BAKERSFIELD — Mass murderer Charles Manson was taken from his California prison cell to a hospital, according to several news reports. A prison official would confirm only that the 82-year-old Manson was alive and gave no other information.
Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. The cult leader attracted disaffected young people who lived in a commune, followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers.
Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that Manson had been hospitalized. TMZ said he had been taken to a medical center in Bakersfield, about 60 miles south of Corcoran State Prison, where Manson was being held.
Late Tuesday night, three vans from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were parked outside Bakersfield's Mercy Hospital Downtown, where state prisoners have been treated before.
But CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thornton said only that Manson is still alive and still assigned to the prison in Corcoran. She declined to say whether he was at the hospital in Bakersfield, citing safety privacy laws prohibit her from discussing an inmate's medical situation.