Charles Manson's body secretly lies chilled in the morgue while a drawn-out court battle over the rights to his ashes rages on.
There was nothing normal about the wild-eyed cult leader's life and now, even in death, circumstances are strange.
For the last three months his corpse has been kept in a freezer somewhere in California, under a fake name, and only two staffers in the coroner's office know where the body is, according to The Daily Beast.
Meanwhile, three parties have been locked in a court battle claim the remains, including Manson's biological son Michael Brunner, according to the New York Daily News, but in the next few days the corpse could finally be set free.
Kern County Superior Court Commissioner Alisa Knight said on Wednesday that the fate of Manson's body would be determined in a ruling soon.
County attorney Bryan Walters told The Daily Beast that Knight "did not want to wait for anyone to do any further discovery or DNA testing [of potential relatives]."
Walters explained that Knight intended to conduct a review of all the pleadings that have been filed and would be making a final decision based upon that.
Challenging Brunner for the remains is Manson's grandson, Jason Freeman, and two other men insisting they have the cult leader's only valid will, CNN noted.
Freeman filed first to claim the body and estate, but Brunner put in a claim that he is Manson's only surviving son.
Meanwhile, the Kern County Coroner has received two conflicting wills, one appointing Manson's friend, Benjamin Gurecki, as executor and another that lists Matthew Robert Lentz as Manson's son and only heir.
Lawyers from each party appeared in court on Wednesday to stake their claims while the coroner's office requested that the court determine which of the competing claims should prevail, according to The Daily Beast.
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