Leslie Van Houten, the youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson, has been denied parole by California Gov.
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California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday overturned a parole board recommendation in April that found Van Houten, 66, was no longer the violent woman who helped slaughter a wealthy grocer and his wife.
Then 19, she held down Rosemary La Bianca while someone else stabbed her and she later admitted she stabbed the woman after she was dead.
Leslie Van Houten, a former follower of Charles Manson, during a parole hearing in 2002. She has completed college degrees along with demonstrating exemplary behavior while imprisoned, according to the BBC.
Brown rejected the bail plea stating that the murder convict “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society” and thus can not be released.
The murders were the start of what Manson believed was a coming race war that he dubbed “Helter Skelter” after a Beatles song.
She had told the panel that the girl, who murdered someone, is now a distant memory and she was now fit to be paroled.
Van Houten said she had looked away into the distance until another Manson follower told her to do something and she joined in the stabbing. In the early ’80s, amendments were made in order to allow crime victims and their families to make statements during the sentencing and parole hearings of those responsible.
Relatives of her victims had also opposed her release and had signed a petition backed by signatures of 140,000 people. Lacey also accused Van Houten of manipulating the parole board by having a longtime friend submit a psychological assessment on her behalf.
In 1994, Van Houten described her part in the killings in a prison interview with CNN’s Larry King.
“I don’t let myself off the hook”.
Another notation has been added to the almost 47-year-old Tate-La Bianca killings carried out by Charles Manson and his followers.
That same month, Tate’s sister, Debra, delivered signatures to Brown’s office and has led the opposition against releasing Manson family members.
Manson, 81, remains incarcerated at California State Prison in Corcoran, Calif., and is serving a life sentence.
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Three other members of the Manson Family were charged in the Tate-LaBianca murders: Susan “Sadie” Atkins died behind bars in 2009, while both Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles “Tex” Watson remain in prison after having their paroles denied.
