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Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is one step closer to being released from prison after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he'll no longer fight her parole LOS ANGELES -- California’s governor announced Friday that he won’t ask the state Supreme Court to block parole for Charles Manson fol lower Leslie Van Houten, paving the way for her release after serving 53 years in prison for two infamous murders. In a brief statement, the governor’s office said it was unlikely that the state's high court would consider an appeal of a lower court ruling that Van Houten should be released. Newsom is disappointed, the statement said. “More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims’ families still feel the impact,” the statement said. Van Houten, now in her 70s, is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and other followers in the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary. Van Houten could be freed in ...

A Montana man who was mauled by a grizzly bear that bit off the front of his lower jaw will be returning home after five weeks in a Utah hospital A Montana man who was mauled by a grizzly bear that bit off the front of his lower jaw is ready to return home after five weeks in a Utah hospital , a physician and his family said Friday during a news conference. Rudy Noorlander, who answered most questions at the University of Utah hospital by writing on a white board, is looking forward to having a root beer float, reuniting with his Yorkshire terrier Sully, return ing to the outdoors and maybe even being able to attend the rivalry Football Game next month between the Montana Grizzlies and his beloved Montana State Bobcats. “And he's developed a whole new hatred toward the University of Montana,” his daughter Katelynn Noorlander Davis said, referring to the team's mascot. Noorlander can speak briefly, but it hurts “a little,” he said. He will need speech therapy, his surgeo...

A California appeals court says Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten should be released from prison on parole LOS ANGELES -- A California appeals court said Tuesday that Leslie Van Houten, who participated in two killings at the direction of cult leader Charles Manson in 1969, should be released from prison on parole. The appellate court’s ruling reverses an earlier decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who rejected parole for Van Houten in 2020. She has been recommended for parole five times since 2016. All of those recommendations were rejected by either Newsom or former California Gov. Jerry Brown. Newsom could request that California Attorney General Rob Bonta petition the California Supreme Court to stop her release. Bonta's office referred questions to Newsom's office, which didn't respond to queries about possible next steps. Van Houten, now in her 70s, is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and other fol lower s kill Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, an...