THE BEAST

Mass murderer Charles Manson remained alive Friday, authorities said, but details of the illness that brought him to a Bakersfield hospital remain unclear.
Vicky Waters, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said only that Manson was still living and that the department could not provide any further details.
Kern County Sheriff's Lt. Bill Smallwood told The Times earlier this week that Manson was at a local hospital.
In January, Manson, 83, was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield for what authorities at the time would describe only as a serious medical problem. He was returned to prison a few days later.
Though officials cannot comment on where specifically Manson is being treated or why, California Department of Corrections regulations provide a glimpse of how tightly coordinated the process must be.
"They remain under CDCR custody and 24-hour supervision during this time," said Vicky Waters, a CDCR spokeswoman. "CDCR also notifies and works with hospital security and law enforcement."
Inmates are "routinely" taken to outside hospitals for medical care ranging from scheduled surgeries to emergency trauma, she said. The CDCR protocol provides up to four levels of review by a medical services committee for cases in which an inmate receives emergency care outside the prison walls.
Manson’s health problems come as Gov. Jerry Brown is deciding whether to grant parole to one of his followers.
Leslie Van Houten was recommended for parole by a panel of state commissioners in Chino. It was the 21st time that Van Houten, 68, has appeared before a parole board, and the second time that commissioners found her suitable for release.
Brown rejected her parole last year, concluding that Van Houten — the youngest member of Manson's so-called family — posed "an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison." Via L.A.Times