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Last Photo Of Charles Manson In An Open Casket Before Cremation Has Been Released

Last Photo Of Charles Manson In An Open Casket Before Cremation Has Been Released

The small ceremony took place four months after his death aged 83

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A disturbing final image of notorious cult leader Charles Manson lying in an open casket has been shared online.

Manson was cremated and his ashes scattered following a private funeral, which took place four months after his death.

The ceremony took place on Saturday at a funeral home in Porterville, California, TMZ reports.

Mega

Mark Pitcher, pastor of the Church of Nazarene, oversaw the funeral. He told the Press Association that around 20 to 25 people attended, including Mason's grandson Jason Freeman and his partner Audrey.

The pastor said he agreed to the funeral home's request to carry out the service after learning that the Freemans are Christian and that Mr Freeman wanted to give his grandfather a 'proper burial'.

Pitcher told the agency: "This has been quite a journey for him. He is a grandson wanting to find out anything that can be positive about his grandfather.

"Charlie never had any contact with his natural father, and Jason's dad left when he was very young and committed suicide. He wants to break the pattern of the past."

Manson's grandson Jason Freeman.
PA

Freeman is reported to have said he was hoping to scatter his grandfather's ashes so he could put to rest 'this so-called monster, this historical figure that shouldn't have been blown up as big as it was for all these years'.

Les Peters, who owns the funeral home told the Recorder that a number of guests gathered after the ceremony, describing it as having a 'hippie vibe', with music by the Beach Boys and Guns N' Roses.

According to the Poterville Recorder other attendees included one of the famed 'Manson Family' Sandra Good, who spent 10 years in prison for sending hundreds of threatening letters to corporate executives.

PA

She was never implicated in the Manson Family killings. The murders hit headlines in 1969, when members of the 'family', acting under instruction from Mason, killed seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.

Manson was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people in 1971.

He was handed the death penalty, but his sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole when California got rid of the death penalty in 1972. He died in prison in November 2017 aged 83.

Sources: The Porterville Recorder; TMZ

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Death, News, US News, crime