Tate’s mother, Doris, became an advocate for victims’ rights in California and was instrumental in a 1982 law that allows family members to testify about their losses at trials and parole hearings. Jerry Brown blocked her release each time.
She has been recommended for parole three times, but former Gov. Van Houten, 69, has earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counseling while in prison and leads several prison programs to help rehabilitate fellow inmates. Then, ordered by Manson follower Charles “Tex” Watson to “do something,” she said she picked up a knife and stabbed the woman more than a dozen times. She held down Rosemary LaBianca with a pillowcase over her head as others stabbed LaBianca dozens of times. She didn’t take part in the Tate killings but accompanied Manson and others to the LaBianca home the next night. Van Houten met Manson at an old movie ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles where he had established his so-called “family” of followers. She turned to drugs and became pregnant but said her mother forced her to abort the fetus and bury it in the family’s backyard. Leslie Van Houten, a former high school cheerleader and homecoming princess, saw her life spiral out of control at 14 following her parents’ divorce.
