Serial killer Charles Manson 'seriously ill' in hospital

Convicted serial killer Charles Manson has been moved from prison and taken to hospital, according to US media reports.

The 82-year-old Manson is seriously ill, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The TMZ website reported that Manson was transported to a hospital in Bakersfield, California, about an hour from California State Prison in Corcoran, where he was being held.

Manson, who was sentenced to life in prison, directed his mostly young, female followers - known as the Manson Family - to murder seven people in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war between whites and blacks.

In the early hours of 9 August 1969, members of the cult repeatedly stabbed Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, who was then heavily pregnant, and then stabbed or shot to death four other people at her home.

The following night, Manson's group entered the nearby home of grocery store chain owner Leno LaBianca and his wife, and stabbed the couple to death.

Manson was originally sentenced to death but was spared execution and his sentence converted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in that state.