Charles Luther Manson’s children have unsurprisingly disassociated themselves from their infamous criminal father. 

The Manson Family, a notorious cult responsible for 35 murders, including that of actress Sharon Tate, is a well-known name. 

However, few people know about Charles Manson’s biological children, including Charles Manson Jr., Charles Luther Manson, and Valentine Michael Manson, who distanced themselves from their father’s dark legacy.

Charles Manson’s cult may have been referred to as a family, but as a father, he was anything but commendable. Unsurprisingly, his biological children wanted to steer clear of his gruesome reputation. 

Sadly, Charles Jr. passed away in 1993, succumbing to his inner demons and taking his own life.

Early Life

Charles Manson Jr. was born to Manson and his first wife, Rosalie Jean Willis, when she was only 15. 

Manson was 20 at their marriage, and the young couple moved to Los Angeles while Willis was still pregnant. However, Manson’s criminal past caught up with him, and he was arrested for driving a stolen vehicle from Ohio to California.

Despite their father’s infamy, Manson’s children led relatively everyday lives. Charles Jr. changed his name to Jay White after his parent’s divorce and struggled with alcoholism throughout his adult life. 

Meanwhile, Manson’s other sons kept a low profile and did not discuss their relationship with their father.

The story of the Manson Family has captivated the public for decades, but the tales of Manson’s children remain shrouded in mystery. 

Despite the infamy of their last name, they were able to carve out a life for themselves away from their father’s gruesome legacy.

Manson’s Marriage 

While Manson was serving time in prison, his wife, Willis, gave birth to their son, Charles Jr. However, the couple’s marriage was short-lived, and divorced in 1958. 

Charles Jr. eventually changed his name to Jay White and had a son named Jason Freeman. However, he consciously tried to stay out of his son’s life to prevent his father’s notorious legacy from tainting his childhood.

After his release from prison, Manson married Leona Rae “Candy” Stevens in 1959. However, their marriage was short-lived, and Stevens filed for divorce in 1963. 

During their marriage, Stevens claimed to have given birth to Manson’s son, Charles Luther Manson. However, little is known about Charles Luther, who has since changed his name and withdrawn from the public eye.

Mary Brunner was among the earliest members of the Manson Family, the cult led by notorious criminal Charles Manson. 

After Manson’s release from Terminal Island prison in 1967, he moved into Brunner’s apartment, and the two began a nomadic lifestyle, recruiting young women for Manson’s twisted ideology.

Mary Brunner’s Son, Valentine Michael 

Brunner gave birth to a son named Valentine Michael on April 15, 1968, but was also called “Pooh Bear” by the Manson Family. 

Brunner’s involvement in credit card fraud led to her imprisonment after a police shootout in 1971, and custody of Valentine was given to Brunner’s parents, who renamed him Michael Brunner. 

He was raised in his mother’s hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and felt no connection to his biological father.

Despite his unusual upbringing, Michael Brunner has chosen to live everyday life and does not want to be treated differently because of his biological father. 

He believes people often judge him unfairly based on his family history, but he doesn’t see it as a defining aspect of his life. He even refers to his mother, Mary Brunner, as “my kid’s grandma.”

In a 2019 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Brunner revealed that he was working in manufacturing and living with his partner on a large rural property in the Midwest. 

He has moved on from his tumultuous past and is focused on building a stable and happy life for himself and his family.

All About Matthew Roberts

Matthew Roberts, a Los Angeles musician, sought out his birth parents in 1998 and found his biological mother living in Wisconsin. 

She told him she met Manson at an orgy in San Francisco in 1967 and believed he had impregnated her. 

Roberts thought he had finally discovered his biological father and wrote to Manson, receiving a letter from “Prisoner B33920” confirming that he remembered the orgy and Roberts’ biological mother. 

However, a DNA test organized by CNN in 2012 concluded that Roberts and Manson’s grandchild had no common biological ancestry.

This news devastated Roberts, who had been searching for answers for years. In an interview with CNN, he expressed his disappointment and said that he had no chance of knowing his biological father now that his only lead was false. 

In a 2017 interview with Radar Online, Roberts questioned the DNA test’s accuracy, suggesting that it only proved that he wasn’t related to Manson’s grandchild and not necessarily that he wasn’t associated with Manson himself.

Despite the DNA test results, Roberts still longed to meet Manson face to face. He explained that everyone has a unique and special love for their biological parents, even if they are different, disturbed, or monstrous. 

The idea of finally laying eyes on his biological father was big for Roberts, as he had never known what it was like to see his birth parents.

According to well-researched sources, such as journalist Karina Longworth’s 12-episode series on her podcast, You Must Remember This, Charles Manson targeted vulnerable youth of the late 1960s, particularly young girls, by manipulating them with drugs, lengthy speeches, and squalid living conditions. 

He coerced his followers into committing increasingly violent crimes, culminating in nine murders in the summer of 1969. Nearly fifty years later, audiences were reintroduced to a semi-fictionalized version of the Manson family through the 2019 film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, which received ten Academy Award nominations at the 2020 Oscars.

In the sensationalist 1989 documentary Charles Manson Superstar, which includes a lengthy interview with Manson from San Quentin, the convicted murderer claimed, “Every time I get out, I get a woman and a kid, and then she runs off…then the kid shows up 20, 30 years later, fat and acting like his mother.” 

This may refer to Manson’s previous relationships with his two ex-wives, who divorced him while imprisoned. However, no evidence suggests that Manson ever met any of his children.