Murderer Charles Manson plans to marry a 26-year-old woman who has spent the past nine years trying to help exonerate him.

Bride-to-be Afton Elaine Burton said she loves the man convicted of the notorious murders of seven people in 1969, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

No date has been set, but a wedding coordinator has been assigned by the prison to handle the nuptials. The couple have until early February to get married before having to reapply.

The Kings County marriage license was issued on Nov 7 for Burton and the 80-year-old Manson. Burton maintains several websites advocating his innocence.

Burton, who goes by the name "Star", said that she and Manson will be married next month.

Life prisoner

However, as a life prisoner with no parole date, Manson is not entitled to conjugal visits.

So why would Burton marry him under those conditions?

She said she is interested in working on his case, and marrying him would allow her to get information not available to nonrelatives.

"There's certain things next of kin can do," she said without elaborating.

Tate's sister, Debra, who acts as a spokeswoman for the families of Manson's victims, said the impending marriage is "ludicrous".

"I think it's insane," she said. "What would any young woman in her right mind want with an 80-year-old man?"

As for Manson's motives, she said: "The devil is alive and well."

Burton gave an interview a year ago to Rolling Stone magazine in which she said she and Manson planned to marry. But Manson was less certain about tying the knot.

"That's a bunch of garbage," Manson said in the December 2013 interview. "That's trash. We're playing that for public consumption."

Asked on Monday about those comments, Burton said: "None of that's true", adding that they're waiting for the prison to complete their paperwork.

California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton confirmed that the license had been transmitted to the prison.

Thornton said each California prison designates an employee to be a marriage coordinator who processes paperwork for an inmate's request to be wed. In most cases, she said, the Department of Corrections approves of such weddings as "a tool of family reunification and social development." But Manson is a unique case.

'Family' of followers

Manson and five of his "family" of followers, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, Charles "Tex" Watson, Bruce Davis and Robert Beausoleil remain imprisoned. Another follower, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars.

Manson, Watson and the women were convicted of the gruesome killings of Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others at her estate on Aug 9, 1969, and of the killing of grocers Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the following night.

Manson is not eligible for parole until 2027. He has been a habitual criminal and spent most of his life in prison.

(China Daily 11/19/2014 page10)