CORCORAN, Calif. - A California prison panel has denied parole to mass murderer Charles Manson parole in his 12th bid for freedom.

The panel acted Wednesday after a parole hearing.

Manson, now a grey-bearded, 77-year-old, did not attend the hearing.

He orchestrated a series of gruesome murders on consecutive nights in Los Angeles 40 years ago. His trial with three women acolytes was an international spectacle.

Manson and his followers were convicted in the 1969 slaying of Sharon Tate and four others.