Posted on 08/31/2007 4:29:24 PM PDT by Lizavetta
CORONA, Calif. -- Leslie Van Houten, the former Charles Manson follower convicted of taking part in a murderous rampage that terrorized Los Angeles 38 years ago, was denied parole Thursday for the 18th time.
The two-year denial issued by the parole board means Van Houten, 58, must wait until 2009 to petition again for her release. Van Houten, who is serving time at the California Institution for Women in Corona, was last denied parole in September 2006.
"We still feel she's a considerable risk to society," said Patrick Sequeira, a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County, who attended the hearing. "She hasn't been willing to admit the extent of her participation in the crime."
A phone message left for Van Houten's attorney, Christie Webb, was not immediately returned.
Van Houten was convicted of murder and conspiracy for her role in the slayings of wealthy grocers Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.
The La Biancas were killed in August 1969, one night after Manson's followers killed actress Sharon Tate and four others, including celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, filmmaker Voityck Frykowski and Steven Parent, a friend of the Tate estate's caretaker.
Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings, but went along on the next night when the La Biancas were slain in their home. Prosecutors have said that Van Houten had felt left out of the first night's carnage.
In past hearings, Van Houten has apologized to the victims' families, but the parole board hasn't been swayed.
Thursday's decision marks the 18th time she has lost her chance at freedom, said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Van Houten, Manson and two other followers of the cult leader were originally sentenced to death, but their sentences were reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after California's death penalty was briefly suspended in the 1970s.
Good. I hope she dies in prison.
This time they gave her a two-year denial. I'm wondering what she's done, if anything, to tick off the Board of Parole Hearings.
Good.
Just because she is eligible for parole, doesn’t mean she should get it, model prisoner or not. By all rights, she should have been executed long ago.
It may be that someone new is on the parole board or is now the chairman, and he/she doesn’t have any sympathy for the murderer.
If she can’t take a joke, Ef her!
Can’t say what I would like to about her, I’d get banned.
Rule number one -- NEVER get freaky and kill rich and famous people...
You reap what you sow.
"..Van Houten found Rosemary LaBianca in a bedroom and sat with her. Van Houten put a pillowcase over Mrs. LaBianca's head and, together with Krenwinkel, tied a lamp's electrical cord around the victim's neck. Mrs. LaBianca began to panic when she heard her husband Leno, who had been tied up in the living room, screaming. Watson was stabbing him to death. Krenwinkel went to stab Mrs. LaBianca in the chest but the blade bent on LaBianca's collarbone. Van Houten fought with Rosemary, knocking the lamp from her. 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 participate. Though quite certain that Rosemary LaBianca was already dead, Van Houten proceeded to stab her over a dozen times..."
gOOD.
Maybe the parole board simply recognized their error from last year.
Are you aware that the victims families are notified of each of these hearings and often come in to testify against those responsible for the gruesome murders of their loved ones?
Imagine, if you will, each of the Manson family members coming up for parole each year. Imagine being reminded of this every two to three months as the whole slew of these murderer's are brought up for parole.
Sorry, model prisoner or not, let her rot.
I believe she’s gotten advanced degrees in prison and has counciled prisoners and been a model prisoner, like you say.
Her dad and mine worked together in the space industry and she was from a good family but got caught up in the wacko hippy movement of that era.
I don’t believe any of them will be parolled and hope they won’t. They all deserved the death penalty for the atrocities they were guilty of, IMO.
Hey! Charles Manson is STILL alive! He would be 73 years old. And if you didn’t know about this — he is eligible for parole in 2012. What is his chances?
Never expressing remorse may have something to do with it.
Having family members of the victims present, shooting laserguided death stares at the murderer has a tendency to sway the board.
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