Cult leader Charles Manson has died aged 83, one week after he was admitted to hospital.

The news was confirmed by Debra Tate, the sister of his most famous victim, actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant with film director Roman Polanski’s baby when she was stabbed to death by his followers.

‘This could be the end of an era or just the beginning,’ she declared, adding: ‘I said a prayer for his soul.’

Manson died from natural causes at 8.13pm on Sunday at a Kern County hospital, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

Earlier this week it was reported he was on his death bed in hospital and sources claimed ‘it’s just a matter of time. A statement released by the Association of Deputy District Attorneys of California on Monday morning, quoting Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor in the trial who died two years ago, said: ‘Manson was an evil, sophisticated con-man with twisted and warped moral values.

‘Manson’s victims are the ones who should be remembered and mourned on the occasion of his death.’

Manson was rushed to a Bakersfield hospital last week for emergency medical treatment.

Sources told TMZ he looked ‘ashen’, was covered in blankets and was 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.’

Manson’s health had 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.

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