Charles Manson Has Died

Charles Manson, the wild-eyed 1960s cult leader whose followers committed heinous murders that terrorized Los Angeles and shocked the nation, died Sunday of natural causes, according to the California Department of Corrections. He was 83.

Manson served nine life terms in California prisons and was denied parole 12 times. 

Charles Manson Near Death

Charles Manson was taken from prison yesterday and moved about an hour away to a Bakersfield, CA hospital where he is expected to remain until he dies. Back in 1969, Manson and his followers committed nine murders at four locations over five weeks. He was sentenced to death in 1971 but later had his sentence commuted to life in prison. One of his accomplices, Patricia Krenwinkel, who is the longest-serving female inmate in California, had her parole hearing suspended just before the New Year after the Board of Parole Hearings wanted to investigate claims she was the victim of battered women's syndrome.