Charles Manson cult follower Leslie Van Houten, 73, is released from prison

Leslie Van Houten walked out of a California prison Tuesday after serving 53 years of a life sentence for her participation in two of the infamous Manson murders.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Van Houten ‘was released to parole supervision.’

Her release comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole.

Newsom had rejected parole for Van Houten on three previous occasions during his time in office, but a state appeals court in May rejected his most recent denial of parole.

Van Houten, now in her 70s, received a life sentence for helping Manson´s followers carry out the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary.

She was released from prison in the early morning hours and driven to transitional housing, her attorney Nancy Tetreault said.

Van Houten was 19 when she and other cult members knifed grocers Rosemary and Leno LaBianca to death in August 1969 as part of Manson’s deranged plan to incite a race war by terrifying Los Angeles with a killing spree. 

The 73-year-old held Rosemary down as she was murdered before stabbing her in the stomach 16 times. 

She was first sentenced to death for her crimes but her sentence was reduced to life in prison after capital punishment was outlawed in California in 1972.

The Manson Family would go on to claim at least seven more victims – among them pregnant actress Tate and coffee heiress Abigail Folger. 

This is a developing story