Charles Manson: Is He Marrying a 25-Year-Old Groupie?

Convicted murderer Charles Manson has allegedly filed papers to marry a 25-year-old woman, who says she is already Manson’s wife. Afton Burton, who now goes by the name of Star, discovered Charl...
Charles Manson: Is He Marrying a 25-Year-Old Groupie?
Written by Pam Wright
  • Convicted murderer Charles Manson has allegedly filed papers to marry a 25-year-old woman, who says she is already Manson’s wife.

    Afton Burton, who now goes by the name of Star, discovered Charles Manson, 79, when she was 16 and says she was born to be with the convicted killer.

    “He filed for the first round of paperwork,” Star told CNN. “I’m completely with him, and he’s completely with me. It’s what I was born for, you know. I don’t know what else to say.”

    Star says she fell for Manson after reading the ATWA, an acronym describing Manson’s environmental philosophy of air, trees, water and animals. When she was 19, and after a three-year correspondence with Manson, she moved to Corcoran to be near the killer, who has been incarcerated in Corcoran State Prison for the past 25 years.

    She says she speaks with Manson daily by phone and visits him on most weekends.

    “We talk about anything and everything, you know, like what’s going on today– who’s doing what. I try to help him file papers and stuff like that,” said Star.

    When Star visits Manson, they are only permitted a hug at the beginning and end of their visit. If they do marry, Manson will not be granted conjugal visits because it is forbidden for inmates who are serving a life sentence.

    Star says she knows people can’t understand her relationship with Manson, but says it will not thwart her intentions to marry Manson.

    “I don’t care what those kind of people think. It doesn’t make any difference,” she says. “The man that I know is not what they have in the movies or in documentaries and the books. He’s nothing like that. He doesn’t tell people what to do. He’s not manipulative at all.”

    Cynics — including her father — believe Star is being manipulated by Manson, and that ATWA’s goal is to draw young people into Manson’s web. She is unbelievably loyal to Manson and even carved an X in her forehead two years ago per his request. Girls in the so-called Manson Family carved Xs in their foreheads during his 1971 trial.

    Her ultimate goal is to see the release of Manson by helping maintain his social media sites.

    “The only thing that he’s trying to manipulate people into doing is planting trees and cleaning up the Earth. He genuinely cares about that,” says Star. “He’s nice to everyone. I’ve never seen him try to be manipulative. I’ve never seen any of that.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

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