Charles Manson Dies Aged 83 After 40 Years In Prison
Charles Manson, the notorious head of a cult which he directed to commit murders, has died in hospital aged 83.
He was admitted to Bakersfield hospital in California earlier this month, US media reported. In 1969, Manson followers, known as the Manson family, killed seven people.
Among the victims of his killing spree was heavily pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanksi.
Four other people at her home were also brutally stabbed to death. The next day, a wealthy couple in Los Angeles were also killed by the “Manson family”.
Manson believed in a coming race war in America, after which he could emerge as a leader of a new social order a vision nicknamed “Helter Skelter”, after a Beatles song Manson became obsessed with.
Prosecutors argued that Manson hoped black Americans would be blamed for the killings, heightening racial tensions.
He convinced a number of his followers that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, using a reported combination of drugs and genuine charisma which brought the “family” – mainly young, middle-class women under his control.
