Charles Manson Hospitalized: 'It's Just A Matter Of Time'

LOS ANGELES, CA — For the second time this year infamous killer Charles Manson has been hospitalized and is reportedly near death.

Manson is in a Bakersfield hospital, Kern County Sheriff's Lt. Bill Smallwood confirms. However, officials with the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections declined to comment on his condition.

Manson has been hospitalized for three days, and "It's just a matter of time," one source told TMZ. Manson is serving nine life sentences for orchestrating a series of grisly murders that shocked the nation. He's spent the past five decades in California's Corcoran State Prison, but his cult-like grip on followers remains strong.

In January, Manson, 83, was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield for what authorities at the time would describe only as a serious medical problem. He was reportedly close to death in January as well, but he recovered and returned to the prison within days.

Manson was the mastermind behind the murders of the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her house guests in 1969, followed the next day by the murders of grocery store chain owners Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. In all, a group of Manson's devotees known as the Manson Family were convicted for the murders of seven people. At two crime scenes the killers scrawled messages written in the blood of their victims.

Manson didn't commit any of the killings himself, but he ordered the murders. Following a sensational trial, Manson was convicted of first degree-murder and sentenced to death. Prosecutors said Manson and his followers were trying to incite a race war he dubbed *Helter Skelter,* taken from the Beatles song of the same name.

He has been denied parole 12 times. Most of his followers have been denied parole as well. Manson girl Susan Atkins died in prison, and Patricia Krenwinkel is California’s longest serving female prisoner. A parole board granted Leslie Van Houten parole earlier this year, but she can’t be released without approval from Gov. Jerry Brown, who overruled her parole last year.

Over four decades of incarceration, Manson has been cited for assault, repeated possession of a weapon, threatening staff and possessing a cell phone.

Watch Now: Charles Manson Reportedly On Brink Of Death

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City News Service contributed to this report. (AP Photo, File)