[ cheers and applause ] ♪ tonight, charles manson family member leslie van houten on parole. >> i stab her in the lower back about 16 times. >> more than 50 years after the murders horrified the nation -- >> the city of los angeles has had another multiple murder.

>> and made charles manson the very 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. >> is she an animal? i think she was then. and i fear that she still is. >> and what's next for van houten after a lifetime spent locked away. this special edition of "nightline," "after manson," will be right back. (cat 1) friskies world! the purr-fect reminder that... life's more fun in the deep end. (cat 2) yeah! so never stop exploring... always keep it real... (cat 1) and do whatever floats your boat - just like we do. (vo) feed their fantasy.

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try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. ♪ >> phil: good evening, i'm phil lip lipof. leslie van haughton was released on parole last month. convicted of murder, she was a member of the so-called manson family, the infamous group that carried out a string of grisly murders in california in 1969. van houten now in the process of trying to rejoin society as the families of some of manson's victims react to her release. here's "nightline" coanchor juju chang at another look at van houten's controversial 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. >> juju: the words of a convicted killer, leslie van houten has spent more than two-thirds of her life behind bars for the role she played in the 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. >> juju: in july, she became the first member sentenced in the high-profile slayings to be released from prison. >> when i look at leslie, i don't look at her to her crime, i look at leslie as who she is as a person. >> juju: as the 73-year-old walked out of prison, there was anger and frustration from the victim easy 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. >> juju: the horror of the manson family murders goes back 54 years. 1969 was the era of free love, mind-opening drugs, rock 'n' roll, and civil rights. it's the first year a man walked on the moon. the year john lennon care yoko ono staged their "bed-in" for peace as war raged on the other side of the world. the atmosphere of peace, love, and drugs created the ideal backdrop for prison convict charles manson to build what he called his family. >> the movement is like a magnet for all these people whose particular characteristics make them highly vulnerable to the thing that manson has. the ability to manipulate. >> juju: 1994, diane sawyer sat down with two of the women who joined manson's family and even talked to the man himself.

>> can you see yourself? >> i can see myself in the mirror. never have mirrors where i'm at. >> here's the key thing to remember. this figure who walks into the room to talk to diane sawyer, who looks like he's been worn out 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 a much more malevolent force. >> leslie in high school, very bright. she's gorgeous. all the boys love her. she plays baritone sax in the marching band, for gosh sakes. >> leslie van houten is an example of how people can be very normal, but all of us have vulnerabilities. and manson could smell it.

>> i seem 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 he'd break people down, build them back up in his image. >> it didn't happen overnight. he spent a lot of time adm middle-class girls and remolding them. i was an empty shell of a person that was filled up with man son rhetoric. >> juju: psychedelic drugs were a big part of manson's draw, and he would often preemp 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'd stay in control. sometimes he'd claim he was jesus christ come again. >> sometimes he would re-enact the crucifixion when we were on lsd. and it was very realistic.

and then make the connections of, man's son, son of man, you know. then the questions would begin. would you die for me? >> and in their drug-induced situation, they listened. so he used lsd as a form of mind control. >> juju: by august 1969, manson had turned eyes to the hollywood hills and a house on cielo drive. 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 a gorgeous, drop-dead ed gorgeous -- >> i don't like that word starlet at all, because there's no such thing, actually. i feel before you even make an appearance, it's very necessary to learn your craft. >> juju: tate 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 best exercises. >> juju: the night of august 8th, tate was 8 1/2 months pregnant. polanski was in london for work. the actress had a group of friends at their home keeping her company, including coffee heiress abigail folger, jay sebring, screenwriter voitek fikowski. >> it was going to be a quiet night, and it turned out not to be. >> reporter: manson dispatched a group of his most devoted followers, including charles "tek" swanson, susan atkins, to the house on cielo drive to kill everyone inside, no matter who they were. >> i haven't told anybody to do anything other than what they wanted to do. >> juju: the group scaled the fence and tek cut the phone

lines. as they moved toward the house, they encountered their first victim. steven parent had been visiting the caretaker. tex watson shot him point blank four times. >> i was so high on speed that i understood what i was doing, but -- it just didn't make any difference. >> the four killers break into the house. they cut through a screen window and sneak in that way. they find wotek fratowski sleeping on a couch in the living room. in the bedrooms, abigail folger reading a book in bed. jay sebring, sharon tate in her bedroom sitting on the bed talking. >> tex watson 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 said to all of us, "i'm going to kill everyone in that house," i knew, this is pure madness. what began to happen is a scuffle started taking place between tex and jay sebring. >> and watson then stabbed him, shot him, killing him. and then pandemonium broke loose. >> abigail folger, break for it. >> i began to stab her. i remember her saying, "i'm already dead." when i looked around i knew this is wrong. >> abigail folger ended up getting stabbed 28 times. frekotski stabbed 51 times. >> susan at tins stabbed 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. >> juju: 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. leave a sign to let the world know that you were there. have a good day. >> we have five dead bodies. there are male bodies and two female bodies. >> the next 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." >> juju: on the night 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 again included tex

watson and patricia krenwinkel, and for the first time, leslie van houten. manson escorted them to the house before leaving. >> i knew people would die. i knew there would be killing. >> charles manson told lena, rosemary, not to worry, it was just a robbery, he wasn't going to hurt them. he wasn't going to hurt them. >> pat and i took mrs. labianca to 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 killed her. >> then tex turned me around and handed me the knife and he said, "do something." because manson had told him to make sure that all of us got our

hands dirty. and i stabbed mrs. labianca in the lower back about 16 >> juju: 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. >> how do you feel? >> in these colorful dresses. sometimes they'd be singing. ♪ >> the contrast between the savagery of the crime and the

kind of carefree nature -- it was deeply unsettling. >> every bit of it was planned out by charles manson. >> the entire proceedings were scripted by charlie. every day we'd meet and he'd decide, today i want you each to stand up and hold your hands in some stupid symbols, you're going to get up and scream, you're going to go bald. and that day we proceeded through the events as he said it. >> juju: eventually all five were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. leslie van houten, who was convicted only in the labiancas' deaths, became the youngest woman in california sent to death row. >> phil: when we return, juju is back with sharon tate's sister. what she's saying about leslie van houten's release. a once-daily pill. voq, when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief

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♪ my name is deborah tate. and i am the middle sister to sharon tate. >> juju: 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. >> juju: 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. >> juju: deborah tate speaking exclusively to abc news saying the killing of her sister and others by members of the manson

family changed 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. >> juju: deborah has made it her life's mission to help keep the manson family members behind bars, including the newly released leslie van houten, 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. >> juju: van houten 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 a behalf error's and master's degree behind bars,

volunteering as a prison tutor. >> she has hundreds of letters from former inmates, and they didn't forget leslie, and they attributed the foundation of their rehabilitation to leslie. >> reporter: van houten was convicted and sentenced to death row in 1971. her punishment later reduced to life in prison with possibility of parole 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. >> juju: despite the fact that she fatally stabbed rosemary 16 times, rich pfeiffer, van haughton's attorney, says she's earned her freedom. >> leslie's always, since i've known her, always gone ahead and taken complete and full responsibility for everything. >> reporter: van hauten filed more than 20 appeals. here she is on her 19th. >> as a rehabilitated woman, i would like to state the insight i have gained is not meant to excuse any of my acts.

>> juju: california governor newsom and his predecessor have blocked her parole a total of four time records newsom decided in july to no longer stand in the way, telling abc news in a statement he is disappointed by the court of appeals' decision to release ms. leslie van houten but will not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed. 54 years after the tate/labianca murders, van houten was released, her freedom coming in the quiet of the night. >> they wanted to avoid the press, avoid a big scene. 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. >> juju: the former convict's current whereabouts are unknown to the public. >> she's in a confidential transitional living facility, because they want to give leslie a chance to assimilate into the community like a normal person would. job offers have come along. she's not going to have any problem getting a job. >> juju: van houten's release raising questions over the

future of four other manson family members still behind bars. >> bruce davis, i do think he'll be the next one out. he might be the only one out. the three remaining are tex watson, patricia krenwinkel, and bobby. krenwinkel might get out. beausoleil has lied and changed his story. he's gotten involved in a lot of prison infractions. i don't think he'll ever get out. watson just was too much of a mastermind of the actual killings. i don't think he's ever told the truth about the murders either. >> juju: for the family members of the victims, the grief is still real. the memories still raw. corey labianca, daughter of leno and rosemary, telling "nightline" her release may be considered legal, but to me and my family, it is ethically and morally wrong. for deborah tate, staying involved in the proceedings for other manson family members is her mission. >> i have four other manson family inmates that are coming

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♪ >> phil: that's "nightline" for this evening. stream the entire episode of "truth and lies: the family manson" on hulu. see you right back here, same time monday. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.