London - Charles Manson has been granted a licence to marry his 26-year-old girlfriend, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The 80-year-old has 90 days to wed Afton Elaine Burton, who left her family home in America’s Midwest nine years ago to live near the prison where the mass murderer is incarcerated in Corcoran, California.
Burton - who calls herself “Star” - claimed the couple would marry next month.
“Y’all can know that it’s true,” she said. “It’s going to happen. I love him. I’m with him.”
Manson was a crazed cult leader who told members of his “family” to kill pregnant actress Sharon Tate - wife of Roman Polanski - and four others in 1969. He was convicted by the joint responsibility rule even though he was not present at the killings.
He is serving a life sentence after his death sentence was commuted in 1972 when the state of California abolished executions.
Burton, who is so devoted that she has even cut an X into her brow to resemble the swastika Manson has on his forehead, runs websites that maintain Manson is innocent.
She has said that by becoming “next of kin” she will get more information from the prison authorities than she would otherwise.
Burton gave an interview a year ago to Rolling Stone magazine in which she said she and Manson planned to marry.
But Manson denied the claims at the time, saying: “That’s trash. We’re playing that for public consumption.”
However, Burton claimed on Tuesday: “None of that’s true.”
She said they were waiting for the prison to complete paperwork. California Department of Corrections spokesman Terry Thornton confirmed the licence had been transmitted to the prison.
Burton was born into a deeply religious family in Missouri and was punished for dabbling in drugs and refusing to go to church as a teenager. When a friend gave her some of Manson’s writings about the environment she decided to strike up a correspondence with him. Manson has not previously married. He fathered a son, Valentine Michael in 1968, with Mary Brunner, now 70, a member of his cult.
Burton, who has shaved her head, said she expects to be married in an inmate visiting room. The pair would be allowed to invite 10 guests who are not prisoners.
Manson and his followers were convicted of the gruesome killings of Tate and four others at their estate on August 9, 1969, and grocers Leno and Rosemary LaBianca who were killed the following night.
Manson was later convicted of two further murders in 1969. He is not eligible for parole until 2027.
Daily Mail