When Charles Manson ordered his family of hippies and burn-outs to kill, they killed.  The knives and bullets of the Manson followers ended seven lives (or more) in a crime that shocked the nation.  One of those murderers, Leslie Van Houten, has just been given tentative approval for parole.  The California Board of Parole Hearings has pushed Van Houten’s case up to review by the full parole board, the first step in what might be freedom for one of the famous killer hippies.

However, just because Van Houten was recommended for parole by two members of a parole board, she still will face the full parole board sometime within the next 120 days, and after that California governor Jerry Brown will have 30 days in which he can approve or deny the parole, or send it back to the committee for further review.  Van Houten has been up in front of the parole board 19 times, and every time her parole ends up getting rejected.

Still, this is the closest any one of the Manson murderers has gotten to parole in quite some time.  Van Houten was 19 when she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca 14 times.  Since going to jail, Van Houten has been a model prisoner, counseling other inmates and editing the prison newspaper, among other good deeds.  The LaBianca family is expected to oppose this parole attempt, as they had in the past.

“I can create a world where I make amends,” said Van Houten at her last parole hearing in 2013.  “I’m trying to be someone who lives a life for healing rather than destruction.”

Tags: manson family, manson family murders, charles manson, leslie van houten, leslie van houten parole, manson family member could be paroled, leslie van houten up for parole, California Institution for Women, California, Chino,  California Board of Parole Hearings, Jerry Brown

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