Three disciples of Charles Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, in 1970. -

AP / SIPA

Leslie Van Houten, a disciple of the bloodthirsty "guru" Charles Manson, was again refused parole by the Californian authorities.

This is the 23rd since being sentenced to life in prison for a double murder committed in 1969.

Now 71 years old, Leslie Van Houten was only 19 when she joined the "family" of Charles Manson, a sectarian group that the psychopath had formed and which committed a series of assassinations in the aim to spark a conflict between white and black Americans.

Charles Manson, responsible in particular for the death of Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski killed in a villa in Los Angeles when she was eight and a half months pregnant, died in prison at the end of 2017.

A petition to oppose his release

Leslie Van Houten was not involved in the murder of Sharon Tate and her friends but was present when the sinister gang led by Manson struck again the following night, stabbing Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at their home on August 10. 1969. Leslie Van Houten in particular admitted to having carried about fifteen stab wounds in the back of one of the victims who was lying on the ground.

Originally sentenced to death in 1971, she was retried several times before finally being sentenced to life in 1978. She is serving her sentence in Corona, California, women's prison and has expressed remorse for his crimes.

This year, a prison commission examined the 23rd request for parole filed by Leslie Van Houten, and accepted it last July.

But California law wants such a decision to be validated by the state governor, who has once again vetoed it.

“The evidence shows that she is currently too great a danger to society if released from prison,” said Democrat Gavin Newsom.

A petition, launched on the Internet by Debra Tate, Sharon Tate's sister, to oppose the parole of Leslie Van Houten, has collected more than 170,000 signatures.

Leslie Van Houten's lawyer has meanwhile expressed his intention to appeal to the courts the rejection of parole by Governor Newsom, which he considers unfounded.

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