Getty Manson in 2009
Charles Manson has passed away, the sister of one of his victims has shared. He leaves behind a large family, including three sons who are “officially” recognized as his. Charles Manson himself once said he wasn’t sure how many children he really had, since he could have fathered quite a few children that he didn’t know about. He told Tom Snyder in a 1981 interview: “I’ve got lots of children, man … In fact sometimes I even think that you’re a child.” However, three sons have been “officially” regarded as his children, and a possible daughter also claims the family name. Here’s everything you need to know about Charles Manson’s kids.
1. Charles Manson, Jr. (aka Jay White) Was Manson’s First Child and He Committed Suicide in 1993
(The video below is of Jay White’s son, Jason Freeman)
Charles Manson Jr. was born in 1956 to Charles and his first wife, Rosalie Willis. Later, he changed his name to Jay White, naming himself after Rosalie’s second husband, Jack White. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1993 when he shot himself on a highway in Colorado. No one was quite sure why he committed suicide, CNN reported. He shot himself in the morning on I-70. Some sources say this was because he couldn’t deal with the violence his biological father had inflicted.
He had a son, Jason Freeman, who lives in Pennsylvania and is a kickboxer and works on oil rigs. In 2012, Freeman came out publicly as Manson’s grandson in order to no longer live in fear. He said his dad could never cope with who his own father was.
2. Charles Luther Manson, His Second Son, May Have a Daughter
San Quentin PrisonA 1971 mugshot of Manson.
Charles Luther Manson is the son of Charles Manson and Leona “Candy” Stevens, Manson’s second wife. Some sources say he was born in 1963, but Jeff Guin’s biography of Manson lists Luther’s birth as being in 1961. His current location or past life isn’t known. He’s done a good job of staying out of the spotlight, except for a small notation in April 2017 from the “Manson Blog” which stated that Charles Luther Manson had a daughter. The blog writer said they found her and she shared a picture of her dad and herself. No mention was made of a DNA test authenticating the claim.
3. Valentine “Michael Brunner” Manson Was Raised By His Grandparents
Valentine is the son of Charles Manson and Mary Brunner, a devoted Manson follower. He was born in 1968 outside of a hospital. His grandparents (on Brunner’s side) got guardianship of him in 1970, and his current location isn’t known. He goes by Michael Brunner, not Valentine Manson. He gave an interview with KCBS in 1993 and said he felt no connection to his biological father and didn’t believe he should be treated any differently because of his dad. You can watch the interview above. He said he considered his maternal grandparents to be his real parents, and felt like his mom was more like a sibling than a parent. “People who don’t know me have a tendency to not try to get to know me,” he said about people who realized who his dad was.
“I was given a second chance,” he said about his grandparents who raised him. “My parents gave me a second chance…and I love them a lot for it. I really do.”
About his biological father, he said: “He’s somebody far far away, and he doesn’t come up.” He didn’t find out about who his dad was until he was in the third grade. “I know he had a real bad upbringing, while I had one of the best. I was raised by the greatest people on the face of the Earth, he was raised by not the greatest — we’ll just leave it at that.”
In 1993, Brunner talked in an interview about his own child, who was two at the time of the interview. He said Charles Manson tried to re-establish connections with him and he didn’t want anything to do with him.
4. Matthew Roberts Thought He Was Manson’s Son Until His DNA Was Compared to Manson’s Grandson
Matthew is a musician in Los Angeles, who was adopted as an infant. In 1998, he sought out his birth parents, CNN reported. An adoption agency helped him find his birth mother, a woman named Terri in Wisconsin. She eventually told him that Charles Manson was his father and she met him in 1967 at an orgy in San Francisco. Matthew wrote Charles Manson in prison, who confirmed that he was there and remembered Terri. He was never able to get a DNA test because the samples from Charles were always contaminated. But CNN tested Matthew’s and Jason Freeman’s DNA to see if they were related, and discovered they were not. Since there was no doubt that Freeman’s dad was Charles Manson’s grandson, Matthew was told that he was not related to Charles Manson.
5. Rebecca Evans-Bonyadi and Others Have Also Claimed To Be Manson’s Children
Rebecca said she didn’t learn her dad was Charles Manson until she was a teenager, Mirror reported. She grew up in 10 foster homes and as she got older, she became curious about her biological parents. She said she learned she was taken into custody from Spahn Ranch, which was where Manson had lived with his followers. When she was 15, she tracked down her biological mother, Andrea Kavakow, who revealed that Manson was her dad. For 25 years, she kept the knowledge secret, known only to her and her half brother and half sister. Some news organizations, when referring to Rebecca, have pointed out that her story hasn’t been authenticated with a paternity test.
Others have also claimed to be Manson’s children without confirmation. These include Kimberley Davis who says his name is on her birth certificate, Ivan who was born in 1969 to Sandra Good, and Angel who was born in 1970 to Linda Kasabian. Angel had three possible fathers including Manson, and Ivan had two or more possible fathers, including Manson.
According to Manson, he could have many children that he never knew about.
