VACAVILLE, Calif. -- Mass murderer Charles Manson remained in serious condition today with severe burns over 18 percent of his body, suffered when he was turned into a human torch by another killer whose Hare Krishna chanting provoked a religious argument.
Manson suffered second- and third-degree burns Tuesday when convicted killer Jan Holmstrom allegedly doused the cult leader with paint thinner and tossed a match at him during the argument in the prison hobby shop, officials said.
Lt. Bill Hartwell, prison spokesman for the California Medical Facility, said there was no overnight change in Manson's condition. 'He remains in serious, but stable condition,' Hartwell said.
Manson, who is serving a life term for the 1969 brutal and ritualistic murders of actress Sharon Tate and eight others, will not be moved to another hospital for special burn treatment, Hartwell said.
'His security is too high for that. He is toocontroversial,' Hartwell said, adding that it is too early to tell if Manson will require plastic surgery.
Holstrom, who said he belongs to the Hare Krishna sect, told prison guards that Manson had argued with him over his religious beliefs and threatened him for two days, said Bob Gore, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections.
'Manson apparently didn't like his chanting,' Hartwell said.
Manson was burned on his scalp, face and hands, and his beard and hair were singed before other inmates were able to extinguish the flames, authorities said.
'It's not life-threatening, but he could have some scars,' Hartwell said.
In Washington, a spokesman for the Hare Krishna sect said Holmstrom 'came in contact' with the group more than 10 years ago but has no connection with the organization now.
'We had to ask him not to frequent our temples because we saw that he had a deranged mentality,' said Richard Gravely, national director of public affairs for the Hare Krishna movement.
Holmstrom was placed in a segregated cell while prison authorities pursued their investigation of the incident.
Holmstrom, 36, serving a life term for second-degree murder and other crimes, was described by prison psychiatrists as a 'psychiatric case in remission,' Gore said.
Manson was the charismatic leader of a drug and sex cult that shocked the nation with the murder of Tate and eight others in Los Angeles. Manson did not attempt to dissuade his followers from their belief that he was Jesus Christ.
He escaped death in the San Quentin Prison gas chamber only when the California Supreme Court struck down the state's death penalty law. He has been rejected several times for parole.
Until about three years ago he had been kept in a segregated cell. His time behind bars has been uneventful except for two incidents.
About 10 years ago, Manson was attacked by a longtime enemy as he walked in the Folsom Prison exercise yard. Guards fired shots to break up the fight and Manson was not injured.
In 1982, guards uncovered an alleged plot by Manson and three others to escape from the medical facility, possibly by using a hot air balloon to get over the walls surrounding the prison. One-hundred feet of nylon cord and a catalog for mail-order hot air balloons were found in the prison chapel where Manson worked as a porter.
