Charles Manson’s Cause Of Death Revealed

BAKERSFIELD, CA — Cult leader and convicted murderer Charles Manson died of cardiac arrest and respiratory failure as he battled colon cancer, a death certificate obtained by TMZ shows. Cardiac arrest was the immediate cause of death with respiratory failure and colon cancer being the underlying causes, according to the document.

Manson, who gained notoriety in the 1960s as the leader of a murderous cult, died on Nov. 19 at the age of 83 in a hospital in Bakersfield.

In 1971, a court found that despite not laying a hand on any of the victims, Manson was responsible for nine murders. Prosecutors convinced jurors that Manson controlled the minds of his followers and forced them to do his murderous bidding.

The Association of Deputy District Attorneys issued a statement after the news broke quoting Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi about the man he put behind bars.

“Manson was an evil, sophisticated con man with twisted and warped moral values,” Bugliosi said. The association added: “Today, Manson’s victims are the ones who should be remembered and mourned on the occasion of his death.”

He was initially sentenced to death, but in 1972 a superior court struck down the state's death penalty. Manson and others on death row in the state were instead given a life sentence.

The "Manson family" — the name given to his group of followers — lived together on Spahn's Ranch, an Old West movie set near Chatsworth. The "family" appeared to outsiders to be a hippie commune, but prosecutors said it was a cult, and its members were controlled with drugs, violence and sexual abuse. Their grisly killings shocked the nation and they were credited with bringing a bitter end to the free-love era.

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Paige Austin and City News Service contributed to this report.

Photo credit: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images