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Charles Manson Is Reportedly Too Frail For Surgery
Charles Manson. (Photo via Getty Images)
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Convicted murderer and former cult leader Charles Manson is reportedly too weak to undergo necessary surgery, reports TMZ.Manson was rushed to Bakersfield's Mercy Hospital on Tuesday, reportedly suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding. According to TMZ, the 82-year-old Manson initially refused surgery on Tuesday, but on Thursday changed his mind. As doctors were preparing him to go under the knife, they determined that surgery would be "life-threatening" considering his frail condition.
Manson has been incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison, about 60 miles north of Bakersfield, since 1989, serving a life sentence after being convicted on seven counts of murder in 1971. Prison officials say he's had over 100 infractions during his time in prison and has especially shown contempt towards the female guards. "He was a nasty prisoner," a former Los Angeles prosecutor told People magazine. An unnamed official told the New York Post that this is not Manson's first health scare in recent months; he'd been sent to the hospital "months ago." It's unclear whether it was for the same ailment he is being treated for now.
In the late-1960s, Manson ordered his so-called "Family" to commit two murders that would be regarded as some of L.A.'s most notorious. Over two nights in August of 1969, Family members murdered actress Sharon Tate and her friends, as well as supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary.
Five Manson Family members, including Manson himself, were sentenced to death on seven counts of murder for the Tate and LaBianca murders. They later had the death sentences commuted to life in prison when the state Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. All have been denied parole several times through the decades, including Manson, who has been denied 12 times.
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Related: Where Are The Manson Family Members Now?
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