Charles Manson didn’t appear to have any family members listed on file with prison officials when he died, which has raised a string of unanswered questions including what will happen to his body and whether he left a will.
The 83-year-old convicted killer, who had been behind bars for 48 years, died on Sunday of natural causes.
Prison officials say Manson, who once aspired to musical fame and dabbled in art, did not list a next of kin.
But a spokeswoman for the California Corrections Department, Vicky Waters, said she could not confirm if the agency was aware of a family member.
Charles Manson (left in 2014 and right in 1971) didn’t appear to have any family members listed on file with prison officials when he died
According to the state penal code, relatives have 10 days to make a claim on Manson’s body or his remains will be left in state custody to be cremated or buried.
The state may waive the 10-day period if confirmation is received that the inmate’s family or appointed representative refuse to take possession of the body.
Manson was born in Cincinnati on November 12, 1934, to a teenager, possibly a prostitute.
He never spoke about his family, despite rumors that he fathered a child, and once said in court that ‘my father is the jailhouse’.
The corrections spokeswoman said there would be no autopsy carried out on Manson’s body. He was hospitalized several times this year for illnesses prior to his death.
The state has not disclosed what, if anything, the convicted killer left behind in his cell, citing rules that limit information that can be released about inmates.
Waters said she could not say if Manson left a will.
If one is located, state officials must, within 30 days after the death, deliver the will to the court having jurisdiction of the estate. If an executor is named in the will, that person would be notified.
Charles Manson (being escorted to his arraignment in 1969) was behind bars for 48 years before his death in hospital on Sunday
A man claiming to be Manson’s son, Matthew Roberts, told DailyMail.com in January that he had also tried to visit the ailing cult leader in hospital but was denied
A 41-year-old man claiming to be Manson’s grandson, Jason Freeman, said he tried to visit the notorious cult leader in hospital before his death but wasn’t granted permission in time
If no one comes forward after an inmate’s death, all money and personal property would be inventoried. Those funds would be used to cover cremation or burial expenses and related charges.
It comes after a 41-year-old man claiming to be Manson’s grandson, Jason Freeman, said he tried to visit the notorious cult leader in hospital before his death but wasn’t granted permission in time.
‘It was hard because I didn’t get to see my grandfather before he passed, and that’s something I’ve been working really hard at during this last year,’ he told the New York Post.
‘There’s no one else out there related to my grandpa, so it’s all on my head.’
He told TMZ in January that he had tried to get permission to see Manson when he was hospitalized for gastrointestinal bleeding but was also denied back then.
Freeman says he is the son of Manson’s child, Charles Manson Jr. He claims his father changed his name Jay White to avoid the notorious family name but killed himself in 1993.
Another man claiming to be Manson’s son, Matthew Roberts, told DailyMail.com in January that he had also tried to visit the ailing cult leader in hospital but was denied.
‘I love my father whoever he is,’ Roberts told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
Victims: (top row left to right) Voytech Frykowski, Sharon Tate, Stephen Parent, (middle row left to right) Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Gary Hinman, (bottom row left to right) Leno LaBianca, Rosemary LaBianca, Donald Shea
Three of his followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten, murdered seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate
Roberts said he had been in touch with Manson via phone and letter over the years but never met him.
Manson had ordered his family members to slaughter Tate, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and three of her friends at her home above Beverly Hills
Roberts, who was adopted and grew up in Rockford, Illinois, was told that Manson was his ‘real father’, after tracking down his biological mother in 2001.
She told Roberts that she was raped by Manson during a drug-fueled orgy nine months before he was born in 1968 – an allegation he says she later recanted, calling it vigorous sex instead.
Manson had been behind bars for more than four decades, since 1969, after he ordered members of his cult – which he dubbed ‘the family’ – to go on a murderous two-day rampage.
Three of his followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten, killed seven people: pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Steven Parent and Jay Sebring.
He had ordered his family members to slaughter Tate, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and three of her friends at her home above Beverly Hills.
Stephen Parent was a fifth unfortunate victim that night.
Coroner’s office personnel wheel the body of actress Sharon Tate from her home in Bel Air, California on August 9, 1969