Then-Gov. Jerry Brown twice blocked Van Houten’s release. She’s serving a life sentence for the 1969 stabbing deaths of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary.
CHINO — The youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson will again ask a state panel to recommend her for parole.
Leslie Van Houten, 69 and serving a life term, is scheduled for a parole hearing Wednesday at the California Institute for Women. She was twice recommended for parole by a state panel, the last time in 2017, and her lawyer expects a similar decision this time.
“It is very unlikely that she would be denied parole,” Rich Pfeiffer said.
In prison, Van Houten has been a model inmate, earned a master’s degree in counseling and mentored inmates.
If she gets a parole recommendation then it will be Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first chance to decide on her freedom. His predecessor, Jerry Brown, twice blocked Van Houten’s release, saying she still laid too much blame on Manson for the 1969 stabbing deaths of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary.
