The fight for the legitimize the dying will of infamous cult leader Charles Manson continues, and now the former Manson pen pal who is leading the struggle has an expert in the field of handwriting in his corner, one that he claims will finally be able to confirm what could be Manson’s final statements.
TMZ reports that 2 dozen letters, envelopes, postcards and appeal forms with Manson’s signatures have been saved by Manson’s pen pal, Michael Channels, and Channels will soon be submitting these documents to the court as well as the opinion from the handwriting expert that the writing on these documents does indeed match Manson’s signature on his will.
After receiving the court documents, TMZ reports that they reveal that the handwriting expert examined height proportions, spacing, fluidity and unique embellishment strokes that is taken into consideration when studying handwriting for fraudulent copies. After the expert’s examination, TMZ reports that in her opinion “Manson wrote and signed the second page of the questioned will.”
The handwriting expert, whose name isn’t revealed but is a woman, is one of the most experienced in the field, with more than 1,200 document examination cases to her credit. The expert’s conclusion that the will was indeed signed by Manson would be the highest confidence that could be provided in this case.
A confirmation that Manson’s signature is on the will would be very beneficial to Channels, as Manson left everything he had to his pen pal, including cash and what could be very lucrative image rights.
Channels’ relationship with Manson dates back to the 1990s when the pair first began exchanging letters. Eventually, Manson and Channels had phone conversations with each other and the pen pal would even visit Manson in prison from time to time.
While the will is very crudely written, previous analysis from TMZ reached the same conclusion as the handwriting expert, that the handwriting on the will was very similar to Manson’s handwriting on other documents.
The will is dated February 14, 2002, and leaves Channels all of Manson’s belongings, clothing and image rights to Summers, including his “exclusive music catalog”. Before Manson was the notorious cult-leader he is known as today, he was a folk singer and songwriter and even has a writing credit on the Beach Boys’ “Never Learn Not To Love”.
The will aims to specifically disinherit his known children, ex-wives, in-laws, lawyers, friends, prisoners, inmates, cops, guards, and the State of California.