Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Charles Manson's followers carried out murders on his orders

A Californian judge has ended a wrangle over the remains of death cult leader Charles Manson by awarding custody to his grandson, US media report.

Jason Freeman's claim to the body of his grandfather, who died in November while serving his prison sentence, faced numerous challenges.

One man claimed to be Manson's illegitimate son while another produced a will making him sole beneficiary.

Manson's cult carried out a string of high-profile murders in the 1960s.

Known as the Manson Family, they killed nine people including the heavily pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski.

While the question of the body has been decided, that of Manson's estate has still to be determined.

Victims' rights advocates fear artefacts relating to the criminal may be sold for thousands of dollars.

What were the other claims?

Kern County Superior Court Judge Alisa Knight ruled in favour of Mr Freeman as the son of Charles Manson Jr, who killed himself in 1993.

She rejected a claim by Matt Lentz, a Los Angeles musician who said he had been fathered by the murderer during an orgy in Wisconsin, and that Manson had named him as his sole beneficiary in a 2017 will.

Also dismissed was a will submitted by Michael Channels, a former pen pal of Manson who argued that the killer had disinherited his natural family and made him his sole beneficiary in 2002.

Manson died aged 83 in a state hospital in Bakersfield, California, on 19 November. His body has been kept at an undisclosed location since then.