Michael Brunner, the biological son of Charles Manson, says his father wasn't so bad.
Michael Brunner, the biological son of Charles Manson, told The Los Angeles Times his father wasn't so bad.
“Ninety-five percent of [the] public looks at Charlie as a mass murdering dog and I don’t think that is who he is,” Brunner told the paper.
At the direction of Manson, his followers, the so-called Manson Family, carried out the brutal murders of actress Sharon Tate, her unborn child and four others in August 1969. Manson was convicted in the murders and died behind bars two years ago.
But Brunner thinks his father has been painted in a poor light.
“I think the public has been fed untruths. And this whole thing has been glorified, glamified and blown out of portion,” Brunner said. “When you look into it deeply, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Brunner is son of Mary Brunner, a former librarian and Manson’s first recruit. She was serving time for check forgery on the night the Manson Family killed Tate and the others. Mary's parents adopted Michael as a toddler.
In a rare interview, Inside Edition spoke to Michael 26 years ago. Back then, he was living in the Midwest, trying to distance himself from his infamous father.
“You know, I really just don’t think about him. I have better things to do,” he said in 1993.
Now with the film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" premiering later this month, which features the story of Manson and Tate, there is renewed interest in the heinous cult leader.
So his son wants people to know a different side of his dad.
“Charlie's music is good. It’s folky,” he said.
He said right before Manson’s death he emailed his dad and received a postcard from him that said, "Write on. Write, write, write on."
“I don’t have those negative feelings that I once had. I wish I would have gotten to know him a little bit,” Brunner added.
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