Manson follower Leslie Van Houten should get parole, US appeals court rules

Leslie Van Houten attends a parole hearing at the California Institution for Women in 2017 (Stan Lim/Los Angeles Daily News via AP/PA)

A California appeals court has said that Leslie Van Houten, who participated in two killings alongside cult leader Charles Manson in 1969, should be let out of prison on parole.

The appellate court’s ruling reverses an earlier decision by Governor Gavin Newsom, who rejected parole for Van Houten in 2020.