Page 5 - ATD16APRIL2016
P. 5
U.S. NEWS A5
Saturday 16 April 2016
Panel recommends parole for ex-Manson follower Van Houten
Associated Press for a long time,†Pfeiffer Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten confers with her attorney Rich Pfeiffer during
CHINO, Calif. (AP) — Les- said outside the prison. “It a break from her hearing before the California Board of Parole Hearings at the California
lie Van Houten sat before really should have hap- Institution for Women in Chino, Calif.
the California panel that pened a long time ago.â€
would soon recommend Van Houten participated (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
her parole as a slight wom- in the killings of Leno La
an with shoulder-length Bianca and his wife Rose- a hole in the desert, Van family began stabbing the find parts in any of this that
gray hair, a wrinkled face mary a day after other Houten told the panel. woman in her home. makes me feel the slight-
and glasses, a far cry to so-called “Manson family†At the hearing, Van Houten Van Houten said she had est bit good about myself,â€
from the rebellious teen members murdered preg- described how she helped looked off into the dis- she told the panel. The La
she was when she joined nant actress Sharon Tate secure a pillow over the tance until another Man- Biancas were stabbed nu-
the cult of Charles Manson and four others in 1969. head of Rosemary La Bian- son follower told her to do merous times and the word
more than 40 years ago Thursday’s decision makes ca with a lamp cord and something and she joined “WAR†was carved on the
and helped kill a wealthy her the first Manson follow- held her down while anoth- in the stabbing. “I don’t let stomach of Leno La Bian-
grocer and his wife. At a er involved in the Tate or er member of the Manson myself off the hook. I don’t ca. q
five-hour hearing she de- La Bianca killings to reach
scribed in detail how she this stage in the parole pro-
descended from an idyllic cess. Family member Bruce
childhood into psychedel- Davis, who was not in-
ic drug use and eventually volved in those killings, has
found Manson, whom she been recommended for
described as a “Christ-like parole, but it was blocked
man that had all the an- by the governor.
swers†for a young woman At 19, Van Houten was
whose parents’ divorce the youngest Manson fol-
had left her feeling aban- lower to take part in the
doned and angry. killings after she joined the
On Thursday she con- cult in the 1960s. The mur-
vinced the state panel ders were the start of what
that the murderous young Manson believed was a
woman she had been was coming race war that he
a long-distant memory dubbed “Helter Skelterâ€
and that she was now fit to after a Beatles song. Man-
be paroled. She has com- son had his followers pre-
pleted college degrees pare to fight and learn to
and been a model inmate. can food so they could go
“Your behavior in prison underground and live in
speaks for itself. Forty-six
years and not a single se- Lawyers:
rious rule violation,†Com- Inmate in terror case in coma after suicide attemptÂ
missioner Ali Zarrinnam told
Van Houten at the close of JENNIFER PELTZ cording to his lawyers. happened, but details are peals courts concluded,
her 20th parole hearing. Associated Press “He was neither protected unclear. wasn’t truly a terrorist —
The decision will now un- NEW YORK (AP) — A man nor acknowledged†in pris- Ferhani’s suicide attempt before Ferhani and a co-
dergo administrative re- who admitted plotting to on, lawyer Lamis Deek said, is a somber afterword to a defendant were arrested in
view by the parole board. bomb New York City syna- calling Ferhani’s treatment case freighted with the rise May 2011.
If upheld it goes to Gov. gogues has tried to kill him- “an outrage.†of homegrown terrorists, An undercover investigator
Jerry Brown, who has fi- self in prison after guards The state Corrections De- the legal legacy of Sept. recorded Ferhani, an Alge-
nal say on whether Van tormented him because of partment would say only 11, complaints about po- rian who came to the U.S.
Houten is released. his terror case, his lawyers that Ferhani, 31, has been lice tactics and questions as a child, disparaging
Brown spokeswoman Deb- said. taken from Attica to an out- about his mental health. Jews and talking about at-
orah Hoffman on Friday Ahmed Ferhani, who is half- side hospital and officials While most terror cases are tacking synagogues in re-
said it would be premature way through a 10-year sen- were investigating, though handled by federal pros- taliation for what he saw as
to comment. tence in a rare state-level the agency wouldn’t say ecutors, New York created the mistreatment of Muslims
The now-66-year-old Van terror case, is in a medically what was being investi- its own anti-terror law days worldwide. Then Ferhani
Houten was “numb†after induced coma after try- gated. Deek said a Buffalo after 9/11. It had been bought guns, ammunition
the panel announced its ing to hang himself in New hospital informed Ferhani’s used only once — against and an inert grenade in a
decision, said her attorney York’s Attica prison, ac- family April 7 of what had a gang leader who, ap- police sting.q
Rich Pfeiffer.
“She’s been ready for this
