California’s governor has overruled a parole board’s recommendation to free the youngest follower of Charles Manson from prison.

Gavin Newsom said Leslie Van Houten is still a threat, despite having spent nearly half a century behind bars.

It was the third time a governor has halted the release of Van Houten, despite reports of good behaviour and testimonials about her rehabilitation.

“While I commend Ms Van Houten for her efforts at rehabilitation and acknowledge her youth at the time of the crimes, I am concerned about her role in these killings and her potential for future violence,” he wrote in his decision.

“Ms Van Houten was an eager participant in the killing of the LaBiancas and played a significant role.”

Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I'm nobody. I'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo. I'm a boxcar and a jug of wine, and a straight razor if you get too close to me." - Interview, 1989 Getty Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "Maybe I should have killed four, five hundred people. Then I would have felt better. Then I would have felt like I really offered society something." - NBC interview with Heidi Schulman, 1987 Granger/REX Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "Do you feel blame? Are you mad? Uh, do you feel like wolf kabob Roth vantage? Gefrannis booj pooch boo jujube; bear-ramage. Jigiji geeji geeja geeble Google. Begep flagaggle vaggle veditch-waggle bagga?" - NBC interview with Heidi Schulman, 1987 Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I've been 15 years in the nut ward, for trying to stop the trees from being cut down, from trying to rearrange the lifestyle of a bunch of people who don't want to change. But they're gonna change because a cold wind is blowing. You're gonna change or else there's going to be no life left on the planet Earth." - Interview with Penny Daniels in San Quentin Prison, California, 1989 Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "We use the word God. God hooks all the other words up. I'm the pope. I'm ten times the pope. I'm sixty times the pope. But I'm the pope in the hills and in the mountains." - Interview by Penny Daniels, 1989 Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Will of God.. whatever you wanna call it.. you call it Jesus, call it Mohammed, call it goobybob, call it nuclear mind, call it blow the world up, call it your heart. Whatever you wanna call it, it's still music to me. It's there. It's the will of life. - Interview with Geraldo Rivera (1981) Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Believe me, if I started murdering people, there'd be none of you left. - Interview, Rolling Stone (1970) Getty Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy. - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994) AP Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy. - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994) AP Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I was so smart when I was a kid that I learnt that I was dumb fast." - Interview on the album 'All the Way Alive' (2003) Rex

Van Houten, 69, is serving a life sentence in prison at the California Institute for Women in Corona for her role in the Manson cult’s 1969 killing spree.

The parole board’s decision, made in January, was the latest of Van Houten’s 22 attempts to persuade the panel she should be deemed suitable for release.

It was the first time Mr Newsom rejected her parole, while former governor Jerry Brown denied her release twice.

Van Houten was 19 when she and other cult members stabbed Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, to death in August 1969.

She said they carved up Leno LaBianca’s body and smeared the couple’s blood on the walls.

The murders came the day after other Manson followers, excluding Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others.

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Mr Newsom’s decision on Van Houten outlined her participation in graphic detail, noting that after the killings, she “drank chocolate milk from the LaBiancas’ refrigerator” before fleeing.

“The gruesome crimes perpetuated by Ms Van Houten and other Manson Family members in an attempt to incite social chaos continue to inspire fear to this day,” Mr Newsom wrote.

He said Van Houten was still minimising her responsibility and Manson’s “violent and controlling actions”, and she continues to lack insight into her reasons for participating in the murders.

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Manson and his followers were sentenced to death in 1971, though those punishments were commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in 1972.

Van Houten’s case was overturned on appeal and she was later convicted and sentenced to seven years to life in prison.

Manson died in 2017 of natural causes at a California hospital while serving a life sentence.