Parole recommended for Manson follower Leslie Van Houten
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif (AP) — A California parole panel has recommended for the fifth time that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be freed from prison. Her release has been blocked twice by then-Gov. Jerry Brown and twice by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Tuesday’s recommendation is likely headed back to Newsom after a 120-day procedural review. The 72-year-old is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and other cult members kill Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in 1969. The slayings came the day after other Manson followers, but not Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others.