Debra Tate has publicly pleaded for years to keep members of the Manson family cult behind bars.

Van Houten, 73, was released from prison Tuesday, many years after California's parole board first recommended her release.

A California appeals court panel voted Tuesday to reinstate a grant of parole for Leslie Van Houten.

Charles Manson's followers brutally killed seven people in August 1969.

Leslie Van Houten has served more than 40 years in prison for murder. The Charles Manson follower was denied parole for the third time.

She wasn't relieved on Sunday when she heard Charles Manson had died.

Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring were killed by Charles Manson's followers in 1969.

It was an KABC News TV crew -- not police -- that found the killers' clothes.

"He said, 'You can't leave the group,'" recalled Mike Love.