US mass murderer Charles Manson is ‘seriously ill in hospital’

US mass murderer Charles Manson is “seriously ill” in hospital after being transferred from prison for undisclosed medical condition, according to media reports on Tuesday.

The 82-year-old was moved from Corcoran State Prison in Kings County, California, to a hospital 100km to the south in Bakersfield, according to celebrity news portal TMZ.

A state corrections official refused to comment on the reports and would confirm only that Manson had not died, but the Los Angeles Times cited an unnamed source who said Manson was “seriously ill,” without elaborating.

Manson headed an apocalyptic cult that committed murders in upscale, mostly white neighbourhoods 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.

He has been in prison for more than four decades after the 1969 killings, which included the brutal murder of director Roman Polanski’s actress wife, Sharon Tate, who was heavily pregnant.

He was sentenced to death in 1969 along with four of his “Manson Family” disciples for having led the killing of seven people, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.