Cult mastermind Charles Manson dies behind bars

Last updated: November 20, 2017 at 8:46 am

Notorious cult leader Charles Manson has died in prison aged 83.

The charismatic face of Sixties counterculture directed his followers – mainly young middle-class females – to commit a series of gusome killings.

Manson claimed he foresaw a race war in America, and his actions were an attempt to hasten this war – an idea he got from a twisted reading of the Beatles song Helter Skelter.

The killings, he hoped, would be blamed on black Americans and this would then heighten racial tensions.

The victims included pregnant actress Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, whose blood was used to write “PIG” on the front door in Los Angeles.

Four others died in the house, and the following day Manson’s followers – known as the Manson family – killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Although he wasn’t at the crime scenes, Manson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death 1971 along with three of his cult members.

He also was convicted in the connection with the killings of Gary Hinman, a musician, and stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea in 1969.

All had their sentence commented to life when California briefly struck down capital punishment the next year.

A statement from the California Department of Corrections said that Manson died of natural causes at a Kern County hospital.

He had been rushed to hospital on 12 November, with TMZ reporting that they had been told it was “just a matter of time” until he died.

Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson, said in a statement: “Manson was an evil, sophisticated con man with twisted and warped moral values.”

Atkins died behind bars in 2009, while family members Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Watson remain in prison.