Charles Manson reportedly in grave condition at California hospital
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Charles Manson, leader of a hippie cult, stares at the floor, Oct. 6, 1970, as he is led to the Los Angeles court room. Manson has been hospitalized in California with a bleak prognosis, according to a report today.
Cult leader Charles Manson has been hospitalized in California with a bleak prognosis, according to a report today.
The 83-year-old was brought to a Bakersfield hospital three days ago, TMZ.com said.
The notorious mass murderer serving seven life sentences in Corcoran State Prison in California has been suffering from health issues for some time.
In January he had to be hospitalized for severe intestinal bleeding. He also needed surgery to repair a lesion but doctors said he was too weak and sent him back to prison.
Since arriving at the Bakersfield facility three days ago, Manson has been getting various treatments around the hospital — always guarded by five police officers, TMZ said.
A source familiar with Manson’s condition told the website “it’s not going to get any better for him.”
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The source also added, “it’s just a matter of time,” TMZ said.
Famous for the crude, self-carved swastika on his forehead, Manson shocked the world on Aug. 9, 1969, when he directed his protege Charles Watson to take three female members of his cult — known as the Manson Family — to a posh house above Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and slaughter everyone there.
The Manson Family members brutally butchered movie director Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife Sharon Tate along with celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, writer Wojciech Frykowski, and visiting teen Steven Parent.
The next night, Manson joined the same four followers along with two more as they broke into the Los Feliz home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary.
Manson wanted to show the group the correct way to execute and ordered the LaBiancas bound with lamp cords and their heads covered by pillowcases before the savage stabbing started.
The vicious Manson killings stunned Los Angeles and caused a worldwide sensation.
Manson was tried for the horrific murders and sentenced to death along with several members of his cult. The sentences were commuted to life when the death penalty was briefly outlawed in 1972. Prosecutors said Manson and his followers were trying to incite a race war he believed was suggested in the Beatles’ song “Helter Skelter.”
Behind bars since 1971, Manson has been denied parole a dozen times. His next hearing is scheduled for 2027.
