Charles Manson dies aged 83 after four decades in prison

Charles Manson, the notorious cult leader who directed his followers to commit a string of brutal murders, and who became a symbol of the dark side of 1960s counterculture, has died aged 83.

Manson was admitted to Bakersfield hospital, California earlier this month and died of natural causes on Sunday.

In 1969, his followers, known as the Manson Family, killed nine people.

Among the victims of the killing spree was heavily pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, wife of 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.

Four other people at Tate's home were brutally stabbed to death. The next day, a wealthy couple in Los Angeles, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, were also killed by the clan. The killings became known collectively as the Tate-LaBianca murders.

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Separately Donald Shea, a Hollywood stuntman, and Gary Hinman, an acquaintance of the group, were killed by members of the Manson Family.

Manson was not at the scene of the killings, but was nonetheless convicted of murder for directing his followers in seven of the killings. He was sentenced to death in 1971.

Sharon Tate, here with husband Roman Polanski, was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered

Manson "died of natural causes at 8:13 pm (04:13 GMT Monday) on Sunday" at a hospital in Kern County, the California Department of Corrections said in a statement. He had been in custody for more than 40 years.

Tate's sister, Debra told the TMZ website that she had received a phone call from prison officials shortly after Manson's death.

Gathering young followers around him in the late 1960s, Manson claimed to believe in a coming race war in America. He planned to hasten the war and emerge as the leader of a new social order - a vision he nicknamed "Helter Skelter", after a Beatles song Manson became obsessed with.

Prosecutors argued that Manson hoped black Americans would be blamed for the Tate-LaBianca killings, heightening racial tensions.

Manson believed in a coming race war in America

Manson convinced a number of his followers that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, using a combination of drugs and genuine charisma to bring the "Family" - mainly young, middle-class women - under his control.

Death penalty

Before Manson's death sentence could be carried out, California outlawed capital punishment and his sentence was reduced to nine life sentences. Over the course of his four decades in prison, Manson applied for parole 12 times.

The last attempt was turned down by the parole board in 2012.

In 2014, Manson was granted a marriage licence to wed a 26-year-old woman who said she loved him, but the licence expired and the marriage did not go ahead.

Almost half a century on, the Manson Family's killing spree continues to fascinate many Americans, and has been retold through books, films and music.