(AP) — 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. 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. 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. 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. The motive — to trigger a civilization-ending race war by slaughtering innocent people chosen at random — is equally disturbing.