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Manson was the ringleader of the “Manson Family” – a murder cult that was behind the brutal slayings of seven people, including Sharon Tate, the actress wife of Hollywood director Roman Polanski, in 1969.

He died at Bakersfield Hospital in California, Tate's sister Debra said after receiving a call from the prison where Manson was located.

He had been serving multiple life sentences in Corcoran State Prison in California, after being convicted in 1971 of conspiracy to commit the murder.

Although Manson has never admitted the true reasons for the evil killings, it is believed he wanted to start a race war in the US.

He dubbed his vision "Helter Skelter", after a Beatles song he became obsessed with.

(Image: GETTY)

(Image: GETTY)

Manson's cause of death has not been confirmed at this stage, but he suffered numerous illnesses in old age.

According to US website TMZ, all the Manson Family victims are being contacted by prison authorities to tell them the news.

His death comes just days after he was seen being taken to Bakersfield hospital "covered in blankets" and looking ashen.

Manson was initially going to be given the death penalty for the horrific 1969 killings, but it was outlawed in California before it could be carried out.

(Image: GETTY)

The Manson Family – as his followers were known – consisted mainly of women who were convinced he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

On the night of August 9, 1969, his "family" brutally slaughtered Sharon Tate, who was 8½ months pregnant, at her home in Beverly Hills.

They also killed her friends, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, Polish movie director Voityck Frykowski and Steven Parent.

The next evening, they knifed to death a wealthy couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, at another home.

Manson applied for parole a total of 12 times during the more than 40 years he spent in prison.

At his last parole hearing in 2012, prison bosses said he had not appeared to have made any efforts to rehabilitate himself.

In 2014, he was granted a licence to get married to a woman, 26, who claimed she was in love with him.

But the marriage licence expired and the ceremony never went ahead.