Last moments of a monster
Minutes from death, killer cult leader Manson still refused to show remorse for his crimes
CHAINED to his hospital bed, dying Charles Manson shows not a hint of regret for his vile crimes.
Minutes after the Daily Mirror’s exclusive picture was taken, the murderous 1960s cult leader finally died.
It is the image, Manson, 83, hoped the world would never see. After his conviction for seven murders, he delighted in telling fans he was immortal.
He revelled in the fact the warders he despised at California’s Corcoran state prison were forbidden from revealing his frail condition. Their silence helped to promote his twisted fantasy that he would live forever.
Manson avoided the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison in 1971 after California temporarily ruled capital punishment unconstitutional. He died from natural causes on November 19. Treated in a secure room at the Kern Hospital in Bakersfield, California, Manson is surrounded by tubes keeping his frail body alive.
His bald head and closed eyelids are a world away from the wild-eyed monster billions came to know as Manson.
Although he never took part in the infamous murders of seven people, he ordered his followers to embark on the rampage in Los Angeles over two August nights in 1969. One victim was pregnant actress Sharon Tate.
A source close to the person who took the picture said they hoped it would help Manson’s victims. He said: “Every day he was alive he taunted the relatives of those he killed. Never once did Manson show remorse. He often boasted, ‘I am the most dangerous man alive’.
“He bragged he was immortal. Asked if he cared about his crimes he said ‘What the hell does that mean, ‘care’?
“The guy just hopes his picture shows how sad, how temporary, how impermanent and how mortal, this sick f*** was. He hopes it shatters the illusion his freakish followers still have and gives something back to families torn apart by his evil. Manson’s victims should be mourned on the occasion of his death.
“The only thing we should mourn about him is that he was ever born.”
A battle has now broken out over Manson’s lucrative art and image rights.
His self-proclaimed “son” Matthew Roberts is challenging a will held by the killer’s pen pal Michael Channels.
During his time behind bars Manson was cited for assault, possessing a weapon and threatening staff.
In 2014, the killer and Afton Elaine Burton, 26, were granted a marriage licence. It expired before they could tie the knot. Manson’s next parole hearing had been scheduled for 2027.