In spite of an "exemplary" prison record that spans 30 years, Van Houten was turned down for the 14th time in her effort to be released from incarceration, by a parole board under obvious judicial and media pressure, live on CourtTV.
- UPDATE: On June 24, 2004, the California Supreme Court voted 6-0 to not review a Court of Appeal ruling upholding the denial of parole to Van Houten. On Aug. 25, 2004, the Board of Prison Terms again denied Van Houten parole for two more years and ordered a new psychological evaluation for the next hearing in 2006. A month earlier, the board denied parole to Patricia Krenwinkel. In August 2006, the board once again denied parole to Van Houten.
Van Houten was optimistic about the 2002 hearing after Superior Court Judge Bob N. Krug publicly admonished the board for flatly turning her down each time based solely on the nature of the crime. Those decisions ignore Van Houten's accomplishments in prison and turn her life sentence into life without parole, in violation of the law, he said.
Van Houten is no longer the devoted Manson disciple who once carved an X in her forehead to demonstrate her devotion to Charlie; she has changed, prison officials said. Since her incarceration, Van Houten has earned a Master's and Bachelor's degree. She works as a clerk in a chaplain's office and has been a model prisoner, who has not been the subject of a disciplinary report since 1976, for possession of marijuana (inside prison).
Van Houten later went through alcohol and drug rehab, group therapy and psychotherapy in prison. She has helped lead drug and alcohol programs for other women, including a relapse prevention program for long-time members of a mutual support group which shares experience, strength, and hope. She chairs two Friday nights per month.
"She lives her life by the 12 steps because she knows how important that is," her attorney told the board.
Van Houten, now 52, was a teenager when she helped kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. She was a part of the Charles Manson cult that also killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in hopes of starting a revolution of which they would be the only survivors.
Sentenced to Death
Manson family members butchered actress Sharon Tate and four other people at Tate's Los Angles home. The pregnant actress and her house guests, including coffee heir Abigail Folger, were killed as Sharon pleaded in vain to spare her unborn baby.Van Houten was not at the Tate murder scene. But the next night, after seeing TV reports of the previous night's carnage, she participated with the Manson gang as they murdered Leno LaBianca, a wealthy grocery chain owner, and his second wife, Rosemary, who was stabbed 41 times. After Tex Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel stabbed Rosemary LaBianca to death, Van Houten, who held Rosemary down while Tex killed her, then stabbed her 16 times in the lower back.
Afterward, the killers raided the victims' refrigerator. In both homes, words were scrawled in the victims' blood on the walls and appliances.
Manson and his followers -- Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel -- were all eventually convicted and sentenced to death by a jury. Those sentences were changed in 1972 to life in prison when a U.S. Supreme Court decision temporarily halted capital punishment.
None of Manson's cohorts in the Tate and LiBianca murders have ever been paroled. Van Houten, who has always claimed a minimal role in the slayings, has been regarded as having the best chance, according to close observers.
Before she hooked up with Manson, Van Houten was a former honor student, high school cheerleader and homecoming princess.
"She is not the person she was at age 19 when she participated in the crimes," Van Houten's attorney, Christie Webb said. "She has not taken drugs in three decades. She is much more of a leader than a follower in prison. ... And she has insight into how she could have participated in these crimes and how she can make amends."
