One of the three people claiming Charles Manson is their father has told DailyMail.com he wants the serial killer cremated before definitive paternity tests are concluded.
Matthew Roberts is one of two ‘sons’ and a ‘daughter’ who have all come forward to try to claim Manson’s body and estate.
But on Wednesday a judge ruled that the two disputes can be dealt with separately, opening the way for a cremation within days.
After the ruling, Roberts, 49, told DailyMail.com that all he now wants is for blood and DNA samples to be taken from Manson’s corpse so he can prove they are related.
He is one of five litigants in the case brought in the aftermath of the death of one of Americas’s most notorious figures. Manson’s body has now been in cold storage since November 19, 2017.
Matthew Roberts, 49, who claims to be one of Manson’s biological sons, was the only person at the hearing who claimed to be a descendant. He has joined forces with one, Michael Brunner, but the other two – Rebecca Evans and purported grandson Jason Freeman are all at odds with each other
Reclusive: Michael Brunner, 49, whose birth certificate lists Manson and cult member Mary Brunner as his parents, has joined forces with Roberts to properly dispose of their father’s body. Born Valentine Manson in 1968, he has stayed out of the public eye after giving a 1993 interview about his infamous father
Claims: Part-time actress Rebecca Evans, 48, was rescued as a baby from Manson’s Los Angeles County ranch and told at 15 she was his daughter, while former MMA fighter Jason Freeman 41, of Bradenton, Florrida, has also filed a claim for the remains alleging he is the grandson of Manson and his first wife Rosalie Willis
The notorious cult leader died at the age of 83 on November 19, 2017, but because multiple parties have attempted to claim his remains, his body has been on ice with the Kern County Coroner ever since
The other four are alleged son Michel Brunner, 49, who has Manson’s name on his birth certificate but no DNA proof; Rebecca Evans, 48, was rescued as a baby from Manson’s Los Angeles County ranch and told at 15 she was his daughter, but who has no proof; alleged grandson Jason Freeman, 41, who has been told his father was Charles Manson Jr; and Manson friend and memorabilia collector Michael Channels, who claims to have his signed will.
Roberts and Brunner have joined forces to urge a rapid cremation of their alleged father, which a judge said on Wednesday she was minded to approve.
An attorney for the coroner overseeing the case said he was ‘willing to co-operate’ with taking DNA and blood samples .
Now Roberts – real name Matthew Robert Lentz – has told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview: ‘I want my father to be cremated – just so long as we can get some blood and DNA samples from his body first – so it looks like the coroner and are on the same side.
Mary Brunner, now 74, lived with her son and the rest of the Manson Family in Topanga Canyon, California but was later arrested for credit card fraud in August 1969. She told her son Manson was his father and put it on his birth certificate
‘It’s important to have the opportunity to prove I am Charles Manson’s son so getting the DNA is all important.’
Roberts added: ‘So long as my father’s ashes can be buried in a grave with a headstone, I’ll be happy. People, family or otherwise – have the right to visit his grave.’
The creation of a grave site, however, is likely to prove highly contentious and could be opposed by the families of Manson’s victims.
Manson’s status as a twisted fixture in pop culture means that his body and his estate are both valuable.
Whoever gains control of his remains could use them in a ‘museum’ to his crimes and charge entry – and whoever wins the fight over his will would be able to exploit his likeness, artworks and recordings.
Manson was personally unable to profit from his crime under so-called Son of Sam laws, but he sold music, paintings, dolls, wigs, signed photos and other memorabilia from behind bars.
In 1993, he signed a licensing agreement for allowing his likeness to be printed on T-shirts, the New York Times revealed at the time.
The cult leader was able to exploit the fact that he had a public profile before the killing spree to prevent litigation to have the cash taken from him.
The Californian authorities would have to have shown his profits were solely made because of his crimes made him notorious – a high bar which they chose never to test in court, and a loophole which makes his estate a prize with fighting over.
Kern County Superior Court Commissioner Alisa Knight said Wednesday that she would leave the estate battle to Los Angeles County Superior Court to deal with, and decide only on who deals with the body, saying she was minded to move rapidly to cremation.
Manson’s last home was his hippie commune at Spahn Ranch in LA when he was was convicted of being involved in the brutal 1969 murders of seven people, including heavily pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate.
Mason’s alleged grandson Freeman was the first to stake a claim by filing birth certificates and death certificates he says prove he is family.
He says that he learned about his relationship to Manson when he was eleven but his grandmother, Rosalie Willis, who was apparently married to Manson in the 1950s, never spoke about his grandfather.
Freeman – a Mixed Martial Arts fighter – says his father was Charles Manson Jr. who couldn’t live with his shameful name so changed it to Charles White, and eventually blew his own brains out in 1993.
Musician Roberts claims to have a will from 2017, which proves he is Manson’s son and heir.
Roberts says he was adopted as an infant but tracked down his birth mother who told him she got pregnant by Manson at an orgy in 1967.
Michael Channels, 51, a memorabilia fanatic and Manson’s pen pal of 30 years, is named as a beneficiary in a 2002 will purportedly signed by the cult leader. Roberts has argued against his claim, stating that Channels is intending to ‘profit from the body of my father’
Venue: Commissioner Alisa Knight ruled on Wednesday that she would decide what to do with Manson’s body and let the Los Angeles Superior Court determine how his will is dealt with
Spot the differences: There are now two wills in front of the court which both claim to be authentic. A judge in Los Angeles will have to decide.
Brunner also claims to be Manson’s son. He has filed a birth certificate that he claims proves he’s the product of a relationship between Manson and follower Mary Brunner a year before the killings. It names Manson as his father.
But Brunner has said that if he is shown by DNA testing not to be his son, he will walk away from the case.
Finally, part-time actress Rebecca Evans was rescued as a baby in 1969 from Spahn Ranch and placed in foster care. At the age of 15, she claims, she discovered that Manson was her biological father.
Memorabilia collector Channels says he was friends with Manson for 30 years and claims to have a document written by him in 2002 which leaves his remains and estate to Channels and reads: ‘I have disinherited both known sons and any unknown children in the present and in the future.’
Channels, 51, is named as a beneficiary in a 2002 will which also purportedly carries Manson’s signature. Other parties in the case say the signature is not genuine.
Roberts states: ‘I have strong doubts of the authenticity of the will proffered by Mr Channels, and I do not believe my father wished Mr Channels to control disposition of his remains.
He added: ‘Mr Channels is an unrelated memorabilia collector who intends to try to profit from the body of my father.’
Roberts and Freeman were the subject of a DNA test conducted on CNN years ago which reported no relation between the two. Crucially it did not have any of Manson’s own genetic material to decide if either man as related to hi,.
Freeman has claimed in the past that Channels ‘always used my grandfather for a paycheck’, and accused Roberts of making up a ‘fraudulent will’.
Unlike the others, Freeman doesn’t possess any kind of signed will leaving him the estate.
Roberts is relying on a 2017 will which was purportedly signed by Manson and left everything to Roberts.
Long time Manson confidante Ben Gurecki says he was sent it in January 2017. It names him and Roberts as co-executors.
Manson orchestrated the murders of seven people in the 1960s by his devoted followers in a bid to start a race war.
On August 8, 1969, he sent Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles ‘Tex’ Watson – to the Beverly Hills address of movie actress Sharon Tate with the instruction to kill everyone inside.
Less than 24 hours later, the followers – plus Leslie Van Houten and Steve ‘Clem’ Grogan – savagely tortured, murdered and mutilated wealthy LA couple Rosemary and Leno LaBianca.