Charles Manson’s Body Has Been on Ice for Three Months. Here’s Why

Cult leader Charles Manson died almost three months ago at the age of 83. His body remains in storage as at least four people fight for the right to dispose of the body and his estate. Jason Freeman, one of the first official claimants to Manson’s corpse, has said that he is Manson’s grandson and was the first person to file documents in Los Angeles Probate Court to lay claim to the estate. Michael Brunner filed a claim in probate court fewer than twelve hours before a judge was expected to make his decision regarding the court’s authority to hear the issue. Brunner’s mother was Mary Brunner, who numbered among Manson’s first followers. Brunner’s attorney filed a petition that included a birth certificate for Michael Manson. The parents on the birth certificate are Mary Brunner and Charles Manson.

Matthew Robert Lentz is the third individual fighting for Manson’s estate. He claimed to be Manson’s son in a 2012 interview, but blood tests failed to confirm the relationship. Lentz was named as the beneficiary of a will supposedly written by Manson nine months before his death. The fourth and final claimant to Manson’s estate is Michael Channels. Channel’s says he started a friendship with Manson 30 years ago because he had a desire to “meet the devil.” Channels possesses a rival will and said he received the document soon after it was written in 2002. In this document, Manson leaves his estate to Channels and writes: “I have disinherited both known sons and any unknown children in the present and in the future.” The next court date to hopefully settle some of these issues is March 7.

See Stephanie Becker, Charles Manson’s Body Has Been on Ice for Three Months. Here’s Why, CNN, February 13, 2018.