Petition to Prevent Cult Murderer Leslie Van Houten from Being Released
Less than 12,000 signatures now needed.
In April, a 2-member California parole board authorized the release of former Manson Family killer Leslie Van Houten.
The decision to go forward with this recommendation now rests with Governor Jerry Brown.
Now Debra Tate, sister of Sharon Tate (who was butchered in another Manson Family attack) is seeking around 12,000 more signatures for a petition to stop this miscarriage of justice by appealing to Brown.
Charles Manson’s deranged “family,” including Ms. Van Houten, broke into the home of Leno & Rosemary LaBianca on August 10, 1969. Manson had gone into their home and tied the couple up. Van Houten placed a pillowcase over Mrs. LaBianca’s head, tied it with a lamp cord, and held Mrs. LaBianca down so Patricia Krenwinkel could stab the innocent woman to death.
When the knife bent on Mrs. LaBianca’s collar bone, Van Houten held Mrs. LaBianca down so Tex Watson could come in and stab her. Then Van Houten stabbed Mrs. LaBianca in the lower back several times.
Mrs. LaBianca was stabbed a total of 41 times. Words were written in blood on two walls and a refrigerator door. Van Houten then took a shower, stole one of LaBianca’s dresses to wear and ate food from the refrigerator like it was her own home.
For years Van Houten showed no remorse at all. When asked during her trial if she ever cried about the murder of Rosemary LaBianca, she replied: “Cry for her death? Why? She’s not the only person who has died.”
Currently, there are over 130,000 signatures that have been obtained.
During the parole board hearing, Van Houten is reported to have admitted to reading the letters and that Mason was still trying to manipulate her. Debra Tate said she was repulsed by Van Houten’s admission and doesn’t believe she’s reformed.
Leslie Van Houten points her finger at the prison system for being just as culpable over her receiving the cult leader’s letters.
“First of all, I wonder why the authorities didn’t catch it and then I feel uncomfortable that he remembers me,” Van Houten told the parole board.
Tate rebukes the Van Houten’s claims as an indicator that she’s still under Manson’s strong influence.
“Her immediate response was ‘the system should have prevented that’ — that isn’t taking responsibility,” she asserted.
Tate says Van Houten’s prison record should speak for itself because it’s clear she has a proclivity for evil men. She said that the convicted killer was “allowed to have a 15-year sexual letter relationship with another double homicide individual in another state.” She added that “it was two murders talking to each other. She had a 15-year sexual relationship until the man died.”
Here’s to hoping Brown does the right thing in this case.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
I’m sorry. Van Houten is a a despicable human being who should never be free. I would hope that as stupid as Governor Moonbeam is he would still have sense not to let her go.
But justice is not served up by petition drives any more then it is riots.
Let her go. Squeaky needs a roommate.
California has a mandatory parole system. Inmates must be paroled unless they provide an overriding public safety risk.
Ms. Van Houten appealed her repeated parole denials on that basis to the Courts. Based on Court rulings, her further incarceration requires the parole board to demonstrate that her crime alone made her unsuitable for parole.
In other words — it is game over.
Great argument for the death penalty, imo. California should have put her, Manson and others out of our misery decades ago.
I live in California, so I signed it. There is no reason to believe that this person is no longer a danger to society.
To the extent that learning is a rational process, an inmate can learn from a substantial prison term that the costs of his crime(s) exceed the benefits. One can then reasonably expect that he’s “learned his lesson” and is not likely to return to a life of crime.
In this case, the original crime was not the act of a rational intelligence. In other words, van Houten may reasonably be considered unteachable. Turning her lose on the public would therefore be unjustified.
On the other hand, as animal trainers know, not all learning is rational. So maybe she is teachable.
No matter; inductive logic tells me that any decision from the State of California to likely to be a poor—no, ridiculous—one.
I’m old enough to remember the horror generated by the Tate-LaBianca murders. `I agree with others who see the Manson “family” as poster children for the death penalty. It is obscene that law-abiding taxpayers must maintain these evil people through the remainder of their natural lives.
I would not count on Jerry Brown to do the right thing.
So she didn’t actually kill anyone but is labelled the worse of the worst? A young girl of the 60’s manages to fall under the control of a master manipulator and under the influence of a load of drugs gets involved in a terrible crime. Her role was very minor and I’m sure that with over 40 years away from Manson, she’s not the same person. Is her crime as bad as the 2,300 convicted murderers that Jerry Brown has already released?
As for Debra Tate stating that it’s somehow Leslie Van Houten’s fault that she received letters from Manson and is somehow a clear indication of her still being under Manson’s spell because she blamed the prison system, is ridiculous. A clear indication would be if she replied. Referring to a stolen dress and food from the refrigerator is also ridiculous. Does that mean she’s still a danger? Does that carry a 30 year to life sentence? NO.
I’d be more inclined to judge her on the person she is now and not when she was a drugged up, impressionable teenager.
In response to El Chapo’s comment: Van Houten stated in an interview with Diane Sawyer that she was NOT under the influence of drugs that night. Also, she was not initially part of the group that Manson coordinated for the Tate-La Bianca murders; she volunteered to go. By her own admission, there was no coercing.
When this issue resurfaced a few months ago, I held the same compassionate and empathic viewpoint as you. After sifting through several interviews with her over the years, I was surprised by the actual details and level of her participation in these horrific crimes.
She received consecutive life sentences for a reason and should not be paroled.
Leslie was a kid basically and stabbed a dead body…yeah not the brightest but she should be set free. She didn’t kill anyone and enough already. Let her go free—she’s an old lady now and her whole life has been in prison – she has repaid her debt in my opinion. Again, she didn’t kill anyone.