♪ ♪ ♪ tonight, charles manson family member leslie vagus nerve houghton released on parole. >> i stabbed her about 16 times. >> 50 years since the murders horrified the nation.

>> the city of los angeles has had another multiple murder. >> and made charles manson the face of evil. >> i'm a convict. i'm an outlaw. i'm a rebel. i'm not a sunday schoolteacher. >> the notorious killing spree included the murder of hollywood starlet sharon tate. what her sister is telling abc news now. >> is she an animal? i think she was then, and i fear that she still is. >> and what's next for van houghton after a lifetime spent locked away? this special edition of "nightl "nightline" after manson will be right back. let it pull you past the doubt. past the pain, and past your limits. no matter what, we go on. biofreeze (chef vo) fancy feast. chef-inspired. no matter what, we go on. cat-adored. every silky broth, every impeccable paté, every delicious detail...

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no matter what, we go on. biofreeze thanks for joining us. after spending more than half a century in prison, lesley van houghton is now free on parole. convicted of murder, she was a key member of charles manson's so-called manson family, the infamous group that carried out a string of grizzly murders in 1969. van houghton now attempting to rejoin society, as the family of some of the victims, including sharon tate's reacts to the release. >> manson doesn't own up to his share in this. i take offense to that. i take responsibility for my

part. and part of my responsibility was helping create him. >> the words of a convicted killer. leslie van houghton has spent more than two third of her life behind bars for the role she played in infamous manson family murder spree. >> is she a nice girl? no. is she an animal? i think she was then, and i fear that she still is. >> this week, she became the first member sentenced in the high profile slayings to be released from prison. >> when i look at lesley, i don't look at her to her crime. i look at lesley as who she is as a person. >> the 73-year-old walked out of prison tuesday. tonight, the anger and frustration from the victims' families, who hoped this day would never come. >> i prayed until i was gritting my teeth that she gets a flashback of the screams, the

grunts, the blood. >> i'm a convict. i'm an outlaw. i'm a rebel. i'm not a sunday schoolteacher. >> the horror of the manson family murders goes back nearly 54 1969 was the era of rights the year a man walked on the moon. as the war in vietnam raged on the other side of the world. the atmosphere of peace, love, and drugs created an ideal backdrop for charles manson to build what he called his >> the movement is like a magnet for all these people whose particular characteristics make them highly vulnerable to manson. >> diane sawyer sat down with two of the women who joined

manson's family and even talked to the man >> can you see yourself in there? >> i can see myself in there. >> here's the key thing to remember. this figure who walksed into room to talk to diane sawyer, who looks like he's been worn up and hung up wet for so long, do not confuse that guy with the manson of the late '60s. footage of him from that era tells a very different story. he is commanding. he is somewhat magnetic, and really much more malevolent force. >> lesley, in high school, very bright. she's gorgeous. all the boys love her. she plays baritone sax in the marching band for god's sakes. >> lesley van houghton is an example of how people can be very normal. but all of us have

vulnerabilities. and manson could smell it. >> i seemed to want more living out of life than what was expected of young girls at that time. drugs, sex, you know, breaking away from the norm. >> so, break people down, build them back up in his image. >> it didn't happen overnight. he spent a lot of time taking middle class girls and remolding them. i was an empty shell of a person that was filled up with manson rhetoric. >> psychedelic drugs were a big part of manson's draw, and he would often preach to the group while everyone was high. >> he would personally put the dosages in his followers' mouths. but when he took some himself, he was careful to take less so he would stay in control. sometimes he would claim he was jesus christ come again. >> sometimes he would reenact the crucifixion when we were on lsd.

and it was very realistic. and then make the connections of man son, son of man. and then the questions would again, would you die for me? >> and in their drug-induced situation, they listened. so, he used lsd as a form of mind control. >> by august of 1969, manson had turned his eyes to the hollywood hills and a house. at the time, roman polanski, director of "rosemary's baby" and his 26-year-old wife, up and coming actress, sharon tate, lived there. >> nobody took my breath away like sharon tate. >> she's gorgeous, drop dead gorgeous. >> i don't like that word, starlet at all, because there's no such thing actually. i feel it before you even make an appearance, it's very necessary to learn your craft. >> tate soon landed a role in

the 1967 movie adaptation of "valley of the dolls." >> mother, i know i don't have any talent, and i know all i have is a body, and i am doing my bust exercises. >> the night of august 8th, tate was eight and a half months pregnant. polanski was in london for work, so the actress had friends at her home keeping her includ including -- >> it's simply going to be a quiet, comfortable night. and of course it turned out not to be. >> that night, manson dispatched a group of his most devoted followers, including charles swat son, patricia -- and susan on the house on see yellow drive and kill everyone inside, no matter who they were. >> i told them to do -- i never told anybody to do anything other than what they wanted to do. >> the group scaled the security

fence, and techs cut the phone lines. steven parent had just been visiting the caretaker. tex watson shot him point blank four times. >> i was so high on speed that understood what i was it just didn't make any difference anymore. >> the four killers break into the house. they cut through a screen window and sneak in that way. they find -- sleeping on the couch in the living room. back in the bedrooms, abigail foldier reading a book in bed, jaycee bring and sharon tate sitting on the bed talking. >> tex walked in and he said, i am the devil, and i'm here to do the devil's work. >> then tex says, we're going to kill you. >> everyone else at that point

obviously was getting really frightened and scared. from the moment that tex had said to all of us, we're going to kill everyone in the house, i knew, this is pure madness. what began to happen is a scuffle started taking place between tex and jay see bring. >> and watson then stabbed him, shot him, killing him. and then pandemonium broke lose. >> abigail foldier makes a break for it on the lawn. >> and i began to stab her. i remember her saying, i'm already dead. when i looked around, i knew this is wrong. >> abigail foldier ended up getting stabbed 28 times. -- ended up getting stabbed 51 times. >> susan atkins shared sharon tate to death and told her she was going to do it. >> i felt nothing.

i felt absolutely nothing for her. and she begged for her life and for the life of the baby. >> manson had told the group to make sure and leave a message behind, so they did, writing the word "pig" on the front door in sharon tate's blood. >> if you're going to do something, do it well and leave something with you. leave a sign to let the world know that you were there. have a good day. >> all right. we have five dead bodies, female bodies and two female bodies. >> last night around midnight, the city news ticker jumped to life. >> the city of los angeles has had another multiple murder. >> and i shouted across the newsroom, it's happened again. >> on the night of august 9th, manson once again set his followers on a target. this time, the home of grocery chain owner leno labianca and his wife rosemary. the group once again included

tex watson and patricia krin winkle and for the first time lesley van houghton. lesley escorted them to the house before leaving. >> i knew that people would die. i knew that there would be killing. >> charles manson told lino and rosemary labianca not to worry, that it was just a robbery and he wasn't going to hurt them. he wasn't going to hurt them. >> pat and i took mrs. labianca into the bedroom, and the sounds of mr. labianca dying came into the bedroom. when mrs. labianca heard her husband being killed by tex, she started calling out to him and yelling for him. >> and tex came in and her. >> and then tex turned me around and handed me the knife, and he said, do something. because manson had told him to

make sure that you will of us got our hands dirty. and i stabbed mrs. labianca in the lower back about >> it took law enforcement three months to link the manson family to the murders. but by that time, the stage was set for a trial that would both fascinate and disgust those who watched. >> it was insanity from beginning to end. it was a circus. >> it was on television every night. it was spectacle. >> manson would come in, suspicious or charming, demonic or eerily amiable. even more shocking were the sight of the three women. in these colorful dresses. sometimes they'd be ♪ >> the contrast between the

savage ri of the crime and the kind of care free nature, was the deeply unsettling. >> every bit of it was planned out by charles manson. >> the entire proceedings were scripted. he would decide, well, today i want you each to stand up and hold your hand in some stupid symbols. you're going to get up and scream. you're going to burn an x on your head. you're going to go bald. we proceeded through the events as he said it. >> hello. >> eventually all five were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. lesley van houghton, who was convicted only in the labianca's deaths became the youngest woman in california sent to death row. >> and you can stream the entire episode of 20/20's truth and lies, the family manson on hulu. up next, sharon tate's sister, what she's saying about up next, sharon tate's sister, what she's saying about lesley van houghton's release. keeps fling,

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to see if once-monthly nucala may be right for you. and learn about savings at nucala.com there's more to your life than asthma. find your nunormal with nucala. my name is debra tate, and i am the middle sister to sharon tate. >> sharon tate, a model and budding hollywood movie star, best known for her breakout role in "valley of the dolls." >> let's face it, all i know how to do is take off my clothes. >> she was building her family with famous director roman polanski, when the unthinkable happened. >> she was physically perfect. but more important than that, she was an absolutely beautiful soul, had a wicked sense of

humor. >> debra tate, speaking exclusively to abc news, saying the killing of her sister and others by members of the manson family, changed by the lives of her loved ones forever. >> my dad retired from the military. he went out on his own quest to find the killers. it affected everything. >> debra has since made it her life's mission to help keep the manson family members behind bars, including the newly released leslie van hoyten, who was not directly involved in her sister's murder. >> is she a nice girl? no. we're talking about one of the most murderous cults in america. is it worth giving that a free pass? there are a lot of people that i would give a free pass. but these people are not amongst them. >> van houghton had spent the past 53 years in prison for her role in killing rosemary and leno labianca. the then defiant 19-year-old

eventually became a model inmate according to court documents, earning both a bachelor's a masters degree while behind bars. >> she has hundreds of former inmates and they attributed the foundation of their rehabilitation to lesley. >> van houghton was convicted and sentenced to death row in 1971, her punishment later reduced to life in prison when capital punishment was outlawed in the state. >> she has no true remorse but is focused on being a model prisoner so she can gain her freedom. >> despite the fact she fatally stabbed rosemary labianca 16 times, rich pfeiffer, van houghton's attorney, says she's earned her freedom. >> lesley's always gone ahead and taken complete and full responsibility for everything. >> van houghton filed more than 20 appeals. here she is on her 19th. >> as a rehabilitated woman, i would like to state that the

insight i have gained is not meant to excuse any of my acts. >> cal cal governor gavin newsom blocked her parole four times. numb decided earlier this mon to no longer stand in the way, he would not pursue further action, as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed. 53 years after the tate/labianca murders, van houghton was released in the quiet of the night. >> they want to avoid the press. she wanted the same thing. she wanted respect for the victims' families not to be sensationalized and just move on to the next chapter of her life. >> the former convicts whereabouts are unknown to the public. >> she's in a confidential transitional living facility.

job offers have come along. she's not going to have any problem getting a job. >> houghton's release raising questions over the future of four other members still behind bars. >> bruce davis might be the only one out. the remaining are tex watson, bob ri bose lay. he's lied and changed his story about how the murders happened. he's gotten involved in a lot of prison infractions. i don't think he'll get out. and watson was too much of a mastermind. i don't think he's ever told the truth of the killings either. >> for the family members of the victims, the grief is still real. daughter of rosemary labianca telling "nightline," her release may be legal, but to me and my family, it is ethically and morally wrong. for debra tate, staying involved

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