NEW YORK, Jan. 29 — Mass murderer Charles Manson said he never killed actress Sharon Tate and six others in the 1960s but told a television interviewer that if he had killed “400 or 500 people” he would have “felt better.”

Manson, still wearing a Nazi swastika carved into his forehead and with long black hair surrounding his face, made the comment during a Jan. 9 interview at San Quentin Prison. The interview was aired Tuesday on NBC’s Today show.

The convicted killer ranged from being completely lucid to totally incoherent during the interview.

Manson, 53, babbled nonsensical syllables at several points and threatened interviewer Heidi Schulman. He also maintained he never killed anyone.

“You guys got it stuck in your brain that I murdered somebody. What do you want to call me a murderer for,” he said, then suddenly screamed. “I’ve never killed anyone. I don’t need to kill anyone. I think it. I have it here,” he said, pointing to his head.

He added, “Maybe I should have killed 400 or 500 people. Then I would have felt better. Then I should have felt like I really offered society something.” Manson said.

The killings and mutilations ordered by Manson shocked the nation and became front-page headlines when they occurred.

It was on Aug. 9-10, 1969, that five members of the Manson family entered the Beverly Hills home of Sharon Tate. The actress, who was pregnant, and four others were dead before the band left.

The next night the group entered the home of grocery chain owner Leno Labianca and his wife, Rosemary. They were stabbed to death and the word “pig” was painted in blood on their refrigerator.

Manson also was linked to the July 1969 death of musician Gary Hinman.

Throughout the interview Manson tugged at his gray beard and gazed at Schulman with piercing eyes.

He told Schulman if he wanted to kill someone, he would be able to do it with little emotion.

“I’d take this book and beat you to death with it and wouldn’t feel a thing. It’d be just like walking to the drug store.”

NBC news anchor John Palmer said the staff had trouble deciding whether to air the interview.

Finally, he said, the staff decided to broadcast five minutes of it because they thought people would be curious about the convicted killer.

Manson agreed to give two interviews, one to NBC and another to LIFE magazine, to promote the book Charles Manson, In His Own Words. The book was written by Nuel Emmons, an ex-con who met the convicted killer in prison.

Manson was sentenced to death 16 years ago but California’s death penalty law was struck down and his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

He described himself as a petty car thief who spent his life on the streets “with prostitutes, bums and winos.”

He ended the 1 1/2 hour interview saying, “Believe me, if I started murdering people there’d be none of you left.”