Charles Manson reportedly hospitalized in California

A spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says mass killer Charles Manson is alive Thursday.

Department press secretary Vicky Waters says in an email to The Associated Press that she is precluded by federal and state medical privacy laws from commenting on reports that the 83-year-old Manson has been hospitalized.

Manson is housed at Corcoran State Prison in the San Joaquin Valley. Celebrity news website TMZ.com says that three days ago Manson was rushed to a hospital in Bakersfield. The report cites sources who are not identified.

Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others by his followers in Southern California. They were sentenced to death but that was changed to life in prison when executions were temporarily banned.