Charles Manson is just weeks away from his expected wedding date, and plans for the 80-year-old serial killer to marry his 26-year-old fiance are continuing to draw controversy.
Manson announced earlier this month that he planned to marry Afton Elaine Burton, who was just a teenager when she met Manson and decided to move to Corcoran, California, to be closer to him.
Though Charles Manson and his bride-to-be have not publicly announced their wedding date, the ceremony is quickly approaching. The pair obtained a wedding license in early November, which gives them 90 days to be married.
The idea of Manson — who was convicted for nine killings which took place in 1969 — getting married doesn’t sit well with many . On Sunday, cartoonist John Darkow laid into Charles Manson for his plans to marry, noting Manson’s violent past. Darkow drew a cartoon showing Manson sitting on a bench in a prison cell, saying, “At my age, why get married again? I thought, why not take another stab at it?”
Deborah Tate, whose pregnant sister Sharon was killed by Manson and his followers, said she finds the idea of him marrying “ludicrous” and “insane.”
“It’s always something with him,” Tate said.
Tate also criticized Afton Elaine Burton , saying that the 26-year-old is likely being duped by Manson.
“I wonder how long it will take for her to figure out this is just a con,” Tate said. “It makes me wonder what is missing in her life that she would want to marry an 80-year-old man. Is she a victim? Is she mentally deranged?”
Burton herself said the marriage is very real, noting that she fell in love with Manson when she was still a teenager and admires his philosophy of ATWA, an environmental viewpoint that stands for air, trees, water, animals.
“It’s the life on the planet, you know,” said Burton, who now goes by Star, in an August interview with CNN . “The Earth is a rock and everything else on it is ATWA.”
Burton said she knows many people will disapprove of her marrying Manson, but said she doesn’t care what others think.
“No. I don’t get into other people’s business. I don’t judge people. I don’t mess with people. I don’t lie to people. And Charlie’s the same way. You know, he just wants to be left alone, that’s all.”
Afton Elaine Burton and Charles Manson are expected to marry sometime by early 2015.
[Image via CNN ]
