Leslie Van Houten
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Leslie Louise Van Houten (born August 23, 1949 in Altadena, California) is a former member of Charles Manson's "Family" who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
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[edit] Early life
Van Houten was born in Altadena, California to an automotive auctioneer and a schoolteacher. She grew up in a middle class household with an older brother, and a younger brother and a younger sister who were both adopted after they had been orphaned in Korea. Van Houten attended Monrovia High School, where she was twice elected homecoming princess.
In 1963 her parents divorced. Her father moved out and the children stayed with their mother. Van Houten took the divorce very hard and later started experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs and marihuana. At only 15 she became pregnant and her mother arranged an abortion. She wanted to keep the child but the abortion was performed anyway. Van Houten was deeply angered and the relationship with her mother became extremely difficult.
Van Houten graduated from high school in 1967. She moved in with her father and began attending a business college, studying to become a legal secretary. She became very interested in spiritualism, and planned to become a nun in a yogic spiritual community.
[edit] Life with Manson
In the summer of 1968, Van Houten met Catherine Share and Bobby Beausoleil in San Francisco. It was through them that she heard of Charles Manson and his community. She was told that Manson was "like Jesus Christ and that he had the answers". She went to see him and was immediately captivated by Manson and the people around him. His way of living intrigued her and she joined his cult in September 1968, living at Spahn Ranch.
Even though Van Houten worshipped him just like everyone else in the group, Manson was never very interested in her, always treating her like she was "Bobby Beausoleil's woman", since she was his girlfriend when she came to the ranch in 1968. That left her with a strong need to prove herself to Manson and the group.
Like all the other members of Manson’s "family", Van Houten was a heavy user of LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs, becoming more and more susceptible to Manson’s vision of "Helter Skelter", an apocalyptic race war.
[edit] The murders
On the night of August 10, 1969 Manson drove Van Houten, Charles 'Tex' Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins, Steve Grogan, and Linda Kasabian to an address in Los Feliz. Manson entered the house with Tex and handed him the ropes around his neck, he then left the house then Krenwinkel and Van Houten were to go inside and join Watson and kill the couple.
Krenwinkel and Van Houten found Rosemary LaBianca in a bedroom and sat with her. Van Houten put a pillowcase over Mrs. LaBianca's head and the two women tied the electrical cord from a lamp around the victim's neck. Mrs. LaBianca began to panic when she heard her husband, who had been tied up in the living room, screaming as Watson was stabbing him to death. Mrs. LaBianca reached for the lamp and swung it at Van Houten. Van Houten fought with her, knocking the lamp away. She then held Mrs. LaBianca down and Krenwinkel tried to stab her in the chest but the blade bent on LaBianca's collar bone. Van Houten called for assistance from Watson, who entered the bedroom and took charge of the situation. Van Houten exited the room and stood in the hallway, staring into an adjacent empty room. Watson stabbed Mrs. LaBianca several times and then found Van Houten, handed her the knife, and told her to "do something." Van Houten proceeded to stab her 16 times in the lower torso. Mrs. LaBianca's autopsy showed that several of her wounds were inflicted post-mortem. Van Houten wiped the premises down for fingerprints, changed into Mrs. LaBianca's clothes and took food from the refrigerator before leaving the home.
[edit] Trials
Van Houten was tried in Los Angeles along with Manson, Krenwinkel, and Atkins for her part in the murders. Watson was tried separately later, since he was in Texas fighting extradition at the time. Van Houten was the youngest of the defendants and considered the least committed to Manson, and so was thought to be the most likely of them all to receive a recommendation for mercy. Throughout the trial, however, she was disruptive, uncooperative, and inclined to giggle when listening to testimony, particularly when the deaths of the LaBiancas and that of Sharon Tate were discussed. As a result, she quickly lost the sympathy of the jury. All of the defendants were found guilty of murder and were sentenced to death on March 29, 1971. The death sentence was automatically commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court's People v. Anderson decision resulted in the invalidation of all death sentences imposed in California prior to 1972.
Van Houten won a retrial in 1977 on the basis that her counsel had not effectively represented her at the original trial. Her lawyer, Ronald Hughes, disappeared during the trial and was later found dead. It is alleged that members of the Manson Family killed the lawyer, but this has never been proven. Her second trial ended in a hung jury. She was tried a third time, during which she was free on bond, found guilty of felony robbery, murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced once again to life in prison.
[edit] Parole requests
With one exception, Van Houten has displayed an uneventful prison record. In 1981, she married an ex-convict who was subsequently found to be in possession of a prison employee uniform used by pregnant employees. Van Houten quickly divorced him and ended her association with him, stating she knew nothing about any plans he may have had to break her out of prison.
In 2002, Van Houten filed an appeal of her 2000 parole rejection, which received a hearing in Superior Court.[1] Superior Court Judge Bob Krug ordered a new parole hearing,[2] He noted that Van Houten's continued incarceration involved serious legal considerations, and stated she "has proven to be a model prisoner in the 30 years since her incarceration for the brutal murder, completing all available prison programs and assisting other inmates with these programs. She has earned two college degrees and has maintained a clean disciplinary record in prison [and] she is effectively serving a life sentence without parole, a sentence unauthorized by law. [...] Other than the finding as to the gravity of the offense, there is a complete lack of any evidence to support the decision of the board. The board failed to make a finding that [Van Houten's] institutional behavior was a factor tending to show her suitability for parole. To fail to do so is an arbitrary and capricious consideration." Krug pointed out that, at the 1977 retrial, Van Houten was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, but having served eight years in prison, she was already eligible for parole by 1978. Krug's ruling for Van Houten was overturned on appeal in 2004.[3]
She was denied parole again in 2006;[4] at this hearing, she was informed that she could apply again in one year instead of the usual two years, but was denied parole on August 30, 2007 for the 18th time. She was given a two year denial, meaning that she will be eligible to apply for parole again in 2009.[5]
Van Houten remains housed in the California Institution for Women in Corona, along with Krenwinkel and Atkins.
[edit] References
- ^ Deutsch, Linda. "Hearing held for Manson follower" (fee required), Associated Press, 2002-05-24. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ "Judge orders new parole hearing for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten" (fee required), Associated Press, 2002-06-05. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ Staff writer. "High Court Spurns Leslie Van Houten’s Bid for Release", Metropolitan News-Enterprise, 2004-06-24. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ Staff writer. "Former Manson disciple Leslie Van Houten denied parole", San Diego Union-Tribune, Associated Press, 2006-09-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
- ^ Staff writer. "Manson follower denied parole for the 18th time" (fee required), Charleston Daily Mail, Associated Press, 2007-08-31. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
[edit] External links
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