CORCORAN, Calif. (AP) — Mass murderer Charles
Manson plans to marry a 26-year-old woman who
left her Midwestern home and spent the past nine
years trying to help exonerate him.
Afton Elaine Burton, the raven-haired bride-to-be,
said she loves the man convicted in the notorious
murders of seven people, including pregnant
actress Sharon Tate.
No date has been set, but a wedding coordinator
has been assigned by the prison to handle the
nuptials, and the couple has until early February to
get married before they would have to reapply.
The Kings County marriage license, viewed
Monday by The Associated Press, was issued Nov.
7 for the 80-year-old Manson and Burton, who
lives in Corcoran — the site of the prison — and
maintains several websites advocating his
innocence.
Burton, who goes by the name "Star," told the AP
that she and Manson will be married next month.
"Y'all can know that it's true," she said. "It's going
to happen."
"I love him," she added. "I'm with him. There's all
kinds of things."
However, as a life prisoner with no parole date,
Manson is not entitled to family visits, a
euphemism for conjugal visits.
So why would Burton marry him under those
conditions?
She said she is interested in working on his case,
and marrying him would allow her to get
information not available to nonrelatives.
"There's certain things next of kin can do," she
said without elaborating.
Tate's sister, Debra, who acts as a spokeswoman
for the families of Manson's victims, said the
impending marriage is "ludicrous."
"I think it's insane," she said. "What would any
young woman in her right mind want with an 80-
year-old man?"
As for Manson's motives, she said, "The devil is
alive and well."
Burton gave an interview a year ago to Rolling
Stone magazine in which she said she and
Manson planned to marry. But Manson, who
became notorious in 1969 as the leader of a
roving "family" of young killers, was less certain
about tying the knot.
"That's a bunch of garbage," Manson said in the
December 2013 interview. "That's trash. We're
playing that for public consumption."
Asked Monday about those comments, Burton
said, "None of that's true," adding that they're
waiting for the prison to complete their paperwork.
California Department of Corrections spokeswoman
Terry Thornton confirmed to the AP that the
license had been transmitted to the prison.
Thornton said each California prison designates an
employee to be a marriage coordinator who
processes paperwork for an inmate's request to be
wed. In most cases, she said, the Department of
Corrections approves of such weddings as "a tool
of family reunification and social development." But
Manson is a unique case.
Burton said the wedding might have happened
earlier if Manson did not have "some situations" at
the prison.
Thornton explained that in February, Manson had
three violations for possession of a weapon,
threatening staff and refusal to provide a urine
sample. Further details on the violations were not
immediately available.
Burton said the prison holds marriages on the first
Saturday of each month and she expects to be
married in an inmate visiting room at the prison.
Thornton confirmed that Manson can have a
wedding at the prison and invite an officiant from
outside the prison to perform the ceremony.
Manson and his prospective spouse also would be
allowed to invite 10 guests who are not inmates.
He and two followers, Leslie Van Houten and
Patricia Krenwinkel, remain imprisoned. Another
follower, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars.
Other members of the Manson "family" still behind
bars are Charles "Tex" Watson, Bruce Davis and
Robert Beausoleil.
Manson, Watson and the women were convicted in
the gruesome killings of Tate, the wife of director
Roman Polanski, and four others at her estate on
Aug. 9, 1969, and grocers Leno and Rosemary
LaBianca who were killed the following night.
Manson is not eligible for parole until 2027. He
has been a habitual criminal and spent most of his
life in prison.
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