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Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Leslie Van Houten

[ Edited ]

So I know she was recently denied parole and some here in this forum disagreed with that and thinks she should be released.

 

I remember the Manson murders quite well and have been saturated with info about it since 1969. I am of the opinion that they all should have been put to death, which were their sentences originally. 

 

Just as I thought I'd heard it all about this case, I decided to watch the show on the I.D. Network last night about it (People Investigates Cults - The Manson Family). Much to my surprise, I learned a lot.  The show dealt with a girl in the cult (Diane Lake) who was 14 or 15 yrs. old at the time of the murders.  She did not participate in them but knew the "family" members of course and discussed them all. She was close with most of the girls (including those convicted) and considered Tex Watson like a "big brother" (he taught her to drive).  At their trial (the women were tried together) she testified against them.

 

Among the things she told about the women were how horrified she was that the murders not only had happened but the murderers were boasting about them and seemed proud of them.  The show revealed that Van Houten and Watson stabbed Sharon Tate.  When Sharon begged for the life of her baby, Van Houten said "B - - - - I  don't care about you or your baby" before commencing the stabbing.   She later told Diane Lake, about the La Bianca killings, that "it got to be more and more fun" as she kept stabbing them.

 

I hope this monster never gets paroled.  I wish the Manson murderers had been put to death and not been a blight on the California taxpayer for 50 years (the murders occurred in the summer of '69).  I wish that when the death penalty was disclared unconstitutional and their death sentences were commuted, the commutation included never being eligible for parole.

 

For those of you who, like myself, thought they knew everything there was to know about this case (esp. if you read Bugliosi's book Helter Skelter), I hope you catch a repeat some day of this show on the I.D. network.  The interviews with Diane Lake were fascinating to me.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,517
Registered: ‎06-17-2015

Re: Leslie Van Houten

[ Edited ]

Susan Atkins stabbed Sharon Tate, not Van Houten.  Van Houten was involved in the stabbing of Rosemary LoBianco.

 

Susan Atkins responded to Sharon Tate's plea for her baby by saying she had no mercy for her.  She actually held Sharon down while Tex Watson was the person who actually fatally stabbed Sharon.

 

Diane Lake made $ off this tragedy and was under psychiatric care until she was considered well enough to testify.

 

 

 

 

 

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,739
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I wouldn't release any of these people back into the public.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,895
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Leslie Van Houten

[ Edited ]

Either you believe a person can be brainwashed or you don't.

Either you believe in rehabilitation or you believe in revenge.

You're either merciful or...

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,232
Registered: ‎07-11-2010

I remember it well, I was 7 months pregnant with my first child when this horror took place.  It was difficult to comprehend the magnitude of these murders by these human monsters.  Every one of them should have been executed!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,040
Registered: ‎09-12-2010

@Cakers3is right. Van Houten was found guilty in the La Bianca muders (husband and wife). All of the murders were so horrific, and none of that "gang" should have been eligible for parole. They were found guilty and given the death sentence, and when the death penalty in California was repealed, there should have been automatic life sentences with no eligibility for parole ever.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,483
Registered: ‎10-19-2011

This gave me nightmares for a long time. I did read the book too. I won't read it again. It's so unreal. If I remember, the Beach Boys met with Manson as Manson wanted to be a musician.... I don't feel they should ever get out. It still haunts me. I can't grasp it.

-Do Not Copy Pls-
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,517
Registered: ‎06-17-2015

@occasionalrain wrote:

Either you believe a person can be brainwashed or you don't


@occasionalrainMany of these women had very troubled childhoods coupled with early drug use and suspected sxual abuse even before being involved with Manson.

 

I agree that the influence of drugs and Manson's "family" agenda certainly played a part in all of this but I draw the line that the "brainwashing" is a cut and dried theory.

 

jmoymmv

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,739
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

What they are getting is justice, not revenge. They are treated humanely, and not tortured ,or starved

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,517
Registered: ‎06-17-2015

@occasionalrain   You altered your post after I responded.

 

I disagree that everything is one or the other. 

 

You can still have mercy while believing that permanent incarceration is just.

 

You can still believe in rehabilitation, which I'm sure Atkins, Van Houten, etc. received in jail. 

 

I do not believe in the death penalty so I do not view these with a revengeful mindset; I believe the permament incarceration is fitting for the crimes committed.

 

Manson obviously was never rehabilitated; until the day he died his distorted and troubled mind had him locked in MansonLand where nobody would ever be able to reach him.

 

Do you believe that it is revenge to have kept him incarcerated?  Or do you believe he should have been granted mercy and released???

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh