VACAVILLE, Sept. 19 – Charles Manson, the infamous cult leader who was convicted of the bizarre Tate-LaBianca murders, is “doing fairly well” in a psychiatric management unit at Vacaville’s California Medical Facility, a CMF spokesman said this week.

But Manson has not been released into the prison’s “main line” general inmate population, contrary to published reports, CMF information office Roger Schaufel told the Reporter Wednesday.

Manson has been housed in CMF’s Sequin Unit since being transferred here March 20. About one month ago, Schaufel said, he progressed from the “S3” intake section to the slightly more relaxed “S2” section.

He is undergoing psychiatric treatment, but mostly simply by being in the S2 housing unit “milieu,” the spokesman stated. Manson is not undergoing any group therapy, for example, he said.

Manson is serving a life sentence for the ritual slayings of actress Sharon Tate and seven other persons. The bizarre murders attracted nationwide attention when they happened, becoming worldwide when then-President Richard Nixon pronounced Manson “guilty” during his trial.

The only reported incident involving Manson at CMF was July 29, when he engaged in what a spokesman called a “scuffle” with a guard who was trying to “escort” him into his cell. Manson suffered a minor injury to his left eye, but refused medical treatment.