Charles Manson murder family killer Leslie Van Houten was denied parole for the 20th time in a hearing late Wednesday. Board of Parole Hearings Commissioner Jeffrey Ferguson said that she didn’t fully explain why she participated in the notorious 1969 crime spree that left actress Sharon Tate, as well as Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, dead in a gruesome and unprovoked slaughter.
Van Houten wasn’t present for the slaying of Tate and her unborn child. She has admitted only to joining the home invasion of the LaBiancas on the second night. In a previous hearing, she admitted to stabbing Rosemary LaBianca as many as 16 times.
As The Inquisitr previously reported , Leslie Van Houten argued for the 20th time that she should receive parole for her part in the 1969 Manson family slayings. She continues to claim that she only stabbed Rosemary LaBianca after she was already dead.
While that assertion may earn her little respect or sympathy, her life in prison does show evidence that she’s tried to turn things around. The now 63-year-old Van Houten has earned two college degrees behind bars. The former cheerleader turned killer has reportedly behaved as a model prisoner at the California Institution for Women.
But no member of the Charles Manson murders family has ever won parole.
And Leslie Van Houten’s fellow convicted murderers haven’t helped her case.
As I previously reported, the Los Angeles Police Department only recently received audiotapes between Manson family member Charles “Tex” Watson and his attorney Bill Boyd that were first made in 1969. After a prolonged court battle, the LAPD is now studying the tapes for new clues to several other unsolved slayings.
Charles Manson himself has boasted that the Manson family got away with other murders.
I don’t think anyone doubts that Leslie Van Houten regrets her actions. But it’s hard to see how the parole panel could have ruled otherwise if there are still open questions about the Charles Manson murders. What’s your take?
[Charles Manson photo by California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation]
