Manson follower Leslie Van Houten again seeks parole

The youngest follower of murderous cult leader Charles Manson will again ask a state panel to recommend her for parole.

Sixty-nine-year-old Leslie Van Houten serving a life term, is scheduled for a parole hearing this morning at the California Institute for Women. She was twice recommended for parole by a state panel, the last time in 2017, and her lawyer expects a similar decision this time.

Rich Pfeiffer says “it’s very unlikely that she would be denied parole."

In prison, Van Houten has been a model inmate, earned a master's degree in counseling and mentored inmates.

Is she gets a parole recommendation then it will be Gov. Newsom's first chance to decide on her freedom. His predecessor, Jerry Brown, twice blocked Van Houten's release, saying she still laid too much blame on Manson for the 1969 stabbing deaths of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary.

Van Houten, then 19, was among those who murdered the couple a day after other Manson followers killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in Los Angeles.