Manson alive; reports swirl of ill health
LOS ANGELES — For nearly 50 years, Charles Manson has been the living personification of evil, a demonic presence captured in scores of photos, each of them marked by his piercing dark eyes and the crude Nazi swastika he carved into his forehead.
That personification returned to the public consciousness again this week, complete with a prison mug shot of an elderly but still evil-looking Manson, after a report by TMZ.com that the onetime murderous cult leader is seriously ill and hospitalized in Bakersfield, California.
The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to confirm that Thursday, saying only that Manson, who turned 83 on Sunday, is still alive. To reveal more, spokeswoman Vicky Waters told the Associated Press, would violate federal and state privacy laws.
Manson and members of his “family” of followers were convicted of killing actor Sharon Tate and six other people during a bloody rampage in the Los Angeles area in August 1969. Manson and his followers were trying to incite a race war he dubbed “Helter Skelter,” taken from a Beatles song.
Manson initially was sentenced to death. But a 1972 ruling by the California Supreme Court found the state’s death penalty law at the time unconstitutional, and his sentence was changed to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He has been denied parole 12 times.
During his four decades of incarceration, Manson has been anything but a model prisoner. Among other things, he has been cited for assault, repeated possession of a weapon, threatening staff and possessing a cellphone.