The youngest member of Charles Manson’s murderous cult family is again asking a California panel to recommend her for parole. Leslie Van Houten, now 69, is serving a life sentence for the stabbing deaths of wealthy grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, when she was 19. The couple’s murder was committed a day after other Manson followers killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in Los Angeles. Van Houten was twice recommended for parole by a state panel, the last time in 2017, and her lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, expects a similar decision this time. “It is very unlikely that she would be denied parole,” Pfeiffer said. Van Houten has been a model inmate, earning a master’s degree in counseling and mentoring inmates. If she gets a parole recommendation, it will be Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first chance to decide on her freedom. His predecessor, Jerry Brown, twice blocked Van Houten’s parole.
