‘My father wasn’t a mass-murdering dog’: Son of notorious cult leader Charles Manson defends his dad in his first interview in 26 years, claiming the media ‘blew it out of proportion’
- Michael Brunner, 51, has given his first interview since 1993 defending his father
- His father, Charles Manson, was the head of a cult that murdered nine in 1969
- But the notorious crimes were ‘blown out of proportion’ according to Brunner
- ‘I would say 95% of the public looks at Charlie as this mass-murdering dog, and it’s really, obviously, just not true,’ Brunner said. ‘He didn’t necessarily kill’
- ‘I think the public has been fed some untruths, and this whole thing has been glorified and glammified and blown out of proportion,’ Brunner said early July
Charles Manson was not the ‘mass-murdering dog’ he was portrayed to be, says the killer’s 51-year-old son who has spoken out for the first time in 26 years.
In an extraordinary interview, where he revealed what is was like growing up as the son of America’s most notorious cult leader, Michael Brunner praised his father and said Manson was ‘not the monster that has been described by the mass media.’
‘I would say 95% of the public looks at Charlie as this mass-murdering dog, and it’s really, obviously, just not true,’ Brunner told The LA Times. ‘He didn’t necessarily kill.’
In an extraordinary interview, where he revealed what is was like growing up as the son of America’s most notorious cult leader, Michael Brunner praised his father and said Manson was ‘not the monster that has been described by the mass media.’ (Brunner is pictured in 1993)
Manson was jailed for life for his plot to incite a race war by ordering the brutal murders of nine people, including a heavily pregnant woman, which would be blamed on the Black Panthers
Brunner, who was born Valentine Michael Manson, aka Sunstone Hawk or Pooh Bear, was raised by his maternal grandparents who adopted him and changed his name before his ninth birthday.
Despite rebuffing repeated attempts by his father to get in touch before Manson’s death in 2017, Brunner, who refers to his father throughout the interview as ‘Charlie’, claims the murders his father ordered was a false narrative made up after the fact.
‘I think the public has been fed some untruths, and this whole thing has been glorified and glammified and blown out of proportion,’ Brunner said.
‘I mean, do we believe in brainwashed zombies out killing people?
His loyal followers, including Mary Brunner (left), who is the mother of Michael Brunner, committed the slayings at four locations across California. The desecrated bodies were discovered by police leading to one of the most high profile murder trials in history
Part of his motive was said to be a hidden message in the Beatles’ song Helter Skelter, from their 1986 White Album, which he believed predicted a race war
‘…Did [Manson] order these crimes? I don’t believe that he did. I believe that it was something manufactured after the fact. This ‘Helter Skelter’ thing, when you look into it deeply, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.’
Manson was jailed for life for his plot to incite a race war by ordering the brutal murders of nine people, including a heavily pregnant woman, which would be blamed on the Black Panthers.
His loyal followers committed the slayings at four locations across California. The desecrated bodies were discovered by police leading to one of the most high profile murder trials in history.
Part of his motive was said to be a hidden message in the Beatles’ song Helter Skelter, from their 1986 White Album, which he believed predicted a race war.
By the time Manson and his ‘family’ had been sentenced to death, young Brunner was living with his grandparents in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
They ‘gave me what I needed to survive and thrive, and pushed me through school and pushed me through sports and made sure that I was doing the right thing.’
When his adoption became official in 1976, his grandparents, who he referred to as ‘mom and dad’, threw him a party and all the neighbors who came brought gifts.
It was like having an ‘extra birthday,’ he said. ‘I think they wanted to get rid of the Manson name because of school and to make me a little more normal,’ he said.
‘You know, so I wasn’t being pestered or bullied or that sort of thing, which didn’t happen much.