Leslie Van Houten speaks during her parole hearing in this
June 28, 2002, file photo taken at the California Institution for Women
in Corona, Calif.
CHINO, Calif. — A parole panel refused an emotional bid by
former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten to release her from
prison 44 years after she participated in a notorious set of murders.
The denial came at the 63-year-old's 20th parole hearing on
Wednesday, where the panel heard from relatives of the victims who were
opposed to her release.
Board of Parole Hearings Commissioner Jeffrey Ferguson told
Van Houten she had failed to explain how someone as intelligent and
well-bred as she was could have committed the "cruel and atrocious"
murders of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca. She won't be eligible to ask
for parole again for five years, but Ferguson said she could request
another hearing sooner if circumstances change.
"The crimes will always be a factor," he said. "The question is
whether the good will ever outweigh the bad. It certainly didn't today."
Van Houten was convicted of murder and conspiracy for her role in the
slayings of wealthy Los Angeles grocers Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.
They were stabbed to death in August 1969, one night after Manson's
followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others. Van Houten was 19
at the time.
Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings but went along
the next night when the La Biancas were slain in their home. During the
penalty phase of her trial she confessed to joining in stabbing Mrs. La
Bianca after she was dead.
"I know I did something that is unforgiveable, but I can create a
world where I make amends," Van Houten said before the decision.
With survivors of the LaBiancas sitting behind her at the California
Institution for Women, Van Houten acknowledged participating in the
killings ordered by Manson.
"He could never have done what he did without people like me," said Van Houten, who has been in custody for 44 years.
The
ruling came after a full-day hearing at which six representatives of
the La Bianca family spoke in anguish about the loss of the couple.
"Today after 44 years, your crimes still instill fear in innocent
people," said Ferguson. "The motive was the worst I can imagine, to
incite a race war. Your crimes were gruesome and bloody."
During her comments, Van Houten repeatedly said that she was
traumatized by her parents' divorce when she was 14, her pregnancy soon
after and her mother's insistence that she have an abortion.
"Many people have traumatic childhoods," said Ferguson. "You have
failed to explain at this time what would cause you to commit such
horrific atrocities."
Van Houten showed no reaction to the ruling and quickly was escorted out of the room.
In her final statement, Van Houten apologized to everyone she harmed.
"I know that the pain goes on generationally. I want the victims to know I'm deeply ashamed of what I have done," she said.
After years of therapy and self-examination, she said, she realizes
that what she did was "like a pebble falling in a pond which affected so
many people."
"Mr. and Mrs. La Bianca died the worst possible deaths a human being can," she said.
Arguing to the board, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney
Patrick Sequiera said some crimes may be an exception to the law
guaranteeing the possibility of parole.
"There are certain crimes that are so heinous, so atrocious, so
horrible that it should cause denial of parole," he said, elaborating on
Van Houten's contradictions over the years.
In response, Van Houten's lawyer, Michael Satris, said his client
"sank to the depths of Dante's inferno and she put herself there by
consorting with the devil himself, Charles Manson."
However, Satris said his client has totally reformed herself.
"Leslie committed a great sin, a great crime in 1969, and in that
time (in prison) she has developed into the equal of a saint," he said.
"Everything she does is for humanity."
Van Houten was portrayed at trial by her defense lawyers as the
youngest and least culpable of those convicted with Manson, a young
woman from a good family who had been a homecoming princess and showed
promise until she became involved with drugs and was recruited into
Manson's murderous cult.
Now deeply wrinkled with long gray hair tied back in a ponytail, Van
Houten at times seemed near tears but did not break down at the
Wednesday hearing.
She said that when she heard the Manson family had killed Tate and
others, she felt left out and asked to go along the second night.
Asked if she would have done the same had children been involved, she
answered, "I can't say I wouldn't have done that. I'd like to say I
wouldn't, but I don't know."
Asked to explain her actions, she said, "I feel that at that point I
had really lost my humanity and I can't know how far I would have gone. I
had no regard for life and no measurement of my limitations."
Van Houten has previously been commended for her work helping elderly
women inmates at the California Institution for Women. She earned two
college degrees while in custody.
Other members of Manson's murderous "family" have lost bids for parole.
One former follower, Bruce Davis, was approved for parole last year
only to have Gov. Jerry Brown veto the plan in March, saying he wanted
the 70-year-old Davis to reveal more details about the killings of a
stunt man and a musician. Davis was not involved in the slayings of
Sharon Tate and six others.
Manson, now 78, has stopped coming to parole hearings, sending word that prison is his home and he wants to stay there.
