Leslie Van Houten, who was sentenced to life for participating in the infamous murders by the Charles Manson cult when she was 19, walked free from a California prison on Tuesday after 53 years behind bars.
Van Houten (73) was convicted for helping Manson’s followers carry out the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary.
She was released from prison early in the morning and is now at a transitional housing facility, her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, said. She will be under parole supervision.
The state’s parole board had ruled on five separate occasions, first in 2016, that she was “suitable” for release and not a danger to society, but each time the governor’s office vetoed the decision and ordered she remain incarcerated.
Her attorneys challenged the vetoes, and in May, a state appeals court sided with Van Houten, ruling she should be freed.
The court noted her accomplishments behind bars, including working as a tutor, earning a master’s degree in humanities and participating in a range of mental health and self-help programmes.
“She’s really thrilled, but she’s been in prison for 53 years and turns 74 next month so this is a huge change,” Ms Tetreault told the Guardian on Tuesday afternoon.
“She’s gratified that people are recognising that she’s completely reformed, because she really is. I’ve never had a client who has dedicated herself to reform like she has. She spent 40 years in therapy and 30 years in what they call rehabilitative programming.
“She fell under the influence of Charles Manson and participated in these horrible murders ... and she worked really hard to get past that cult indoctrination and to understand it and take responsibility. And she had to confront her feelings of crushing guilt over what she did. She’s very remorseful,” Ms Tetreault continued.
Ms Tetreault noted that Van Houten had gone before the parole board 21 times before they found her suitable to leave prison.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who has strongly opposed her release, said last week he was disappointed that the courts ruled in her favour, but said he would not appeal the latest decision since he would be unlikely to succeed.
Manson died behind bars in 2017 at age 83 after nearly 50 years in prison.
Patricia Krenwinkel, another former Manson follower convicted of murder, was granted parole for the first time last year, but Mr Newsom blocked her release.
Susan Atkins, who was convicted of eight murders, died in prison in 2009.
Van Houten’s case has long drawn national attention, and Cory LaBianca, Leno’s daughter who is now 75, said last week she was “heartbroken” about her pending release, telling the AP: “My children and my grandchildren never got an opportunity to get to know either of them, which has been a huge void for my family.”
Criminal justice reform activists who advocated for her release have argued Van Houten’s case exposed flaws in the state’s parole process where elderly incarcerated people can be denied release even after a state board rules that they are rehabilitated and pose no threat.
Governors have regularly vetoed parole grants in high-profile and politicised cases. – Guardian