Fight Over Charles Manson's Body Is 'Like A Circus,' Official Claims

A little more than a month after the death of Charles Manson, the battle over his remains continues. Several individuals have attempted to claim the body, and an official in Kern County where the body is being held said the case is “like a circus.”

Bryan Walters, a deputy attorney in the Kern County counsel’s office, said it’s a “really weird legal case” and claimed that some of Manson’s pen pals claimed to have written wills from the mass murderer, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. Walters described the situation as “like a circus,” adding that “nothing is clear where we should hang our hat on.”

Manson died Nov. 19 from heart failure and colon cancer in a hospital in Kern County, California, which is situated north of Los Angeles. The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Manson’s body remains “on ice” more than a month after his death.

“We have the following problem we’re trying to cope with here: The Department of Corrections asked the Kern County Coroner to receive the body because we have refrigeration and they don’t,” Walters said. “When we received it, we thought no one would claim the body. We assumed it would be an easy matter to take care of.”

Those claiming they have rights to the body include Manson’s grandson, pen pals in Illinois and California as well as two men who allege they are the mass murderer's sons, according to the Times.

Walters wasn’t the only person associated with the case to describe it as a “circus.” Ben Gurecki, one of the men who claim Manson is their father, is reportedly working with an attorney on obtaining the body in order to bury Manson.

“It’s a circus. It shouldn’t even be a question. He’s got a son, his son has got the will,” Gurecki told the Times. “We want to give him a proper burial.”

Kern County lawyers turned to the Los Angeles County Superior Court for help in determining who should get Manson’s remains and have reportedly filed paperwork. But Walters said his office may seek a court order for rights to the remains in order to resolve the issue.