CHARLES Manson has died after nearly a half-century in prison.

The hippie cult leader co-ordinated the gruesome murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969.

Manson died on Sunday night of natural causes at a California hospital at the age of 83, while serving a life sentence.

Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County, said: “Today, Manson’s victims are the ones who should be remembered and mourned on the occasion of his death.”

A petty criminal who had been in and out of jail since childhood, the charismatic Manson surrounded himself in the 1960s with runaways and other lost souls, and then sent them to butcher some of LA’s rich and famous in what prosecutors said was a bid to trigger a race war, an idea he said he got from a twisted reading of the Beatles song Helter Skelter.

Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Manson maintained during his tumultuous trial in 1970 that he was innocent and that society itself was guilty.

California Corrections Department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said it has yet to be determined what happens to Manson’s body. It was also unclear if Manson requested funeral services of any sort.

Prison officials previously said Manson had no known next of kin.