Manson Family Member Denied Parole 12th Time

Parole was denied a 12th time Thursday to former Charles Manson family member Leslie Van Houten, convicted of murder and conspiracy in the brutal 1969 stabbings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

In a hearing at the California Institute for Women in Frontera, the state Board of Prison Terms found that Van Houten was unsuitable for parole but said she would be eligible again in another year, said spokeswoman Liz Tanaka.

Manson and several of his followers were convicted of murdering actress Sharon Tate and four friends at the actress’ Beverly Hills home on Aug. 9, 1969.

The following night, Van Houten and two other Manson family members stabbed the LaBiancas to death. At both locations, the murderers wrote messages on walls, using the victims’ blood.

Prior to Thursday’s hearing, Leno LaBianca’s first wife, Alice LaBianca of Newport Beach, wrote to the board, asking members to deny Van Houten parole.

Speaking out for the first time since her ex-husband’s murder, Alice LaBianca wrote that “sympathy, understanding and compassion should be given to the victims of murder and not the killers.”

Her four children--three of them still living in Orange County--grew up fatherless because of the Manson-led murders, she stated.

LaBianca said Thursday, after learning that Van Houten will be eligible for parole again in a year, “I think it’s ridiculous. . . . It’s a victory for Leslie Van Houten. I wonder, if we had not written the letter, would she have received a parole date?”