the idea that this is real.”
Days earlier, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, announced that he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole.
But who is the ex-cult member and what is she known for? Here is what you need to know.
What was she known for and why did she go to prison?
Leslie Van Houten was 19 when she met Charles Manson and joined the cult that came to be called the Manson family.
Manson, as well as Van Houten and others in the clan, visited the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca on August 10, 1969 in Los Angeles and killed them.
The pair had their heads covered with pillowcases and were strung up by power leads. Manson family member Tex Watson repeatedly stabbed the couple with a bayonet and Van Houten was convicted of repeatedly stabbing Rosemary LaBiance around 16 times in her behind.
She claimed in court her victim was already dead by the time she started stabbing her.
Van Houten was sentenced to death for helping in the double murder aged 20, but her sentence was later reduced to life when the California Supreme Court overturned the state’s death penalty law in 1972.
Early life
Van Houten was thought to have had a happy childhood and was one of her high school’s stars. She was a cheerleader and was voted homecoming princess during her school days but things started to turn sour in her early teenage days.
She tried drugs and soon was taking them more and more after changes in her family home. USA Today reported that her “life spiralled out of control” after her parents announced their divorce.
She soon fell pregnant but it is understood that her mother would not allow her to keep the baby, forcing her to have an abortion and bury it in the family’s backyard.
How did she meet Charles Manson?
After troubled teenage years, Van Houten was said to be unhappy and turned to the cult to be her new “family.”
It is believed she was still taking drugs and met Manson at an old movie-set ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where Manson had established a dwelling for himself and his “family” of followers. She had gone there after following a friend, Catherine Share, who had previously joined the commune.
Manson had around 100 followers at this time, who mostly all took mind-altering drugs and hailed Manson as their leader – doing whatever he said. He chose when they ate, slept and even when they had sex, forcing people to have sex with each other.
Van Houten joined the group and became a part of its activities, and called her mother to say she would not be in contact again.
Where is Charles Manson now?
Charles Manson was an American criminal and cult leader who with his followers planned and carried out several notorious murders in the late 1960s. He was jailed at the same time as Van Houten after being found guilty of a string of murders.
He died behind bars in 2017 aged 83 of natural causes.
The trial of Leslie Van Houten
Van Houten was charged with the murders of the LaBiancas but did not appear to take the trial seriously and giggled during testimony in the court.
She later claimed she had been supplied with LSD during the trial but she continued to back her cult leader Manson during proceedings.
She took the stand and admitted committing the murders but denied that Manson had been involved. Manson carved an X on his forehead and Van Houten was one of a number of female followers who did the same thing in response, appearing that way in court.
Van Houten sacked three defence lawyers in a row for claiming her actions were attributable to Manson’s control over her. During proceedings, when her lawyer was asking an expert witness about the effect of LSD and how that could alter the mind of those taking it, Van Houten shouted in the middle of the court: “This is all such a big lie, I was influenced by the war in Vietnam and TV.”
On March 29, 1971, she was convicted of murder along with the other defendants. She was sentenced to be executed but California abolished the death penalty in 1972.
Van Houten was granted a retrial in 1977 due to the failure to declare a mistrial when her lawyer died. Her defence argued that Van Houten could not have known what she was doing because of the drugs she had taken but the jury could not agree on a verdict.
At a second retrial she was found guilty of first degree murder and handed a life sentence that entailed eligibility for parole. She has served 53 years behind bars.
