Fight over Charles Manson’s estate, remains in need of venue
LOS ANGELES — The battle brewing over the estate of Charles Manson entered court Monday, though it remains unclear where it will ultimately be fought or whether others will join a pen pal and purported grandson laying claim to the cult leader’s possessions and body.
The issue of venue is clouded because Manson, 83, died at a hospital in Kern County in November but was incarcerated in Corcoran State Prison in neighbouring Kings County. His body is still being held at the coroner’s office in Bakersfield.
Attorney Alan Davis, representing the proposed administrator of the estate for purported grandson Jason Freeman, said Los Angeles County is the proper venue because Manson lived there before he was imprisoned for orchestrating the 1969 killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and eight other people.
Judge David Cowan said it was premature to make the determination and he scheduled a hearing Jan. 26 to determine where the two separate matters — who controls his estate and who gets his remains — should be decided.