Charles Manson died of acute cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, and colon cancer, according to his death certificate that's now making the rounds.
As per the Kern County coroner, the primary cause was cardiac arrest. He'd also been battling colon cancer in the months leading up to his death. Manson died in Nov. 19, aged 83.
At the time, the California Department of Corrections said he had died of natural causes. Manson, a cult leader and the infamous mastermind behind the Tate-LaBianca murders, was transferred earlier in the month from Corcoran State Prison to Bakersfield, California, as his condition had grown more abysmal over time.
Manson has yet to be buried, according to the Associated Press, because relatives are battling over acquisitions of his estate, including music, art, musical instruments — and more importantly — the trademark over his image, which could potentially be used again in future films or documentaries requiring authorized Manson-related material.
Debra Tate, the sister of Sharon Tate, one of the people Manson murdered in 1969, fears those seeking control of Manson's estate and belongings hope to profit from the murderer's dark past.
"Whatever he was in life, in death he deserves dignity," she said.
Meanwhile, Jason Freeman, Manson's purported grandson, said he is a man of faith whose only wish for Manson is for him to get cremated and his ashes to be properly placed.
"It won't be in the media, it will be a private family matter from that point," he said. Freeman is currently working on a documentary about Manson.
Though Manson has largely moved away from media focus after his imprisonment, his deathly deeds still potently penetrate pop culture. In fact, Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film reportedly includes a subplot involving Manson's crimes, and he's the subject of a new podcast called Young Charlie.
Manson orchestrated a number of murders in the late 1960s. The first set of victims were Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time; hairstylist Jay Sebring; coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger; author Wojciech Frykowski; and Steven Parent, a friend of the family's caretaker.
Shortly after the initial murders, another set of murders followed.
The word "pig" was written in blood on the walls of one victim's home and the front door of another. The writings, according to a prosecutor, was because Manson wanted to start a race war, hoping the society would pin the blame on Black Panthers, a revolutionary socialist organization founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.
