The Manson Family murders shocked the world for their brutality.
With delusional hippies, a murdered actress and a maniacal cult leader who told his followers to make the murders "as gruesome as you can," the story has been immortalised in countless books, films and documentaries.
But the old wounds have been reopened this week with the release of Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, a former homecoming princess who at 19 helped carry out two of the shocking killings.
The decision to let her walk free after serving 50 years of a life sentence has been slammed by victims of the murderous cult. She's the only one of Manson's followers who participated in the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders to be released
But who is Van Houten and what part did she play in the macabre murders?
From cheerleader to cult member
Born on August 23, 1949, in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena to a middle-class family, her early years were non-descript. She went to school, to church with her family and she played with her older brother and her two adopted siblings.
She was popular at school as a member of the cheerleading squad and was even the homecoming princess.
But from 14 her life began to spiral out of control when her parents divorced. She started taking LSD, Benzedrine and smoking hash.
She later claimed at 17 she became pregnant but her mum forced her to abort the child with the fetus ended buried in the back garden. This was something Van Houten said she never forgave her mum for.
By then it was the late 1960s and hippie culture was in full swing. Van Houten met Catherine Share and after a spell living together, Van Houten followed Share into the open arms of the Manson Family.
Youngest member of the cult
When Van Houten joined the Manson Family at the now infamous Spahn Movie Ranch, she was the youngest of his followers.
Since the gruesome murders, the grim workings of the cult have come to light but at its core was hippie culture - acid, rock music and free love.
But Manson controlled all, he would when they would eat, sleep, and whom they would have sex with.
When the Beatles’ White Album came out at the end of 1968, Manson claimed its songs contained prophetic codes about a coming race war. He called his apocalyptic vision ‘Helter Skelter.’
He promised the Family they would wait out the war in an underground city before emerging to take over the world.
It was in the hopes of kicking off this 'race war' that the Manson Family killings - called the Tate–LaBianca murders - were planned.
The murders that shocked the world
Members of the Family arrived at the Hollywood Hills home of Sharon Tate on August 8, 1969, where they stabbed, beat and shot to death the young actress and her friends — celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski.
As they made their way to the house, they encountered a teenager, Steven Parent, who had been visiting an acquaintance at the estate’s guesthouse. He was also shot to death.
Van Houten didn’t take part in the Tate killings but accompanied Manson and others to the LaBianca home the next night. There they killed supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.
She described holding down Rosemary LaBianca with a pillowcase over her head as others stabbed Mrs LaBianca dozens of times. Then, ordered by Manson follower Charles “Tex” Watson to “do something,” she said she picked up a knife and stabbed the woman more than a dozen times.
She later claimed Rosemary was already dead when she started stabbing her.
Conviction and time in jail
The subsequent trials captivated the nation during an era of strife marked by the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
Van Houten was sentenced to death in 1971 but her sentence was later commuted to life in prison when the California Supreme Court overturned the state’s death penalty law in 1972.
Voters and state lawmakers eventually reinstated the death penalty, but it did not apply retroactively.
During her many years in prison Van Houten, now 71, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counselling and led several prison programs to help rehabilitate fellow inmates.
She was repeatedly recommended for parole, but two governors — first Jerry Brown and then Gavin Newsom — blocked her release.
However, she was finally freed after Governor Newsom announced last week that he wouldn't pursue efforts to keep her behind bars.
What her future holds
Van Houten is the first Manson follower who took part in the killings to walk free.
She is expected to spend about a year at a halfway house, adjusting to a world changed immeasurably by technology in the past half-century.
“She has to learn to use the internet. She has to learn to buy things without cash,” her attorney Nancy Tetreault said. “It’s a very different world than when she went in.”
Van Houten, who will likely be on parole for about three years, hopes to get a job as soon as possible, Ms Tetreault said.
