Mass murderer Charles Manson is reportedly seriously ill in hospital. The 82-yea-old has been transported from a prison in the US state of California where he is serving a life term. <br /><br /> In the 1960s Manson assembled a group of runaways and outcasts who became known as the “Manson Family.” <br /><br /> In the summer of 1969, he instructed his followers, mostly young females, to murder a number of high-profile people.<br /><br /> Prosecutors said it was part of a plan to incite a race war between white and black people, that Manson believed was in The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” song.<br /><br /> Among the first to be murdered was Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, the wife of film director Roman Polanski, who was heavily pregnant at the time.<br /><br /> Tate was stabbed multiple times. Several members of Manson’s group knifed or shot to death four other people at the couple’s home. <br /><br /> Why are we paying to keep #charlesmanson alive? https://t.co/4ynIPp9YUz— Lisa B. (@ls_bks) January 4, 2017<br /><br /> In 1975, Manson devotee Lynette Fromme pointed a gun at then US President Gerald Ford in an attempted assassination. She was sentenced to life in prison.<br /><br /> Manson and his devotees would eventually be convicted of murdering nine people, but authorities believe the group’s victims may have numbered more than 30. <br /><br /> Manson was originally condemned to death. He was spared execution and his sentence was converted to life in prison after the state Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in California.<br />
