The grandson of Charles Manson has filed court papers seeking to obtain the remains of the late mass murderer from the Kern County coroner.

Jason L. Freeman’s Los Angeles Superior Court petition was filed Friday, four days after Judge David Cowan ruled that the appropriate court papers seeking release of Manson’s remains had not been filed. A hearing on Freeman’s petition is scheduled for Jan. 26 before Judge Clifford Klein.

“As kin I am entitled to the remains of the decedent,” Freeman stated in court papers.

Klein also will decide whether the Manson probate proceedings should take place in Los Angeles County, where Manson once lived; in Kings County, where he was imprisoned before his death; or in Kern County, where he died.


Manson spent nearly 50 years at the Corcoran prison and died Nov. 19 at age 83 at Bakersfield Mercy Hospital.

Former Manson pen pal Michael Channels also is seeking to obtain control of the killer’s remains. Channels said that he has a copy of Manson’s will and that the cult leader left no property of any significant value.

Channels said that he has no financial motive in Manson’s probate case and that he is not looking for attention. He said he only wants to see Manson buried in a place where spectators won’t vandalize the grave site.

In his court papers, Freeman said that Manson died without a will and that any such document anyone claims to possess is a “forgery.”