Only two staffers in the coroner’s office know where Charles Manson’s body is. It currently lies in a California morgue under a fake name, where it has been in a freezer for three months and counting. As the battle that has been raging over rights to Manson’s ashes comes to an end, the murderous cult leader’s corpse might finally be set free. On Wednesday, Kern County Superior Court Commissioner Alisa Knight announced she plans to issue a ruling on the fate of Manson’s body in the coming days, according to county attorney Bryan Walters and The Daily Beast. “She did not want to wait for anyone to do any further discovery or DNA testing [of potential relatives],” Walters told The Daily Beast. “She said, ‘Nope, this is an urgent matter.’ She’s going to review all the pleadings that have been filed and make a decision on that.” Three men, a pair of potential heirs and one longtime friend, are all vying for Manson’s ashes: Jason Freeman, a 41-year-old MMA fighter from Florida who says he is Manson’s grandson and that he exchanged letters with the mass murderer in recent years; Michael Brunner, 49, who is the notorious criminal’s son with ex-Manson Family member Mary Brunner; and Michael Channels, 52, was Manson’s friend and pen pal of 30 years. According to The Daily Beast, both Freeman and Brunner said they will cremate Manson’s body and spread his ashes in a private ceremony. Channels, meanwhile, says Manson wished to have his dust scattered in the desert and that he and Manson discussed after-death plans. Manson died in November of last year.
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