For the third time, a state parole board recommended Wednesday that former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be granted parole.
Van Houten, the youngest Manson follower, was recommended for parole twice previously, but Gov. Jerry Brown reversed the recommendation in both cases. Wednesday’s recommendation will likely wind up before new Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The parole board’s decision — made a hearing in Chino — begins a 150-day review process. According to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a review of legal issues will be conducted during the first 120 days, and if the recommendation stands, it will be sent to Newsom, who will have 30 days to uphold, reverse or modify the decision, or send it back to the full Board of Parole Hearings for a more thorough review.
Van Houten, now 69, was convicted of murder and conspiracy for participating with fellow Manson family members Charles “Tex” Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel in the Aug. 9, 1969, killings of Leno La Bianca, 44, and his 38-year-old wife, Rosemary, who were each stabbed multiple times in their Los Feliz home.
Manson died Nov. 19, 2017.
The former Monrovia High School cheerleader and homecoming princess did not participate in the Manson family’s killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in a Benedict Canyon mansion the night before.