Anthony DiMaria and Leslie Van Houten.Photo:Rich Pedroncelli/APStan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP
Rich Pedroncelli/APStan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP
Hours after formerCharles Manson family memberLeslie Van Houten was released from prison on Tuesday, the nephew of one of the Manson family’s victims spoke out against her release.Anthony DiMaria, the nephew of murdered hairstylist Jay Sebring,toldCNN on Tuesday night that his family and other victims’ families “strongly, vehemently disagree” with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to not fight a state appellate court’s decision to grant Van Houten parole after fighting previous attempts to allow her to leave prison.
Van Houten, 73, served 53 years in prison for taking part inthe two-day killing spreein which the Manson family murdered seven people, including 26-year-old actressSharon Tateand DiMaria’s uncle Sebring.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Van Houten will “have a three-year maximum parole term with a parole discharge review occurring after one year.”
“Leslie Van Houten has always kind of propped herself up as a Manson follower, but she’s anything but,” he said, per the outlet. “She is a cold-blooded killer in one of the most notorious murderer rampages in United States history.”
Leslie Van Houten in 1971.AP Photo
AP Photo
DiMaria said he’s worried about the precedent Van Houten’s release sets in California. “With her release now, any other violent criminal or killer whose crimes fall beneath the bar of Leslie Van Houten’s very extreme…crimes that also have historical impact, that opens the door for them,” he told CNN. “It is our fear that the floodgates in the California penal system will be unhinged.”
Van Houten was convicted, along with other members of the Manson “family,” of the brutal 1969 slayings of Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. She was not present at DiMaria’s uncle’s killing, but was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the slayings of the LaBiancas.
Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.Family Photo
At 19, Van Houten was the youngest member ofthe Manson family. Now 73, she had served her time at the California Institution for Women in Corona before her release Tuesday.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
From left: Jay Sebring and Sharon Tate.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
However, Gov. Newsom declined to appeal Van Houten’s release once more, with spokesperson Erin Mellon telling PEOPLE he would “not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed.”
Now, Van Houten is “so ready” to be out of prison, her attorney Rich Pfeiffertells PEOPLE– despite the victims families’ disapproval.
“She has some computer skills from the job she had in prison,” Pfeiffer said, noting that she’s had multiple job offers. “She has got a master’s degree. She is very bright. She has got a lot of support from family and friends. She will do just fine.”
source: people.com
