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LOS ANGELES. — Charles Manson, the psychopathic guru who masterminded a savage killing spree in the United States in the late 1960s that shocked the world, has died aged 83, California prison officials said. Manson “died of natural causes on Sunday” at a hospital in Kern County, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a brief statement.

Debra Tate — the sister of Manson’s most famous victim, Sharon Tate — told celebrity website TMZ that she received a call from prison officials notifying her of Manson’s death. Manson was earlier moved from the Corcoran State Prison to a hospital in the city of Bakersfield, in Kern County, to be treated for an unspecified illness.

In the late 1960s, Manson headed an apocalyptic cult that committed random murders in upscale mostly white neighbourhoods of Los Angeles — unleashing a wave of panic. The aim was for African Americans to be blamed, in the hope of sparking what he believed to be an impending and apocalyptic race war. — AFP.