A lawyer nominated by the grandson of Charles Manson to oversee the mass killer’s estate was given limited authority to do so Tuesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Clifford Klein named Dale Kiken as the estate’s temporary special administrator through Dec. 14.
Kiken will be tasked with recovering property, on behalf of Manson grandson Jason Freeman, that the cult leader left behind in prison when he died Nov. 19 at age 83 at Bakersfield Mercy Hospital of heart failure triggered by colon cancer that had spread to other areas of his body.
Kiken’s lawyer, Alan Davis, said the appointment of his client gives Corcoran State Prison officials authorization to release Manson’s belongings and averts for now the possibility the property could be disposed of or destroyed by those administrators after the first anniversary of Manson’s death on Nov. 19. Davis said it is uncertain what might be recovered from Manson’s longtime stay behind bars.
Attorney David Baldwin, who represents longtime Manson pen pal Michael Channels, told Klein that his client did not oppose the temporary appointment of Kiken, but added that Channels would like to see an itemized list of items recovered from the prison.
Freeman won a significant court victory when a Kern County commissioner ruled in March that he was entitled to Manson’s remains. Like Freeman, Kiken maintains that a 2002 Manson will that Channels alleges he possesses is a forgery.
Channels said Manson’s 2002 will, filed in Kern County last November, names him the executor of Manson’s estate.
A trial is still scheduled Dec. 14 on the competing petitions by Kiken and Channels to be the estate’s permanent administrator.