Leslie Van Houten, who was a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, was recommended for parole by a California parole board on Tuesday.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement that this marks the fifth time since 2016 that Van Houten, now 72 years old, has been recommended for release, according to NBC News.
Van Houten was convicted at the age of 19 on charges of first-degree murder for the deadly stabbings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and conspiracy to commit murder for her involvement in the deaths of Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger and Jay Sebring, NBC News reported. She is currently serving a life sentence for the crimes.
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and current Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) both reportedly rejected previous calls for Van Houten to be released on parole.
The Tuesday recommendation will likely be sent to Newsom for approval in a 150-day review process, per NBC. Last year, the governor said Van Houten’s potential release still “poses an unreasonable danger to society.”
Van Houten’s lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, told The Associated Press that, while he believes the concerns that came up in Van Houten’s previous parole rejections have been addressed, he thinks Newsom will reverse this recommendation as well.
Manson died in 2017 while serving out a life sentence for his role in assembling a “family” of followers in an effort to survive a race war and in carrying out multiple murders across Los Angeles.