LOS ANGELES _ The remains of cult leader Charles Manson were awarded to his grandson from Florida, court records show.
Kern County Superior Court Commissioner Alisa R. Knight authorized coroner's officials to release Manson's remains to Jason Freeman, according to the ruling issued Monday.
"The court orders that disposition of the remains are to be determined by Freeman ... who will also be responsible for the costs of burial and funeral expenses," the ruling said.
Manson was the mastermind of the gory rampage that claimed the life of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others during two August nights in Los Angeles in 1969. The problematic prisoner with a swastika carved into his forehead generated a cult following during four decades of imprisonment.
Three people claimed to be the rightful heir to his estate: Freeman; Michael Brunner, who contends he is Manson's last surviving son; and Michael Channels, his longtime pen pal from Newhall, Calif.
All three were fighting in court over Manson's body _ which has been in storage with the Kern County coroner since he died at 83 in a Bakersfield hospital Nov. 19.
According to an attorney representing the Kern County coroner, Manson told guards at Corcoran prison that he had no surviving children and did not have a will.
