All language subtitles for Mansons.Bloodline.S01E02.1080p.WEB.H264-CBFM.English

His name has become
synonymous with terror.

In California, five members
of a so-called religious cult,

including Charles Manson...
the guru or high priest,

have been indicted in the murder
of Sharon Tate and six others.

His sadistic murder
shocked the world.

Charles Manson was charged
with controlling

and directing the killers.

I don't have any guilt.
I knew what I'd done.

And now, 50 years later,
he remains the face of evil.

Helter Skelter.

From behind bars, he seeks out
his final victim, his own family.

You've got a prepaid call from

an inmate at a California state
prison, Corcoran.

Searching for closure from a
criminal who shares the same blood.

My grandfather is Charles Manson.

I wish I could bring you
into what I'm doing.

It's hard to look back
and know where you come from.

I did not want my son around that.

I didn't want him to think
that that was in him.

'cause that would have been
his blood line.

What's going to happen to me?
Am I going to kill somebody?

Is this in the family tree?
Is this in the genes? In the blood?

I want to face him face to face.
I want to know the answers

because I'm sick of feeling lost.

No matter who he is,
he's still family.

Understanding me
is understanding yourself.

The reality is, it's me.

Previously on
Manson's Bloodline...

Today,
the judge formally passed sentence

on Charles Manson and his girls
for seven senseless murders.

I couldn't imagine what it's like
to be related to Charles Manson.

On one side, he's family and I
want to get to know him,

on the other hand, I hate him.

How do you go through life
with that name?

I'll get phone calls out of the blue

and they'll tell me they just want
to kill me, they know where I live.

The more he talked about Manson.
I didn't want him around you.

Mom said, that she got a call
from Grandma Rosie

and said that my father pulled to the
side of the road and shot himself.

I was still angry
about my father's death

and I was pointing
that finger right at him.

When Jason was interacting with
Charles, I didn't like it at all.

-Did you do what I asked you?
-Not yet.

You're incompetent and brain dead.

Here's my buddy who chased this,
and trying to get some answers,

and this is the conversation
that he gets with his grandfather.

CNN was working
with Matthew Roberts Lintz...

And he claims to be a son of Manson.

You do not share
a common biological ancestry.

Everything has a ripple effect.

A buddy called and said, "You need to
turn on this news channel, quick."

Manson called a night or two later

and I said, your real grandson,
Junior's kid. Junior had a kid.

I can't look at him
as just being evil.

Cult leader Charles Manson has been
moved from prison to a hospital.

I thought this guy
can't last much longer.

Jason's ready to go to California.

The major things is preventing
Jason from seeing Charlie is,

Jason's not on the approved
list at the prison.

Jason is that last bit of normalcy
in Charlie's life.

I believe that the first time
I see my grandfather

could possibly be the last time
I see my grandfather.

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA

OBJECT IN MIRROR ARE
CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

The thing that was going through
my mind coming out here

was he could pass away
while I'm out here.

The way most people
are going to look at it, is,

you know, why would you take
your time to go see Charles Manson?

But in my life and in my world,
it's way different than that.

I was there for my grandmother,
I was there for my father,

I was there for my dad.
I was at their death bed.

He won't stop with Manson, he's
going to do what he's going to do.

And I can't stop him.

If my husband was alive today,
there wouldn't be none of this.

Because he just flat out said no.

Hey, Mom, I just wanted to call you
and just tell you how much I love you

and how thankful I am
that you're so supportive with me

you know,
with everything that I'm doing.

Well, Jason, I wasn't and then...

...you know, I thought about it and
I thought, well, he is an old man.

I just didn't want him...

...trying to twist your mind or...

...because I know the things
he says on TV are off the wall.

I just didn't want you involved
in that.

But you're a grown man
and he's an old man...

...and I don't see
the harm anymore.

Well, I think if you do get
to see him, and I hope you do.

And for his sake,
I hope he gets to see you.

And I hope you have a good visit.

That it will put some
closure on a lot of this.

I got to go, Mama.

I got to go, I'll talk to you soon.

-Okay, love you.
-I love you too.

Bye.

I had fought with Jason over
all of this for a long, long time.

So, I finally just gave up.

There's something wrong
with them people.

And I just didn't like the fact
that Jason is around them.

I'm just going to stand up here
so I can be eye to eye with you.

J.J., John Michael Jones,
has been a friend

of my grandfather's for 15 plus years

and he shared with me how
he really truly loved my grandfather.

And it was moving for me,
it opened me up to think,

maybe there is a different side
of Charles Manson.

Right now is the time
because it's coming to the end.

-This is it.
-We ain't got much time left.

So, I say it's time we go get justice

and that's getting you
in there to see him.

Talking with Jason on the phone
was one thing

but when I actually met Jason and
Manson's the same way in a sense.

When he looks in your eye,

he can call bullshit from
a mile away.

So who better to have fighting for,
for his grandfather?

-Rock on.
-All right, let's do it, brother.

I think it was important to have J.J.
going to the prison with me

because he shared
a lot of information

with my grandfather, back and forth,

and I knew that he research that he's
done working with the prison system,

that he had an edge above me.
So that would work on my side.

And for me if I could just get Jason
in front of Charlie,

I knew in my heart that Charlie
would have just loved him.

Trying to get to understand
the medical end of being in prison.

Who was on his list,
who was on his medical

to receive information
or ask information.

And I couldn't get a straight answer
from anybody.

This right here says,

"Sometimes emergencies
or hardship visits are allowed."

In the handbook
for Corcoran California prison.

It states, if you have a family
member in prison, that is deathly ill

that you don't have to go through
all the procedures

that they just have to okay it.

-Open the door. Open them up.
-It says right there, look...

unexpected visitor. Bang.

-This came right off their website.
-Yeah, yeah.

-CDC... Be prepared.
-They told me on the phone.

Your grandfather has a whole new set
of rules that apply to him.

But I'm telling you...

The injustice of this case.
Not just the legal part of it,

but just from a prison aspect,

I mean justice
as far as giving him his mail,

stop creating rules that, you know,

anything Manson wanted,
there was a rule he couldn't have it.

I mean, they have a room
full of his stuff there now.

Guitars and things that meant a lot
to him that they just confiscate.

"Deem it contraband."

Understand something, your grandpa
was raised up in the prison system.

He was raised by the likes
of Alvin Karpis,

Frank Costello,
Frankie Carbo, Mickey Cohen.

These are gangsters that your
grandfather was raised up with.

-Are you listening?
-Yep.

All right. Alcatraz, there was
a guy in there called Alvin Karpis.

-He was from Spain.
-Okay.

He was like one of my fathers.

He taught me a little bit
on the guitar

and he gave me wisdom.

Your grandfather
has been in prison so long,

his mentality is that
of a big tough guy.

He's going to be,
"I don't need you to protect me."

He's going to play
that tough guy role.

Don't get me wrong,
that's just his way of life.

But behind the scenes,

when that Manson mask comes off
and the cameras aren't rolling

and he knows you're not recording
his phone call,

he'll tell you, like he said to me,
"I need someone here.

I need someone
to let this prison know

they can't just do what
they want with me."

He wanted me to move out
to California.

I said, "Man, you know as well as
I do I've got three kids and a wife."

He's like, "I know, man,
but I got everything you need.

I've got a place for you to stay,

all the money up here, everything you
need is right here, you know?"

And what did you say?

I said, "I don't want nothing."

Good.
Because that might have been a test.

I remember my first visit,
visiting Manson he told me...

"If you know what's good for you,
you'll turn,

and run and get as fucking
far away from me as you can."

And I laughed and I noticed
that he wasn't laughing.

I don't think a lot of people know

that Manson fought cancer
for many years.

Charlie was told he didn't
have long to live, many times.

You need to let him know
that you want to be there for him.

I don't want anything from you other
than a relationship with my grandpa.

And he's so used to being used up,
since a little boy.

He told me a story
about sitting at a window

for two years at a boys' home.

He didn't commit no crime, but was
there because no one wanted him.

-Waiting for his mom or his uncle...
-And nobody came.

Your grandfather's world

is unlike any other world
I've ever experienced.

His way of protecting you, Jason,
is to push you away.

And you may think by him...

he'll get on the phone
and insult the hell out of you.

-He'll call you stupid...
-Oh, yeah, he has.

You're incompetent
and brain dead.

Fuck you.

Then you're going to get mad at me
for telling the truth?

But that's his way of trying
to push you away

because he doesn't want
you wrapped up in that world.

There it is, brother.

CALIFORNIA STATE PRISON &
HOSPITAL CORCORAN, CA

That's where your grandfather is,
behind those fences, bro.

That's how close
we are to him right now.

All right, bro,
welcome to Corcoran State Prison.

-Game on.
-Game on.

When we pulled up, we was going
straight to the front gate...

...I was waiting for guns
to be pulled, you know.

"Turn around and never come back"
is what I expected.

-How are you doing, sir?
-Good, how are you doing?

I need to get to the visiting center.

-What are you here for?
-I'm here to see my grandfather.

He's in the hospital.

-I need all your identifications.
-Okay.

-Now, what's this about?
-I'm here to see my grandfather.

He's in the hospital
and I brought my documentation

to show that I'm his grandson

and I was looking through
the documentation for visitation

and it says on here
for me to ask for the Sergeant,

so that I can fill
the proper paperwork out.

because he's in the hospital right
now and he's got early stages...

-Who's your grandfather?
-Charles Manson.

-Charles Manson? Okay.
-Yes, sir.

It's just hard for me to...

I see him in his last days
and it's just hard for me to...

...see what's going on
and not be able to be there...

Yes, and I understand that,

but, we still got procedures
we got to follow

and you still have to go
through the process

of getting cleared for the visit
and all of that.

But once you submit that paperwork,
you can come every weekend,

-no problem. Yeah.
-Beautiful

I just don't see him
living much longer

and I just want to... I just want
to be beside him, that's all.

-Okay. And that's understandable.
-It's all right, bro.

-If he's got...
-No, he still thinks on his own.

He's not as bad as they're making
it sound like it is.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

I can't divulge anything to you,

but I can let you know
he's doing all right.

That's beautiful. Thank you for that.
That's incredible.

I just opened up somehow.

I think it was spiritually
because my mind was...

...you know, wrapped
around being on the inside.

Without him sending you
an application,

with his signature on it,
that's just our policy,

we don't allow visitation like that.

-Even family?
-It doesn't matter.

He has to request those people
to be authorized as visitors.

Once he sends that request to you,
you'd send it back to us.

And then we'd process you,
but it has to be at his request only.

Got it.

We can't force him
to take a visit with somebody.

-No...
-And that's what I'm saying.

-No.
-So, if I just took your application,

that would be me forcing him.
You know what I mean?

He's in the hospital.
He's on his deathbed, you know?

Like I had everything,
I had all my documentation

from when I was a boy, to link
everybody up to who my father is

and you know my grandfather had
his set of rules at the prison

and everybody else had their own.

I'm so proud of you right now, bro,
you're getting me all choked up.

-I had to open up a little bit.
-I know but listen,

but you and I know why we're here
and it's for the right thing.

It's to love him
in the final stages of his life,

to let him knows somebody's here
that cares.

Yeah.

You know
what the best feeling was though?

Right before
the conversation was over,

the one guard looked
at me and said,

"Jason, I want you to know
that your grandfather's..."

"Even though I'm not supposed
to be telling you this."

"I want you to know
that your grandfather's doing okay."

-That's right, man.
-That was the best.

I looked at him with a whole
different perspective and respect.

It's going to get back to him
that you were at this gate today.

You mark my words, mark my words.

J.J.'s pretty good with his words
and speaking from the heart

and I think it was important
for my grandfather

to know that him
and I were out there.

It wasn't just me,
but it was somebody

that knew how to get word to him.

I want him to understand
that every step I'm doing

-is to benefit his last wishes.
-That's right.

You know, if his last wishes
are to have his ashes

in my corner, in my house,
spread across the river,

-I'm gonna do what he wants me to.
-That's right, brother.

I just told him,
Jason, if you don't do it,

they're going to throw him away
like trash.

And Jason said,
"That's not going to fucking happen.

I'm not going to let them throw
my grandfather in the trash.

What do I have to do?

And I said, We have to get you
as the next of kin.

I filed out the proper paperwork
to prove to the courts that I am kin.

The reality is, you're me.

That you're my blood, man.

I feel like I'm on a journey,
I just really want to grasp a hold

of what people think from every side.
About my grandfather.

While I'm in Los Angeles California,

I want to meet as many people
as I can

that can fill me in
on my grandfather's path.

Who he was as a man
from both sides of the coin.

I want to figure out
why people look at him as an icon.

Look at him as a god.

It was 1967 and the Summer of Love,

Charlie had just gotten
out of Federal Prison in LA.

And when it came time to parole him,

he said he didn't want to be paroled
because prison was his home

and they literally had to escort him

to the front gate of the prison
and boot him out.

He took a bus up to the Bay Area
and he was drawn to Berkley

and Mary Brunner worked
at the library at UC Berkley

and she and Charlie met
and Mary got pregnant.

Charles Manson wanted to put
together a group of people

to basically come along with him
this anti-establishment

peaceful, loving, sex filled
and drug filled family.

And he picked up
these troubled, lost souls

along the way, wherever he could.

And he picked them out because
they had Mommy or Daddy issues.

And he became
kind of a father figure to them.

A Christ like figure to them.
And he called them his children.

And one by one he pulled them in.

I met Charlie for the first time
at a party,

through a couple of friends
that took me there.

It was magical. Charles Manson had
shoulder length, wavy hair.

He was in his early 30s, he was
very playful, played the guitar.

He was a fairly good musician
and I think he had some aspirations

that he would make some money
from his songs.

Charlie used his music to help,
you know, indoctrinate us.

He just had this way of convincing
people of who they were

and what they could do for him
and what he could do for them.

He had sex with them and told them
whatever he thought

they needed to hear
and they loved him.

And so he just really
was cutting us all off.

You don't need your mom and dad.
He loved being super isolated.

The place where the Manson family
lived was actually a movie set.

It was called Spahn Ranch because it
was actually the Spahn Movie Ranch

and that was its official name, named
after the owner, George Spahn.

In turn, for living there for free,
they helped take care of the Ranch.

And took the horses for rides
and gave trail rides to visitors.

And basically lived on the farm
in the middle of nowhere,

where they felt like they could live
however they wanted.

I didn't know who I was.

I mean, I was so much,
a Charlie follower at that point

that I didn't have my own mind.

He was definitely the one
that led this group of people

into doing what they did.

Innocent people were murdered
for the reason

Manson and the family
wanted to start a race war.

The idea of someone striving
as best that he could

you know, nearly 50 years ago,

to spark a racial apocalypse
with Helter Skelter.

"Helter Skelter" was the name
of a Beatles song,

but for Charles Manson, it was
basically you know, Armageddon.

Charlie was sure that the Beatles
were like these four prophets

that were communicating with him.

That you know "Helter Skelter"
was coming down, you know.

The "Blackbird" song had something
to do with the black man

Blood written on the walls
of the Sharon Tate mansion

and somehow implicating
black revolutionaries

who would happen to be passing
through the neighborhood.

The one thing we do know about
Charles Manson is that he was racist.

It's crazy, Helter Skelter scenario

that some people today
still don't believe is really true.

But it came out in testimony

and Vincent Bugliosi ended up
calling it, in court, Helter Skelter,

but even Manson called it
Helter Skelter. It was a real thing.

I don't believe in Helter Skelter,
or Vincent Bugliosi's narrative.

I never have.

I believe he was convicted of things
he wasn't guilty of.

SPAHN RANCH LOS ANGELES, CA

Here we go, this is you walking for
the first time basically on what...

For me, to see this man,
Jason Freeman,

Charles Manson's grandson,

and the only thing he knows
is what I consider to be ignorance.

I feel really, really
super bad for him.

Just because I don't believe
that Charles Manson is that person.

So here now we're coming down
onto like the ranch proper.

The famous view of the horizon.

Billy is completely passionate, 100%,

on my grandfather's bandwagon.

I think it's very important for me
to understand my grandfather

through other individuals
who were close to him.

The more I learn
about my grandfather,

the more I can learn about myself
from the inside out.

You know? It's spiritual.

Down here would be you know,
the two rows of Western towns,

and then all the way down there,
the horse corral.

We had a driveway
right here behind us.

There's a very famous picture
of Susan Atkins standing here

on her tip toes with the mailbox
with those rocks behind her.

Well, here you have it, the famous
Life Magazine wave cave,

I guess as it's come to be known,

a spot everyone likes to come
to so much

because of that iconic picture.

Was my grandfather here
for that picture?

He was not here for the picture.
That was after his arrest.

The photographers came out
here sometime later

and kind of staged shots of the
family at the ranch.

A story that I heard passed mouth
to mouth was that he said what?

That rock over there?
That was just a rock. You know?

But I imagine
some people enjoyed this spot.

He's taking all this bad stuff

he's carrying with the rest of his
confusion,

and I just tell him, hey, dude,
you don't have to believe this.

There's some things you ought to
know maybe about your grandfather

and what could have happened,
not what they say happened.

Talking about asking if any place
have any special significance?

I'd imagine this place would held
some of the best memories for him.

Why don't you pull up a seat
on the rock?

This is the spot where your
grandfather

and his friends would come
most of the time

to play their music a
lot of times at night.

A spot where musicians,
any musician makes their music

is a really sacred spot
to any musicians.

And this is a rock that is now come
to be known as Charlie's rock.

This is the spot where him and
all his friends would come

-with all their instruments.
-Okay.

Party, play their songs,
write their songs...

I never thought as a kid, growing up,

that I'd be sitting on the same rock
that my grandfather played on.

I'll tell you something else about
it, a rock carries vibrations, right?

Almost like an amplifier.

So if you think of your grandfather
sitting here,

playing those songs,
it's got to give you a rush.

Did you hear
some of the songs I wrote?

I've got a couple of your albums.

Most of that stuff is just stuff
that fell off the edge of the table.

Just scoot over a little.
See this right here?

-What do you think that is?
-Yeah, yeah. I see that's CM.

Urban legend is that he actually did
carve his initials in that rock.

I appreciate you bringing me here,
man.

This is a historical spot obviously

and I got to see something
I've never seen before.

Every step of my journey
opens up my eyes to something new.

I highly appreciate it.

I want you to remember that anytime
you're feeling something else

you can always come back to this
rock, sit right back down on it

and get the same feeling
that you're having now, brother.

-Let's go.
-All right, man.

You know, guys like J.J. and Billy
and their passion for my grandfather

was immensely high

and they had me thinking
that my grandfather is innocent.

MANSON VERDICT
ALL GUILTY!

People in general come at
my grandfather from different angles.

You know, J.J. comes at him
with overwhelming love.

Billy comes at him with injustice.

We got to hammer down
on the system, you know?

And then we have Gray Wolf.

We use this
to sort of get the word out.

My initial connection to Charlie
and the family

just came from a random meeting
with two people that knew him well

and they were the most righteous
beautiful people I ever met.

As soon as I was with them on
a daily basis,

I felt like I was home.

And outside the court,
on the sidewalk,

some more of Manson's followers
were holding their daily vigil.

Gray Wolf's been there since 1970.

I think he crawled on the ground
to the courthouse with the girls.

You can't get much closer than that.

We made some pamphlets of people
that were supporting Charlie.

And these booklets,
a lot of them had to do with Outlaw,

which was what Charlie was all about.

ATWA, air, trees, water, animals.

Charlie wrote a statement basically
sort of explaining his take on ATWA

and where he came,
how he got to where he was

thinking about the land and the air

and the water and the trees
and the animals.

Charlie's quote, "Work to show,
teach, preach, set,

prove to the ones you love
and work to redeem soul.

All computers set for ATWA.

Never lie and we are ATWA."

To me, it's a moment
of fulfillment right here.

We're standing right here
everybody on the planet right now

we have choices that we are gonna
make a big difference

for people that come behind us.

I stand beside ATWA,
there isn't no reason not to.

I mean, it's the truth.

Meeting somebody like Jason,
it's not something you go,

"Here's five things you should know
right away and you'll be fine."

It's, you know...
it's about living and being truthful.

The sun creates everything.

I believe in the moon.

I believe in the ocean,
the tide, the whales,

the bears and the woods.

I believe in everything, man.

HANFORD, CALIFORNIA

I'm going to introduce you to a guy

that's known your grandfather
since the early '90s,

not too many people know him
better than this guy.

This is George Stimson, he's
the author of Goodbye Helter Skelter.

-Hi, Jason. Nice to meet you. Yeah.
-It's really nice to meet you, sir.

When I first met Charlie,
I think visiting him in 1991.

I was pursuing this case for years.

Other than reading about him
superficially in news reports,

I would have thought,
yes, crazy hippy cult leader.

But I would say the first time
I read Helter Skelter,

I could see that that wasn't true.

And that that was a gross
misrepresentation of what went on.

So that was that thing that
initially got me interested in it,

because I wanted to find out
what really went on.

I visited him,
almost 200 times over ten years.

I had a lot of chances to get to know
him in different circumstances

and see how he acted different ways.
And I acted different ways.

It's not like people say,

you went in and he brainwashed you
into writing this book.

And it's like, no, I don't want
to put your grandfather down,

but Bugliosi says
he's a master con man,

and I would have to disagree
with that, he's not that good.

And that's part of the problem.
He got in trouble back then,

was helping people out,
having all of those people around

and helping them
because that's his nature.

It would be hard to summarize,

except to say that he was not
a cult leader, it was not a cult.

He didn't have hypnotic powers
over these people.

They were acting on their own

and they acted more as
a result of circumstances

rather than being told
what to do by someone else.

I had a grudge on him...

...for the death of my, of my father

due to an article
that was in the newspaper

that Manson's son visits Manson
and then he blows his brains out.

He's very guarded with his emotions.
He's very guarded with everything.

You know he wouldn't say to me
anything about your dad dying.

That's not really something
that I need to know from him.

So, what can you tell me that would
be something that I could hold onto?

Well, I don't want
to try to whitewash him.

But really how good he is.

And I'm not saying he's a good guy.
He's a terrible guy.

He's both, he's all of it.

-He's good and bad.
-He's good and evil.

I'm not saying he's a good guy.

I would certainly not want
to be on his bad side

but then why would I ever be
on his bad side?

I'm not going to get there. I don't
get on bad people's bad sides.

I'm not in this world
to make enemies.

-That's what I tell people about me.
-Yeah.

Just stay on my good side,
man, we're cool.

He's fine. He's a very good guy
and he's a very bad guy.

-Just so you realize that.
-Yeah.

He has a lot of experience
with people,

you know, from being in prison
and relating with people

in a kind of forced environment
for so long.

But he is...

I'm not going to say deficient
in some ways

but he doesn't have
a lot of worldly experience,

but he has an incredible amount
of wisdom.

I wanted him to know
my impressions of the man.

Just to let him know, to give him
a more rounded view of him.

You know,
I think what you're doing is right.

It's coming from your heart
and your soul

and it's the same heart
and soul that's in him. So...

I hope you get together,
I think you should.

I have my own opinion.
It's a lot different than Jason's

when it comes to these people.

And when Jason started talking
to them, it was almost like

he was being pulled from
what he thought and he knew,

into this whole crazy
just other world.

I wish I could have went with him
to California.

Now I wish I would have, just to see
for myself, you know what I mean?

'Cause I'd have been like, no, you're
not going around these people.

All of this extra information
and he's innocent

and these other people
who are air, trees, water, animals.

This was definitely
the background noise.

Honor to meet you.
The honor's all mine.

OUTSIDE TAMPA FLORIDA, 2017

I get back from California,

I just switched from one job to
another job, the same profession.

I've got to travel back up to Ohio.

Back in the oil field,
staying with my mom.

My wife's back home,
she has our kids.

It's been difficult.

Being on the road, it isn't easy.

To accept this call say
or dial five now.

If you were to visit,
they're gonna wanna challenge you.

They're going to say, "You can't
come in, we don't know you.

You're not on the list,
you're not approved."

They make up
a thousand rules, man.

You'd have to murder
about 35 people

before you could even start.

Because I got ego trips
that just despises me.

They despise everything I'm about

because they're jealous,
coward punks.

I know, you know what I told J.J.?

I told John...
John, I said, I said, "If I got to...

if I got to knock somebody out
to be beside my grandfather,

I said, that's what I'll do.

-But I don't want that.
-No.

Your grandfather
don't want you doing that.

Your grandfather wants you to raise
your kids and have a good life.

I'm doing that. Hey, did you get
my visitation form yet?

That I sent to you?
Did you get my form?

-No, that's what I'm telling you.
-No. I know.

You're dealing with...
super bad people, man.

I know that.

These people, they're assholes.
They're triple assholes.

-Hey.
-I've gotta go, soldier.

-You have a good day.
-Hey, man, I love you.

Man!

-Mom?
-Yeah?

I'm in here,
heating up stuff for your grandma.

I got to get her, her supper.

Made it back in.
Made it through another day.

You've made it another day.
All right.

-Love you.
-Love you.

Oh, making some food, huh?
I just happen to be starving.

Did you hear the latest news about,
about Grandpa?

-What now?
-He's be back in the hospital again.

-So he is in the hospital?
-Yeah.

-Is he that sick this time or...?
-Oh, he's ...

Last year,
I found out that he got cancer.

And he's bleeding
from the inside out and...

I didn't know he had cancer.

Yeah, yup. And...

I don't know I just wish,
I just wish something would give.

I wish I would get a break to be able
to go see him. I mean, it would be...

Is that what he's going to die from
is cancer?

He could die any day. Yeah.

If he's back in that hospital again
a year later, same thing happening.

He's got, he's got cancer
and he's not going

through any kind of radiation

or removal of the cancer.
Yeah, I mean...

Do they take care of you in prison
when you're sick like that?

It's just a matter of time, you know?

Yeah, they'll take care of you,
but I just don't see them,

taking care of an 82-year-old man,
an 83-year-old man, you know

I think he's given up, Mom.
I think he's just had enough.

I want to update our breaking news
right now, Charles Manson,

one of the most notorious murder
masterminds in US history,

has died at the age of 83.

When I learned
of my grandfather's death,

I was at my mom's house,
I had to let my wife know.

And in that same breath,
I had to let her know

that I didn't have that job in Ohio
that we take care of our family with.

There was two major things
when I woke up.

I didn't have a job
and I lost my grandfather.

Jason was emotional

because he tried to get out there
to see his grandfather.

He never got to do that.
But I think he was prepared for it.

It's done. It's just done.

People that like him,
or worship him or whatever,

they're probably not going to go
around my son now

because Jason wanted to make sure
he was buried

and he didn't want him
to be exploited anymore.

One thing that I'll never forget
they put a picture of Charlie

and it said, "Burn in hell."

I didn't believe it at first, because
I've heard it a hundred times before.

But then once I saw the news

where Debra Tate said it,

once I saw Debra Tate say it,
I knew it was real.

When she said
that the prison had called her...

The prison calls Debra Tate,
but they don't call Jason.

When I talked to J.J. on the phone,
he was just in tears, man. Yeah...

His raspy voice, man,
"He's gone, man, he's gone."

The thought of him laying up in that
fucking funeral home right now...

being unclaimed,
it's just not gonna happen, bro.

-No.
-I'll die before I let that happen.

I wonder if he would have got to see
him, how that would have turned out.

If my son had actually
gotten through to him.

That we are family and you do have
people that genuinely worry about you

and care about
what might happen to you.

I don't think
Charles had that in his whole life.

So are you heading to California?

Yeah. That's...

That's our next plan.

We have to secure
the remains of Grandpa.

-Do you think you'll get them?
-I don't see how they can stop me.

We got the proper paperwork
and we're on our way.

I think you're doing the right thing.

If an inmate dies
and they don't' have a will,

they cremate them
and throw them away,

and I talked to Charlie about that
and...

...he said,
"In the trash is where I belong."

And he refused for a year,
we fought him to sign,

but you couldn't make Charlie
do shit.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

I want to go to California
and claim my grandfather's remains

and I asked J.J. to be with me.

I met up with J.J. in Venice

and we went over the game plan
so we could see what to do next.

-Man, how are you holding up?
-Nice to see you. You know.

I hate that we have to meet
under these circumstances, bro,

but you know, we've got things
we've got to take care of.

And I say "we" because you're going
to win this, man.

You're the only legal descendent
of Charles Manson.

We've got to meet the lawyer,
we've got to get to the court house,

and with the proper paperwork,

we'll get your grandfather
and we'll bring him home.

Once you get his body,
what are you going to do?

This is what I want to do,
this is me personally.

This is everybody else off
to the side.

There's, five people,
five good friends of my grandfather's

and I want to do a ceremony

and I want to give
each of my grandfather's friends

something to remember him by
and always have.

That's my goal.

You're going to be under
the microscope, brother.

There's going to be a media frenzy

when you walk out those doors
with your grandfather.

There's going to be haters. There's
going to be more death threats,

You're sick,
you're going to hear all that crap.

Jason said,
"Well, you know, I'm next of kin,

and I'm, I'm going to do what's right
and I'm gonna claim the remains."

Once that was made public,

that he was stepping out
and was going to do that,

social media kind of exploded on us,

our local newspaper
has a Facebook page

and, of course, he was plastered
all over the front page.

We were called everything from trash
to anything you could think of.

Pretty nasty actually.

When you get close to someone like
Charles Manson you get all this.

You get attention
and sometimes it's, it's real scary.

J.J. and I
were heading up to Bakersfield

to claim my grandfather's body.

I got a call from Audrey
and she was not happy.

I don't want to put more pressure
on you, I don't.

Well, you do,
so maybe think about it first.

Okay? You're out there fucking,
doing whatever.

I'm trying to keep my head on.

I'm very, very unhappy right now.

I have no fucking support.

I got kids, got the bills,
fucking shit piling up on top of me.

I ain't got nobody here to help me.

You know there's something wrong

when you have formed your entire life
around following one person.

These people, are you going to do
this, or we think you should do that.

There was enough information
given, to keep him there.

I felt like he was being drawn
off the path that he knew he wanted

because all of these people who
supposedly were these close friends,

knew what was best
because they knew Charlie.

So Jason felt compelled
to take the route

that they were telling him to take.

It's been difficult,
I've had a lot of challenges.

The strain on the relationship is...

You know, it feels like
you just pull them ropes tight,

and you think them ropes
are gonna break.

I just remember multiple times being
away from home that the ropes just...

you can hear them pulling tight.

I believe in my higher power
that me and my wife

are going to come through this
and become stronger.

You know,
if I can suggest something,

I would say that play a little mind
game with them and say that,

"I was told that the Kern County
was trying to get in touch

with next of kin
and the next of kin is here.

My name
is Jason Freeman. I'm the grandson

and I would like any information
that you can give me.

"And if you can't, can you at least
point me in the right direction?"

-Okay.
-And I would just go from there.

Imagine him, he's right here.

We're this close to him.

Kern County Coroner, we're in
the right place, brother. After you.

Hello.

Okay. Thanks, ma'am.

-Hi.
-Hi, ma'am.

-How are you?
-I'm okay.

Just trying to walk through
some rough steps

you know, whenever someone
passes away, it's just...

-Yeah, I know that.
-It's not easy.

-You're the grandson, right?
-Yes, ma'am.

I recognize you. Good seeing you.

-They were looking for you.
-Yes, ma'am.

I got word that you guys
were looking for me

to fill the proper documentation out
for my grandfather.

-Who's your grandfather?
-Charles Manson.

-They were looking for you?
-Well...

-Next of kin, he's the next of kin.
-Yep.

Well, let me call
and get the manager for you.

Please, that would be great,
thank you.

I know that there has been many...
let me go ahead and see.

-Okay, thank you, ma'am.
-Yes, ma'am.

I personally don't know anything
about Mr. Manson,

but he's just a person to me,
like I know his past or what he did,

but I don't know anything about it
like people say...

-Details. Yeah.
-I just...

Yeah. I try to leave
the details out of it too,

especially at a time like this.

It's just, you know,
I'm here for one thing,

and that's, you know, to give my
grandfather a resting place.

That's all we all want
at the end of the day.

-Jason? All right, come on back.
-Yes, ma'am? Yeah. Thank you.

Good luck, brother.

Yes!

Establishing
who is the legal next of kin.

Yes, ma'am. I mean it.

Walking out of the Coroner's Office,
it was the first time...

First time in a long time where
when you go into a place of authority

where you walk into certain rooms...

and you can walk back out freely
because nothing is holding you there.

A weight that was holding me down
for the longest time

was a lot of people
didn't believe who I was.

They didn't expect me to show up
today and just hand them paperwork.

They expected to get something
in the mail.

And she said,
"Well, we just have to go through

the people that have stepped up and
see who is family and see who isn't.

But all your documentation
has shown us that you are related."

-And that...
-Yes!

Proud of you, brother.
Proud of you, man.

And for them to recognize me
and my grandfather...

...as being family,
that's all I needed. I was happy.

Huge step for the good guys

and being the decision makers,
that looks good in your favor, bro.

You took the initiative to come in.

Guarantee you're the only one to
do that.

After I left the Coroner's Office,
I...

I had this satisfaction on the inside

and I've already laid enough
on Audrey

and she's already consumed enough
of what's going on around her,

I had to make the right phone call.

You know, who am I supposed to call
to tell this exciting news to?

Well, it's exciting to me, may not be
exciting to the rest of the world.

But I knew my mom could respect it.

See what Mom's up to.

-Hello.
-Mother.

-Hey, how's it going?
-What are you doing?

Oh,
I'm just sitting here watching TV

and I just wanted to know how
your day went before I went to bed.

Yeah. Things went well.

We actually went
to the Kern County Coroner

and they actually let me in the back

and I was able to show
all the court documentations

that you saved for me from birth

and all the stuff that you saved,
Mom, and you gave me.

I used today.

-And have all the answers.
-And have all the answers.

I tried to get a hold of Audrey.

I told her I wanted to talk to you
before I went to bed.

She said she was going to bed.

-She never answered me back.
-No. No, whenever ...

She has some hard days
at work, Mom,

and I just got to make sure I'm there
for her mentally

and I'm just not there physically
and that's the hard part right now.

-I got to go, Mom.
-All right, bye.

-Okay, I love you. Bye.
-I love you. Bye.

I met Dale Kiken through J.J.

My intentions were to claim
my grandfather's body.

That was Dale's job, Dale was
the perfect guy to be in my corner.

We've got one shot at this.

As far as the court was concerned,
up in Kern County,

their big issue is, we have a body.

We need to have someone
take the body,

or give us permission
to dispose of it,

or intern it ourselves.

The code section, in California,
basically talks about,

if there aren't any identifiable
immediate relatives

that would be next of kin.

When you have contact with,
as you did, with the Sheriff,

that tends to diminish
the trustworthiness of the attorneys

that are representing you,
in the eyes of the sheriff.

So, it's best to uphold
the attorney client privilege...

...and to preserve
your right not to speak,

not to give testimony
by having an attorney

who makes statements for you
and who has contact with officials.

So, to underscore that, I would say,

please do not have further contact
with any of the authorities.

Be it the Sheriff,
be it the Corcoran facility,

court clerks, judges. So...

So I've got to, I've got you
to help me protect myself from me.

-Exactly.
-Yeah.

The Kern County County Council
did a very good job

of exploring the issues
and the possible claimants.

There were Michael Channels
and Matthew Lentz.

We believe that the will
that was prepared by Mr. Channels

may under California law
be deemed to be conclusively

the product of fraud
and therefore invalid.

So we've laid the groundwork
for that determination.

Matthew Lentz, who you had
a circumstance with, many years ago,

where his DNA
was compared to yours,

having the presumption that you,

in fact,
are the son of Charles Manson Jr.

who was, in fact, the son
of Charles Manson

that your DNA would be
a good guideline to compare with his.

And, as I understand it,
the determination

was that you couldn't possibly be
relatives.

Which would mean
that he couldn't possibly be

a relative of Charles Manson.

A piece of my grandfather's
going to go down in history.

We don't need to have people
spreading my grandfather's ashes

all over the United States.
It's got to end now.

The next problem would be, who else
is an heir that might be claiming?

So we need to see
who else might be out there.

We want to error on the side of
giving notice to everyone possible.

Charles Manson,
you know, my former guru, lover,

I lived with him for two years
and the family.

Mary Bruner was
the first woman I believe

that Charlie met in San Francisco.

She adored him and she had his baby
which we named...

well, we named him Poo Bear
and I was there at that birth.

So, if there is an heir
that has a greater right

because they're closer than you are,

for instance, if there is a son
that makes the claim,

his right would be greater
than yours.

There's only one person,
generally acknowledge

to be Charles Manson's son alive,
which is my client, Michael Brunner.

Subtitles: Philip Macdonald
www.sdimedia.com