Battle over cult killer Charles Manson's $1m estate takes new turn as judge grants 'son' mini-trial

The bitter fight over cult leader Charles Manson ’s $1 million estate has been hit with yet another delay as three claimants are locked in a bitter feud over the notorious killer’s belongings.

Los Angeles real estate agent Daniel Arguelles, 64, insists he is Manson’s son, while memorabilia collector Michael Channels, 57, says he has a will he says leaves everything to him. Meanwhile, Jason Freeman, 48, a former MMA fighter from Bradenton, Florida, claims to be the convicted killer's grandson. LA Superior Court Judge Ruben Garcia has now granted Arguelles’ request to “bifurcate” his case, meaning he will have a separate mini-trial to establish whether he is indeed the heir.

This bifurcation will take place before a main trial, where he would face off against Freeman and Channels. Judge Garcia scheduled a ‘trial-setting conference’ for February 21 next year to decide when the bifurcation trial will occur. He was also expected to rule on the authenticity of the contested will, which Channels claims is signed by Manson and disinherits his children, but postponed that decision to the February court date.

The controversial will is mostly typed but ends with a handwritten note reading, “I’m not in the best spot to rest in peace.” It allegedly bears Manson’s signature and declares that both known and unknown children are disinherited. Channels, who claims to have befriended Manson in the ’90s and visited him in prison, says the cult leader left him rights to his music, writings, and other belongings. Freeman and Arguelles, however, both say the will is fake.

Freeman accuses Channels of manipulating Manson to obtain the document, while Arguelles claims the signature is forged. The memorabilia collector says he witnessed the signing two days before Manson supposedly signed it. Arguelles alleges Manson was mentally unstable, suffering from schizophrenia and paranoia, which made him vulnerable to undue influence.

For years, Freeman appeared to have the upper hand in his claim, backed by a 1986 Ohio court ruling that identified him as the son of Manson’s deceased son, Charles Manson Jr. However, in 2022, Arguelles entered the battle, asserting that he is Manson’s biological son from a brief affair in 1959. Judge Garcia previously acknowledged Freeman as Manson Jr.’s son but requested further proof linking Manson Jr. to Manson Sr.

To support his claim, his lawyers later produced Manson Jr.’s birth certificate, which names Charles Manson as his father. Manson died of natural causes on November 19 2017 at Corcoran State Prison where he spent 47 years on death row. Some of the cult leader’s belongings - like his guitars, clothes and other personal jailhouse property that currently sits in boxes at a storage facility - could fetch thousands from collectors.

Although Mansion never took part in the 1969 murders, he ordered his followers to kill. One of the victims was actress Sharon Tate, who was just weeks away from giving birth.