Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten has again been been blocked from parole, with California Governor Gavin Newsom saying in his decision that “evidence shows that she currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Van Houten is serving a life sentence for her part in the murders of Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in August 1969, a day after other followers of Manson slaughtered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others.
A parole board recommended parole in July, but Newsom, for the second time as governor, reversed the recommendation, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Former Governor Jerry Brown has also twice blocked Van Houten’s release.
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Van Houten has been behind bars for nearly 50 years after the LaBianca slayings in which she and other members of the Manson “family” smeared the blood of their victims on the walls of their home. She was 19 at the time, the youngest of the Manson cult in prison.
Her attorney, Rich Pfeiffer, said that he intends to appeal Newsom’s decision.
“This reversal will demonstrate to the courts that there is no way Newsom will let her out,” Pfeiffer said. “So they have to enforce the law or it will never be enforced.”
Pfeiffer attempted to get a release for Van Houten earlier this year over the coronavirus but was denied.
Manson died in 2017 while serving a life sentence. He died of natural causes in a prison hospital.
Read more about the Manson family here.
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[Featured image: Leslie Van Houten at a 2017 parole hearing (Stan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool)]
