Who’s Your Daddy: Fighting For The Estate Of Charles Manson

Charles Manson may have been a convicted serial killer, but that does not mean that his estate was not wanted by multiple people. In Los Angeles County Superior Court, Jason Freeman, Manson’s grandson, is battling Michael Channels, the decedent’s prison pen pal, for control and receipt of the estate. Manson passed away in November of last year from complications of colon cancer.

There were originally four men that were vying for control of Manson’s estate. The other two included Matt Lentz, who claimed that he was a biological son of Manson that was given up for adoption, and that there existed a will naming him as sole beneficiary. Another was an actual son of Manson, Michael Brunner, but the courts deemed that he lost his bid for the estate because his maternal grandparents had adopted him.

In the current situation, Channels is claiming that there is a 2002 will signed by Manson naming him as sole beneficiary, disinheriting all of his sons and grandsons in favor of the pen pal. However, Channels is one of the two witnesses that signed the will, so the courts may see this as a conflict of interests.

See Cori A. Robinson, Who’s Your Daddy: Fighting For The Estate Of Charles Manson, Above the Law, December 20, 2018.

Special thanks to Carissa Peterson (Hrbacek Law Firm, Sugar Land, Texas) for bringing this article to my attention.