• Jurors Deliberate Verdict in Manson Follower’s Trial

Jurors Deliberate Verdict in Manson Follower’s Trial

LOS ANGELES, Jul. 18 — Jurors in the murder retrial of former Charles Manson family member Leslie Van Houten have gone into a second week of deliberations after failing to reach a verdict over the weekend.

Miss Van Houten is charged in the murders of grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, seven years ago. The LaBiancas were stabbed and beaten to death in their Feliz-area home on Aug 10, 1969.

Miss Van Houten, convicted once for the crime, was granted a retrial because her lawyer died during the original trial.

Defense attorney Maxwell Keith has argued throughout the second trial that Miss Van Houten could not be held responsible for her actions because she was completely under the influence of Charles Manson at the time of the alleged killings.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay, who prosecuted the case, claims Miss Van Houten acted of her own will. Kay asked the jury to return a verdict of first degree murder, while Keith asked for a manslaughter conviction.

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