Cult leader Charles Manson is reportedly on his death bed in hospital as sources claim 'it's just a matter of time.'

Manson was rushed to a Bakersfield hospital three days ago for emergency medical treatment - where he has remained.

Sources told TMZ he looks 'ashen', is covered in blankets and is not expected to last much longer.

'It's not going to get any better for him,' they told the news outlet. 'It's just a matter of time.'

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Charles Manson is reportedly on his death bed in hospital as sources claim 'it's just a matter of time'

Manson was rushed to a Bakersfield hospital three days ago for emergency medical treatment - where he has remained (picturing in his younger days, arriving for court in 1971)

Manson's health has been steadily declining for months.

In January, he was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield for severe intestinal bleeding and a sigmoid lesion.

Sources told TMZ that doctors wanted to operate immediately but Manson had refused.

By the time he changed his mind and was ready for the operation, doctors determined he was too weak for surgery, and he was sent back to jail.

A source at the time said: 'He's not good. His health is failing.'

The 83-year-old has been behind bars for more than four decades, since 1969, after he ordered members of his cult - which he dubbed 'the family' - to go on a murderous two-day rampage.

Three of followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten killed seven people: pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Steven Parent and Jay Sebring.

Manson's health has been steadily declining for months. He pictured left in 1989 and right in 2011

Manson has been behind bars for more than four decades after being locked up in 1969 when he and members of his cult, which he called 'the family' went on a murderous two-day rampage

He and three of his followers, Susan Atkins (left), Patricia Krenwinkle (center) and Leslie Van Houten (right) killed seven people: pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Steven Parent and Jay Sebring

He had ordered his family members to slaughter Tate, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and three of her friends at her home above Beverly Hills.

Stephen Parent was a fifth unfortunate victim that night. He had driven to the property to see if caretaker William Garreston wanted to buy his AM/FM Clock radio, and had stayed on for a beer at the guest house. He was shot multiple times when he wound down the window at the electric gate as he left.

The following night the Family butchered small business owners Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, in their home in Los Angeles.

The murders were carried out in upscale, mostly white neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to blame the crimes on African Americans, in the hope of sparking what he termed a 'Helter Skelter' race war.

The murders were carried out in upscale, mostly white neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to blame the crimes on African Americans, in the hope of sparking what he termed a 'Helter Skelter' race war. Manson is pictured in 1969 during a preliminary hearing

During the trial he was convicted of leading a cult in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers. He is pictured being taken to jail in 1969 by a group of police officers

During the trial he was convicted of leading a cult in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers.

Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkle and Van Houten were convicted of murder and initially sentenced to death for the killings.

Manson, who was not actually present but ordered the killings, applied for parole in 2012 but was denied release and is not eligible to apply again until 2027.

The cult leader continued his life of crime behind bars after being locked up, with more than 100 infractions during his time in prison, for charges including assault, making voodoo dolls and hiding a hot air balloon order catalog in his cell.

Speaking to People, retired Los Angeles County prosecutor Stephen Kay, who helped convict Manson of the 1969 murders, said: ‘He threw hot coffee on a guard and spit on a guard’s face. He had a saw blade in the sole of a shoe.

Manson even managed to maintain a love life inside, and was recently engaged to 29-year-old Afton ‘Star’ Burton until she called off the wedding

A marriage license was issued but expired in February 2015 amid reports that she only wanted to marry Manson so that she could use his corpse for profit - charging people a fee to view it

‘He was making little dolls, but they were like voodoo dolls of people and he would stick needles in them, hoping to injure the live person the doll was fashioned after.

'He said his main activity was making those dolls.’

Manson was also targeted by other prisoners - on one occasion a Hare Krishna poured lighter fluid on him and set him on fire.

And prior to being moved to Corcoran in 1989, prison guards at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville found a hacksaw blade, marijuana and LSD in Manson’s cells according to a report in the LA Times.

Manson even managed to maintain a love life inside, and was recently engaged to 29-year-old Afton ‘Star’ Burton until she called off the wedding.

Afton, who changed her named to Star a decade ago, crossed the country at the age of 18, leaving her home on the Mississippi river and moving to Corcoran to be closer to the jail.

She struck up a relationship with Manson when she started writing to him after a friend chose him as the subject of a school project.

A marriage license was issued but expired in February 2015 amid lurid reports that Afton had only wanted to marry Manson so that she could take possession of his corpse on his death and use it for profit - charging people a fee to view it.