Valentine Michael Manson: Truth About Charles Manson’s Youngest Son

Valentine Michael Manson is the son of Charles Manson and Mary Brunner. Born on 15 April 1968 and now 56 years old, Valentine’s claim to fame has been a result of his place as the son of one of America’s most feared and infamous cult leaders of all time. While he has mostly stayed away from the media, he is known to still be in the United States.

Born to a man described as a career criminal, Valentine was also seen as a ranking member of the family, but he did not spend so much time with his biological parents. Rather, he was raised by his grandparents, who shielded him away from the public. In spite of this, the interest of the public has always remained, with everyone wanting to know what has become of the youngest of Manson’s 3 sons.

How Old is Valentine Michael Manson Now?

Valentine Michael Manson was born on 15 April 1968, which means he is currently 56 years old. He was birthed in California to Manson and Mary Brunner. At the time he was born, his parents were not married, and they did not marry at any point. His parent’s meeting was after his mother moved to California from Wisconsin after she graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Mary was 22 years old, while Manson was a 33-year-old who had just been released from prison. She allowed him to stay at her apartment while she worked with the University of California Berkeley as a Library Assistant. Valentine’s mother soon started a relationship with Manson, and she became the first person he would initiate into his cult, or the Manson Family as it was called.

A couple of years after they began dating, Mary became pregnant, which was how Valentine was born. Before his coming, his father’s cult had already started, and his parents, as well as other members of the Family, were living in Topanga Canyon on a property that was described as abandoned. With no assistance from professionals, the little kid’s birth was assisted by other women who joined the cult, and she smoked marijuana to reduce labor pain. After the birth, Manson was said to have used his teeth to cut the umbilical cord.

Valentine Michael Manson’s Grandparents Mostly brought Him Up

While he was still a little child, the Family grew and got into many troubles with the law. Nicknamed Pooh Bear by his mother, who was herself nicknamed Mother Mary because of her status in the cult, Valentine was only a year old when the Manson Family was accused of committing murders and gaining national notoriety.

While the trial of the family was on, his maternal grandparents petitioned to have the kid, who was only 18 months old. They succeeded and adopted him from that moment on.

They decided that because of the antecedents of his parents and the national attention his name would always get, his name had to be changed. It was at this point that they changed his name from Valentine Manson to Michael Brunner, a name he continues to bear to date.

Nothing of significance was revealed about the childhood of Valentine or how he grew up under the care of his parents in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, because they tried to shield him away from all the publicities that surrounded his parents. The only thing known is that he revealed he was grateful for the childhood and upbringing he got from his parents. More so, for the better part, his grandparents did not tell him anything about what his father did when he was very little until he found out while in the third grade.

Valentine Michael Manson was 3 When His Father Was Convicted

Although his father had been committing crimes since before the birth of Valentine, it was after his arrival that Charles Manson got arrested for the more serious and heinous crime of the murders. Charles and other members of the Family were accused of murdering actress Sharin Tate as well as four other people in her home. There were other murders that were allegedly committed as directed by the head of the cult, Manson. These include the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

There continued to be arguments on whether he actually killed someone or not, but what remained was that Charles was very instrumental in all the deeds of his members. The family got arrested in Manson, and other members of the Family, Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel, were arrested and tried for the crimes. His mother was not part of the crime because, at the time it happened, she was said to have been behind bars awaiting trial on charges bordering on credit card fraud.

The trial began in July 1970 when Valentine was only 2, and by March 1971, they were sentenced to death after being found guilty of first-degree murder. By this time, Manson’s last son was three years old, making him too young to understand what was happening. Manson and his other accomplices were fortunate to escape the death penalty to the dismay of many after California’s death sentences were deemed unconstitutional. Nonetheless, Manson did not get to walk out of Prison alive.

Although his sentence was commuted to life with a possibility of parole, Valentine’s father applied for parole but was outrightly rejected in 1978. From that point until 2012, he applied for parole an incredible 12 times but was rejected. His next parole hearing was supposed to be in 2027, when he would be 92, but he suffered gastrointestinal bleeding in January 2017, which claimed his life. He died on the 6th of that month at the age of 83.

He Had No Relationship with Charles Manson

When talking about his relationship with his mother, Brunner indicated that they had more of a sibling kind of relationship, even though she also spent years behind bars. Mary was said to join other members of the family after the arrest of Manson to plan the hijack of a plane but was later arrested and given 20 years behind bars. After Mary’s time behind bars, she was said to have stayed away from other members of the Family, and this possibly improved her relationship with her son.

On the part of his father. Manson made it known that he did not have any relationship with him. Valentine considered Charles a stranger and someone very far from him. Charles reportedly tried establishing ties and a relationship with his son, but Valentine was not very interested, as indicated in 1993. In fact, there were reports that he burnt all the letters his father sent to him while in prison.

However, in his most recent interview, he opined that looking at it from where he now stood, he believed so much about his father was glorified and blown out of proportion. He added that he believed his father said many things he didn’t mean in those ways. He stated that although many people considered his father, whom he simply referred to as Charlie, as a mass murdering dog, he didn’t believe it to be true, and he wished he had given the man a chance.

Valentine is Not the Only Child of Charles Manson

Although Valentine Michael Manson became the most known child of Charles Manson, he was not the only child the notorious cult leader had. Valentine had two older half-siblings; Charles Manson Jr. and Charles Luther Manson.

Manson Jr. was born in 1955 to Charles’ first wife, Rosalie Jean Willis. The marriage between his parents ended after only three years as they tied the knot the same year they had their son, and by 1958, Willis decided she had had enough of Charles after his arrest, and she divorced him, taking away her child. She changed his name to Jay White.

Sadly, the man could not get over the pain his father caused others until he ended his life in 1993. By this time, White had already had at least a child named Jason Freeman.

The next child of the cult leader was Charles Luther Manson, whom he had with his second wife, Leona Candy Stevens. A year after his first marriage in 1959, Charles Manson got married a second time to Leona. A year later, on 24 September 1960, Charles Luther was born.

Unsurprisingly, the marriage between his parents ended after only 4 years in 1963, and this forced him to also slip into the shadows like his other siblings. It was reported that he has also changed his name to Jay Jay Charles Warner. While reports are sketchy about him, there have been claims that he has since passed away, while others claim he is a father of a daughter.

Valentine was Involved in Various Things to Make a Living

Charles Manson’s son got his education from Eau Claire Memorial high school, but it was not made known how far he went after that and what he likely studied if he went to college.

With that said, he has been into a lot of things in the past. He revealed that he served in 1986 and he served in Germany. After that, he went on to become a parking valet for some time. This was what he was into in 1993 when he gave the first of his two interviews ever. He made it known, at the time, that he was working on becoming self-employed.

He was successful in becoming self-employed for many years, and he worked as a farmer of the sort, getting involved in planting and taking care of animals.

Michael Never Got Married, But He Has a Son

Michael Brunner became a father for the first and only known time in 1991 when he was reported to have welcomed his son with his long-term girlfriend at the time. This is the closest that has ever been revealed about his family life, as the name of the kid and his girlfriend were never revealed.

In 2019, he granted yet another interview, the first since 1993, where he revealed that he was never married. He chose to remain an average guy living a simple life.

After the birth of his son, he made it known that his relationship with his mother, whom he had always seen as his sister became much better. More so, he said, with the coming of his son, he now saw his mom as a grandmother to his son.

The one-time parking valet stated that he was unsure how he would tell his son the story of his grandfather, Charles Manson, but when the time was right, and there was a need, he would let him know.

Valentine Michael Manson Now Lives In Wisconsin

Valentine’s life has remained in the dark since 1993 when he was 25 years old. He granted an interview at the time, revealing how people have always treated him differently if they knew who his father was. This began when he was much younger. He said he suffered bullying because of his background when he was in third grade.

It was these events that motivated him to come and state his case and have his image separate from that of his father. Another thing he made clear was that he did not inherit the psychosis of his father. At the time of the interview, it was made known that he was still in the United States, where he has always been, with his place of residence indicated to be Wisconsin.

The last time that he gained the spotlight was in 2017 following the death of his father, when he dragged Charles Manson’s grandson Jason Freeman to court over the possessions of the cult leader, which were also claimed by a man known as Matthew Lentz who also claimed to be Manson’s son, conceived at an orgy in 1967. The case went in favor of Freeman, and it became the last time that anything of significance was heard about Valentine, who still lived in Wisconsin.

He Has Been Portrayed in Media Works and Films About His Father

Charles Manson has been a subject of media publications, books, and movies. His other family members, including Valentine, have also not been left out of this, even though Valentine was still only a child when all his father’s misdeeds happened, and the two men had no real-life contact or relationship. Among his portrayals is in the 2015 historical fiction hit series Aquarius.

Another popular work where he got mentioned was in the book Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, which was written by Curt Gentry and Vincent Bugliosi. He got mentioned in the book, and his nickname was also revealed there.