The state parole board in California is, as of Wednesday, June 5, deliberating over the possible parole of convicted murderer Leslie Van Houten, who, as one of the followers of the notorious Charles Manson, involved in the 1969 homicide case in which Leno and Rosemary Labianca were killed in their Los Feliz home.
Van Houten, who is seeking parole for the 19th time since being incarcerated, was not involved in the selfsame series of Manson murders that took place in Benedict Canyon and ended with the death of other five other innocent victims including a pregnant Sharon Tate .
As the LA Times points out in its report, Van Houten has repeatedly been denied such parole over the more than 40 years she's been in prison.
Although there are those Van Houten supporters who have claimed that the former homecoming queen was the "least culpable" member of what has become known as the Manson Family, prosecutors deride the characterization and believe Van Houten was well aware of what she was doing on that faithful day of Aug. 10 at the LaBianca residence.
It was because Van Houten held down Rosemary LaBianca that fellow Manson Family member Charles "Tex" Watson was able to stab LaBianca before telling Van Houten to "do something" herself. Van Houten then reportedly stabbed LaBianca in the back 20 times.
To add literal insult to injury -- as is well known -- Van Houten and other Manson Family members also used their victims' blood to write on the walls of both the LaBianca and Tate houses.
The question of how Van Houten went from being a hometown girl to a disenchanted young woman alienated from her family pales in comparison to how she would end up seeing Manson as Jesus Christ after being introduced to him via a boyfriend. It was ostensibly Manson's intention to spark a race war by having his followers murder the innocent victims and blame the homicides on African Americans.
"I'm deeply ashamed of it," Van Houten said to the parole board in 2002. "I take very seriously not just the murders but what made me make myself available to someone like Manson."
Whether she's ashamed or not, Van Houten's pleas did not seem to hold much weight with Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay who testified at that same hearing that her "vicious" crimes left the court no choice but to keep her incarcerated forevermore.
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