The man often described as the dark side of the 60s is dead.

Charles Manson, the cult leader of the Manson family who were responsible for the murder of actress Sharon Tate among others, died on Sunday at a hospital in California. He was 83.

The swastika-tattooed Manson was serving nine life sentences for mass murder, despite never actually killing anyone himself.

He and three other members of the 'Manson Family' cult were convicted of the murders of seven people in a Los Angeles killing spree in 1969. Their victims included the heavily pregnant Tate, wife of director Roman Polanksi.

Manson and his followers wanted to incite a violent race war they called 'Helter Skelter', after the Beatles song. The seven murders were allegedly intended to trigger the apocalyptic conflict.

Despite Manson not carrying out the killings himself, he was found guilty of murder by proxy and sentenced to death. However in 1972 the death sentence was ruled unconstitutional and was changed to life in prison with the possibility of parole, which he was denied 12 times.

Manson was hospitalised in January 2017, and returned in November, but the details around his failing health were kept highly secret.

It has been reported that he died of natural causes.

Newshub.

