Leslie Van Houten, a follower of Charles Manson, was released from prison on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 after serving 53 years of a life sentence for her involvement in the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole, and she is now under the supervision of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Posts tagged as “Charles Manson”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced that he will not appeal a lower court ruling that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten should be released from prison after serving 53 years for two infamous murders. The victims' families still feel the impact of the Manson cult's brutal killings more than 50 years later, but Van Houten is expected to be released in the coming months due to her age at the time of the crime, her remorse, and her exemplary behavior in prison.
The California Court of Appeals has ruled that Leslie Van Houten, convicted of two killings in 1969 at the direction of Charles Manson, should be released on parole. This overturns the decision made by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2020 to deny Van Houten parole, which was the fifth recommendation for parole since 2016. Governor Newsom's office has referred requests for comment to the California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who could petition the California Supreme Court to stop Van Houten's release.
Two nationally known neo-Nazis, Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel, were arrested last week for allegedly conspiring to shoot multiple electrical substations in Baltimore, Maryland with the aim of "completely destroying this whole city." Russell is the founder of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group that seeks to "usher in the collapse of civilization." The FBI was able to apprehend the suspects before they could launch their attack, which could have had devastating consequences for the city.