Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, 70, appeals to be released from prison after inmate in her unit tests positive for coronavirus
- Van Houten was aged 19 when she and other cult members stabbed to death wealthy Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in 1969
- The killings came the day after other Manson followers, not including Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others
- Her attorney said an inmate where she is held tested positive for COVID-19
- 'Due to her advanced age, this puts Ms. Van Houten at a high risk', he said
- No one who took part in the Tate-LaBianca murders has been released
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is appealing to be released from prison after an inmate in her unit tested positive for coronavirus.
Van Houten, 70, was 19-years-old when she and other cult members stabbed to death wealthy Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in 1969.
Her attorney Rich Pfeiffer told Fox 5: 'Today I learned that an inmate in Ms. Van Houten's housing unit tested positive for COVID 19 and she is presently being quarantined.'
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
Pfeiffer added: 'Due to her advanced age, this puts Ms. Van Houten at a high risk.
'Ms. Van Houten is not opposed to home confinement and she can arrange for all costs outside of prison.'
She is understood to be held at the California Institute for Women in Corona.
Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is appealing to released from prison after an inmate in her unit tested positive for coronavirus. She is pictured in 2017
Susan Denise Atkins, (left), Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten,(right), laugh after receiving the death sentence for their part in the Tate-LaBianca killing at the order of Manson
Manson, who died in prison in 2017 at age 83, directed his mostly young and female devotees to murder seven people, including actress Tate, in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war
At the time of the slayings Van Houten said they carved up Leno LaBianca's body and smeared the couple's blood on the walls. The words 'Death to Pigs,' and 'Healter Skelter' - a misspelled reference to a Beatles song - were found scrawled in the victims' blood on the walls and refrigerator.
The killings came the day after other Manson followers, not including Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in violence that spread fear throughout Los Angeles and riveted the nation.
No one who took part in the Tate-LaBianca murders has been released from prison.
Manson, who died in prison in 2017 at age 83, directed his mostly young and female devotees to murder seven people, including actress Tate, in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war.
Although Manson, one of the 20th century's most notorious criminals, did not personally kill any of the seven victims, he was found guilty of ordering their murders.
He was also convicted later of ordering the killings of two others during that summer - music teacher Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald 'Shorty' Shea.
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In June last year California Gov. Gavin Newsom overruled a parole board's decision to free Van Houten. It marked the third time a governor has stopped the release of the youngest member of Manson's murderous cult.
Newsom said she was still a threat, though she has spent nearly half a century behind bars and received reports of good behavior and testimonials about her rehabilitation.
'While I commend Ms. Van Houten for her efforts at rehabilitation and acknowledge her youth at the time of the crimes, I am concerned about her role in these killings and her potential for future violence,' he wrote in his decision.
'Ms. Van Houten was an eager participant in the killing of the LaBiancas and played a significant role.'
Van Houten, 70, was 19-years-old when she and other cult members stabbed to death wealthy Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca, left, and his wife, Rosemary, right, in 1969
The killings came the day after other Manson followers, not including Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate, pictured, and four others in violence that spread fear throughout Los Angeles and riveted the nation
It was the first time Newsom rejected parole for Van Houten, while former Gov. Jerry Brown denied her release twice saying she still laid too much blame on Manson for the stabbing deaths.
In his decision in January 2018, Brown acknowledged Van Houten's youth at the time of the crime, more than four decades of good behavior as a prisoner and her abuse at the hands of Manson.
'Nobody wants to put their name on her release, but when they're speaking honestly or off the record, everyone wants her to go home,' Pfeiffer said at the time of the decision.
In one hearing Van Houten described a troubled childhood. She said she was devastated when her parents divorced when she was 14.
Soon after, she said, she began hanging out with her school's outcast crowd and using drugs. When she was 17, she and her boyfriend ran away to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District during the city's Summer of Love in 1967.
She was traveling up and down the California coast when acquaintances led her to Manson.
He was holed up at an abandoned movie ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles where he had recruited what he called a 'family' to survive what he insisted would be a race war he would launch by committing a series of random, horrifying, terrifying murders.
Leslie Van Houten pictured in 1971. In June last year California Gov. Gavin Newsom overruled a parole board's decision to free Van Houten. It marked the third time a governor has stopped the release of the youngest member of Manson's murderous cult
Leslie Van Houten pictured in 2016. In one hearing Van Houten described a troubled childhood. She said she was devastated when her parents divorced when she was 14
Brown rejected parole for Van Houten in 2017 because he said she still blamed the cult leader too much for the murders. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge upheld Brown's decision last year, finding that Van Houten posed 'an unreasonable risk of danger to society.'
Manson and his followers were sentenced to death in 1971, though those punishments were commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in 1972.
Van Houten's case was overturned on appeal and she was later convicted and sentenced to seven years to life in prison.
Tate's sister, Debra Tate, has routinely shown up to parole and court hearings to oppose the release of any Manson follower. Even though Van Houten didn't take part in her sister's murder, Tate said she didn't deserve release under any circumstances.
Supporters of Van Houten said she had been a model prisoner who mentored dozens of inmates and helped them come to terms with their crimes.
Manson died in 2017 of natural causes at a California hospital while serving a life sentence.
