Leslie Van Houten, Charles Manson Accomplice Who Served 53 Years in Prison, Released

Leslie Van Houten is out of prison. On Tuesday, Van Houten, a Charles Manson follower, was released from a California prison after 53 years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed to multiple outlets.

Van Houten, 73, "was released to parole supervision," according to the department. Her attorney, Nancy Tetreault, told The Associated Press that Van Houten left prison in the early morning hours and was driven to transitional housing.

"She's still trying to get used to the idea that this real," Tetreault told the outlet, adding that her client will likely spend a year at a halfway house. "She has to learn to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash. It's a very different world than when she went in."

Tetreault noted that Van Houten, who earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in counseling while she was behind bars, will likely be on parole for three years and hopes to get a job as soon as possible.

Van Houten's release came just days after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he wouldn't ask the state Supreme Court to block her parole request, after rejecting her last five parole recommendations.

Prior to her release, Van Houten was serving a life sentence for helping Manson and his other followers kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969. Van Houten, a former homecoming princess who was 19 at the time, admitted to stabbing Rosemary more than a dozen times.

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