How Did Charles Manson Die? Inside the Cult Leader’s Life in Prison — and How He Avoided Death Row Despite His Gruesome Crimes
Charles Manson died while serving nine life sentences in 2017 — nearly 50 years after masterminding the 1969 killings of Sharon Tate and eight others in Los Angeles.
The infamous criminal commanded his followers, who were known as the Manson family, to commit a series of horrific murders throughout the hills of L.A. in an effort to start a race war he called “Helter Skelter.”
Manson’s reign of terror began on July 27, 1969, when he orchestrated the death of music teacher Gary Hinman. Less than two weeks later, during the night of Aug. 8, Manson sent four of his followers to kill everyone at a Benedict Canyon home rented by actress Tate, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski. The Manson family then killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their Los Feliz home on Aug. 10, followed by former stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea, who was murdered on Aug. 26.
Manson and his followers were eventually arrested and charged in the savage slayings in December 1969. The nation became both fascinated and sickened with the case during the nine-month trial that ensued, which resulted in Manson being sentenced to death in 1971 for conspiracy to commit the grisly murders.
While he was supposed to die at the hands of the state, California abolished the death penalty in 1972 — which resulted in his sentence being commuted to life in prison. Manson died at 83 in November 2017 after spending the majority of his life behind bars.
The viciousness of Manson’s crimes left a lasting mark on American culture and Manson himself achieved a perverse popularity — which has not dissipated in the years since his death. Now — more than seven years after his death — the Netflix documentary Chaos: The Manson Murders examines how Manson convinced his followers to commit such horrific crimes without remorse.
Here’s everything to know about Charles Manson’s death.
Though the California Department of Corrections stated that Manson died of natural causes, the notorious cult leader had reportedly been “seriously ill” in the months prior to his death, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In January 2017, Manson was hospitalized for gastrointestinal bleeding related to his colon and deemed too weak to undergo surgery, per The New York Times. However, prison spokespeople declined to comment on his hospitalization and condition, citing privacy issues. A few days later, he returned to Corcoran State Prison in Bakersfield, Calif.
But 10 months later, in November 2017, Manson was back in the hospital, according to the L.A. Times. Though he was reportedly alive when he was admitted to the hospital, Manson was in grave condition, per TMZ. The mass murderer would never return to prison; he died two days after his hospitalization was first reported.
In December 2017, Manson’s death certificate shed more light on his health at the time of his passing. Manson had metastatic colon cancer, which ultimately led to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.
Manson died on Nov. 19, 2017, at 8:13 p.m. PT.
Though Manson had spent the majority of his life in prison, he did not technically die behind bars. Instead, the infamous murderer died in a Kern County hospital north of L.A., per the California Department of Corrections.
Prison officials did not confirm the specific hospital where Manson died, but reporters spotted a prison department van parked outside of Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield the week before his death, according to the L.A. Times.
At the time of his death, Manson had been in Corcoran State Prison — a California prison located between San Francisco and Los Angeles — since 1989. He was serving nine life sentences and was known as a “nasty prisoner,” with dozens of infractions (including threatening prison staff, possession of a weapon and assault) on his prison record.
“He has had over 100 violations since he was incarcerated, which has been a very long time,” Kristina Khokhobashvili, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told PEOPLE in January 2017.
Manson, who was denied parole 12 times, was reportedly unfazed by spending the rest of his life in prison — despite being only 37 years old when he was sentenced to San Quentin’s death row. (His sentence was later changed to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty in 1972, per the L.A. Times.)
“Prison is my home,” he said in an interview (via the LA Times). “The only home I ever had.”
Manson turned 83 years old one week before his death on Nov. 19, 2017.
Prior to his 2017 hospitalizations, his relatives reported that he had been in good health up until that point.
“I think at age 82, he’s in pretty good shape,” his grandson Jason Freeman told the L.A. Times after Manson’s January 2017 hospitalization. “For being 82 and locked up, he’s kept himself together well physically.”
Freeman did acknowledge, though, that Manson was advancing in age and, most likely, nearing the end of his life.
“Old age is setting in,” he added. “Nature is taking its course. There will be a day where he doesn’t wake up again.”
While Manson’s final spoken words before his death are unknown, the cult killer participated in interviews with author and television producer James Buddy Day throughout the last year of his life.
“I didn’t have nothing to do with killing those people,” Manson told Day in a phone call, according to TIME. “They knew I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Manson’s death was met with strong reactions from the family members of his victims, who were contacted by prison officials informing them of the mass murderer’s passing.
Charlotte Hood, a cousin of the Manson family’s first official victim, Gary Hinman, told PEOPLE that it was “about time” Manson died and that she and her family “believe in the death penalty.”
“I think the state kept him alive too damn long,” Hood said after news of Manson’s death broke, adding that she hoped he was “headed where there are a few people poking at him with pitchforks that are kind of hot.”
Anthony DiMaria, the nephew of Manson victim Jay Sebring, shared that Manson’s death brought no comfort or closure to the victims’ families.
“We derive no joy or comfort from the passing of Mr. Manson,” DiMaria told PEOPLE. “Nor is there closure because nothing will bring back Jay, or any of the victims sent to their graves 48 years ago. For us, our hearts and thoughts are with them.”
Sharon Tate’s sister Debra also spoke out in the wake of Manson’s death, telling PEOPLE that she “said a prayer for his soul.” Debra, who worked tirelessly to ensure Manson was never paroled while he was alive, also revealed that she believed God would take care of Manson’s spirit.
“I hope that he gets some kind of mercy,” Sharon said in her full statement following Manson’s death, according to ABC. “He didn’t show that to any of our victims, but I try to come from a higher place and I hope he gets some mercy.”
Following Manson’s death, a months-long court battle ensued over the rights to the serial killer’s remains.
At one point, as many as three individuals — including Manson’s grandson, Jason Freeman; Manson’s son, Michael Brunner; and a prison pen pal of Manson’s, Michael Channel — were attempting to take possession of Manson’s body, CNN reported.
In March 2018, four months after Manson’s death, a judge ruled in favor of Freeman. Commissioner Alisa R. Knight, a court commissioner of Kern County, ultimately ruled that Freeman was “determined to be the surviving competent adult next of kind of the decedent,” Bakersfield.com reported. As a result, Freeman was responsible for Manson’s funeral and burial.
On March 17, 2018, a private Christian funeral was held for Manson in Porterville, Calif., according to CNN. Following the funeral, his remains were cremated and scattered on a California hillside.
Throughout his life, Manson and his heinous crimes spurred ideas for movies, television shows, books and music — and this remained true after he died.
The same year of his death in 2017, he was the subject of Netflix’s Mindhunter and season 7 of FX’s American Horror Story, aptly titled Cult. The Manson murders also serve as the backdrop for Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.
Acclaimed documentary director Errol Morris is the latest to tackle the topic of Manson and his murders with the Netflix documentary Chaos: The Manson Murders. The project, which premiered on March 7, questions the official accounts of the Manson family’s killing spree and examines newly revealed links between the CIA, LSD and Manson.
But while Manson and his crimes have been immortalized in the media, his victims’ families have worked tirelessly to ensure their lives are just as remembered.
“The people that we lost in this historical event were real, and they had lives and families,” she told PEOPLE in September 2014. “They’re sorely missed.”