Charles Manson probably didn’t have many friends. That’s kind of what happens when you’re a serial killer behind bars. While he didn’t have friends who would visit him in jail, he did have friends who would write him in jail. Yes, Mr. Manson had a pen pal.
And that pen pal benefitted from his years of befriending a crazed killer in the form of Manson’s estate. Upon his death, Manson left his pen pal his personal belongs, image rights, clothes, music catalog, and who knows what else. Oh, he gets Manson’s body as well.
Manson’s pal, who smartly declined to be named in the story, had been writing Manson since the 90’s. He even spoke with him on phone and visited him while he was imprisoned. He says that he wrote Manson out of curiosity and sent 50 letters before finally getting a reply. Never let anyone tell you that persistence doesn’t pay off, kids. You too can become friends with a murderer if you write him enough times.
Manson’s will is dated back to 2002. In it, Manson says, “I’m not in the best spot to rest in peace.” I guess he preferred the forest or an abandoned house. The cult leader specifically cut out his children, ex-wives, in-laws, lawyers, friends, and pretty much everyone who said, “I don’t know no one named Charles Manson.”
The will recipient goes on to say that he last talked to ol’ Chuck on Oct. 21.
Let this be a lesson to anyone out there reading this. Find someone who is in prison for the rest of their life and anonymously become friends with them. The worst thing that can happen is they don’t write you back or you have to spend too much of your free time talking to them. But the reward seems pretty sweet.
Inmate writing is the new gold digging.
Manson did not kill anyone and, arguably, never instructed Tex Watson and the others to kill.
Sure he was a pimp and scum-bag before the murders, but his prosecution was largely political and tied to Roman Polanski’s pedophilia.