Manson was behind a string of murders in 1969

Former notorious American cult leader and notorious criminal Charles Manson has died at the age of 83.

Manson died of natural causes while receiving treatment at a Kern County Hospital in California on Monday November 20, this is according to, a spokeswoman from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Vicky Waters.

The treacherous criminal and mastermind of a space of fierce killings in the US, has been in prison for more than forty years.

Manson orchestrated a wave of violence in August 1969 that took the lives of 7 people. The gory killings attracted worldwide attention and landed him and his "family" of followers in prison for most of the remainder of their lives.

Among the victims of the killing spree was eight–month pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, wife to Roman Polanski.

One of Manson's young followers, Susan Atkins, stabbed Tate to death and scrawled "PIG" on the home's front door with the actress's blood.

The cult targeted celebrity actors, actresses and famous musicians in what would be latter be referred to as ‘the Tate murders’.

On the night of Tate's murder; the deaths of a wealthy couple, Rosemary and Leno LaBianca would rock Hollywood. This is as Los Angeles (LA) drug dealer and musician, Gary Hinman’s body has been discovered a month earlier.

Manson was not at the scene of either massacres, but was convicted of murder for giving orders to his followers who were mostly runaways in their early twenties who fell under his charismatic sway.

He was sentenced to death in 1971.

Considered one of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, Manson escaped execution when the state Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional at the time. Until his death, he had spent four decades behind bars, an unrepentant and irredeemable inmate who had been cited for psychological issues more than 100 times.