Seventy-three year-old Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten was released on parole Tuesday.
Van Houten spent more than five decades in prison for her involvement in the 1969 murders of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.
Charles Manson and fellow cult member Charles Watson broke into the couple’s home and tied them up before Manson summoned Van Houten and another person to go inside and listen to Watson’s instructions. Watson ordered them to kill Rosemary while he killed Leno. Van Houten said she held Rosemary down with a pillowcase over her head while her co-conspirator fatally stabbed Rosemary, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Leslie Van Houten, former member of the Manson family, has been released from prison after more than 4 decades.
Van Houten was convicted of 2 counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in 1971 for her involvement in the 1969 LaBianca murders in… pic.twitter.com/MFvXqO5Kvb
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The slayings came one day after Watson and other cult members murdered actress Sharon Tate and others in their home. (RELATED: Board Recommends Parole For Charles Manson Follower Who Murdered Several People)
Watson was serving a life prison after she was originally sentenced to death. An appeals court ruled in May that Van Houten was parole-eligible despite Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously blocking parole efforts, according to the AP.
Van Houten will go to a halfway house where she will learn how to drive a car, go grocery shopping and get a debit card, her attorney reportedly said.
“She has to learn to use the internet,” her lawyer said, according to the AP. “She has to learn to buy things without cash. It’s a very different world than when she went in.”