Charles Manson, the wild-eyed cult leader who masterminded the murders of at least seven people, has died after nearly five decades in prison. He was 83.
He died of natural causes in a hospital in Kern County, north of Los Angeles, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Manson — leader of the so-called ‘Manson Family,’ a quasi-commune — was hospitalised for gastrointestinal issues in January, but was deemed too frail to undergo surgery.
Mason was trying to start a race war when he ordered his followers, made up mostly of disaffected young women, to kill seven people, including Sharon Tate — the most famous of the victims, an actress who was married to the film director Roman Polanski. She was eight and a half months pregnant when she was killed with four other people at her home.
Tate’s sister, Debra, said she learned about Manson’s death about 15 minutes after it happened.
“I said a prayer, shed a tear, stuck a flower under my cross in my bedroom and emailed Roman [Polanski],” Tate told the The New York Daily News.
Sharon Tate is pictured with husband Roman Polanski on their wedding day in 1968.
Tate added that she’s managed to come to terms with the infamous cult leader’s actions.
“I’ve processed through all of my hate for him. Hate isn’t health. It won’t bring my sister back,” she said.
“One could say I’ve forgiven him, but there’s a difference between forgiving and forgetting.”
Sharon was eight and a half months pregnant when she was killed with four other people at her home.
Manson and three female followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, were convicted of murder and conspiracy to murder. They initially received the death penalty over the killings but were spared when capital punishment was temporarily abolished following a ruling by the supreme court in 1972.
Manson was denied parole a dozen times during his decades of incarceration.
