Prior to her death in 2009, I wrote several letters to Susan Atkins. She had long been incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. She did not respond, but her husband did. I told them that I was convinced that she sincerely repudiated Charles Manson and the drugged-up depravity he led her and other members of his so-called family into—culminating with the horrific Tate−LaBianca murders of August 1969. Forty years she spent behind bars, and that’s plenty of time to ponder and reflect. If I remember accurately, I even wrote a letter on Atkins’ behalf to the California Department of Corrections urging that she be considered for parole. I must not have much clout because that did not happen.
Atkins has gone to meet her maker, but most of those misguided losers are still alive. Manson (81) is at California State Prison in Corcoran, Bruce Davis (73) is at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, Charles “Tex” Watson (70) is at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Bobby Beausoleil (68) is at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, and Patricia Krenwinkel (68) and Leslie Van Houten (66) are at California Institution for Women in Chino. Sandra Good (72), Mary Brunner (72), Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (67), Linda Kasabian (66) and Steve Grogan (64) have been incarcerated for varying lengths of time but are no longer.
My focus here is Van Houten because she is back in the news, having been given tentative approval for parole. That decision still has to be confirmed and then approved by Governor Jerry Brown. That one of Manson’s key followers might get out surprised me considerably. The crimes they committed in Los Angeles at his behest (they did not know Sharon Tate [8 1/2 months pregnant], or Leno or Rosemary LaBianca or the four others who died) are so awful that they earned their notoriety and infamy. The numerous parole hearings have been mere formalities, with the deceased Atkins, Manson, Davis, Watson, Beausoleil, Krenwinkel and Van Houten walking glumly back to their respective cells.
But now, whoa! It looks like Van Houten may be freed. While I respect the opinions and feelings of the people in vociferous opposition, I want to see this happen. She has been in prison for almost 47 years and has been a model inmate, earning a college degree, teaching English and helping in various ways. She is said to have a spotless record. I know, that does not begin to compensate for having held Rosemary LaBianca down while Watson stabbed her numerous times. Van Houten used the knife on the lady after she had died. These events were ugly in the extreme, and the people who committed them got justice.
As most Americans my age know, Van Houten was a high school beauty queen whose life went into a downward spiral upon meeting Manson. She took dozens or perhaps hundreds of LSD trips and listened to Manson rant and rave about hidden meanings in the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter” and fomenting a race war (tell me again, how does that result from butchering an actress [Tate] and a grocery store magnate [Leno LaBianca]?). Atkins, Watson, Krenwinkel, Van Houten and the others were young and gullible, and Manson—although a shrimp at 5′ 2″—was intense, charismatic and intimidating, a modern-day Rasputin.
Van Houten did herself no favors in the legal proceedings that led to almost half a century behind bars. Along with Atkins and Krenwinkel, she praised “Charlie” to whoever would listen. She scratched an X in her forehead before arriving at court one day, cut off her hair and acted the part of a true believer. In one of her three trials, she repeatedly fired her lawyer for asserting that Manson had wielded undue effect on her. When testimony was given in court about the victims, she was lighthearted and even giggled. Firm resistance to Van Houten winning parole is quite understandable.
As stated above, I think she should be given a chance to live on the outside once again. Now sporting granny glasses, gray, stringy hair and a deeply wrinkled face, Van Houten has been humbled. She has long since recognized Manson as a criminal and vicious twister. For falling under his sway, she has paid a price, losing two-thirds of her life. As with Atkins, she has taken responsibility for her role in the Tate-LaBianca murders. Even if she gets out, she won’t truly be free. The knowledge of what she did back in ’69 will be with her always.
How many years does she have left? Probably not too many. If she is paroled, I wonder what Van Houten might do and where she might go. Assimilating back into society will be hard, and the media is unlikely to let her alone. I hope she has some family and friends who can give her the support she is certain to need.
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