Leslie Van Houten

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Leslie Van Houten, the youngest member of the Manson “family” to take part in a series of gruesome California murders in 1969, has been denied freedom again — her past overshadowing her decades as a model prisoner.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday overturned a parole board recommendation in April that found Van Houten, 66, was no longer the violent woman who helped slaughter a wealthy grocer and his wife.

The board noted that during her 46 years in prison, Van Houten completed college degrees, ran self-help groups for other inmates and had a spotless disciplinary record.

Brown disagreed with their conclusion.

“She remains an unacceptable risk to society if released,” he wrote in a five-page review that denied Van Houten parole for the 20th time.

Her lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, said he expected Brown’s decision because of the political pressure put upon him.

The next parole hearing could come in as little as a year, Pfeiffer said.

At 19, Van Houten was the youngest follower of Charles Manson to take part in killings he orchestrated in hopes of fomenting a race war that he dubbed “Helter Skelter,” after a Beatles song.

She did not take part in the Manson “family” murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in 1969 but did participate in the killings of grocer Leno La Bianca and his wife, Rosemary, the next day.

At her parole hearing, Van Houten described how she helped secure a pillow over the woman’s head, wrapped a lamp cord around her neck and held her down while another member of the Manson family began stabbing the woman in her home.

She stabbed Rosemary La Bianca at least 16 times.