Afton Burton - CharlesManson.com

Afton Burton

Manson’s Fiancée, Afton Burton, (Star)

Star moved to Corcoran California when she was 19 to be with Manson who she intended to Marry until the marriage certificate expired in 2015 and Manson was moved to solitary confinement where he could receive no visitors or calls.

Afton Burton, also widely known as “Star“, was born in Bunker Hill, Illinois in either 1988 or 1989, according to news reports. She later moved with her parents to the town of Alton, Illinois, a more metropolitan area city just along the Mississippi River, and a thirty minute drive from Bunker Hill.

Star became widely known in 2014 when photographs began to circulate the Internet where she would be cuddled and appearing “in-love” with Charles Manson during prison visits. When stories began to leak that the two were planning to be married and that an official marriage certificate had already been issued, a huge media frenzy began; most could not understand how a young and beautiful brunette would fall in love with a man deemed a mass murderer.

It all began when Afton, 16, began reading about Manson’s environmental philosophy known as “ATWA” an acronym meaning “Air Trees Water Animals” which Manson and his continual followers believe represents all life on Earth and all humans quest to live in balance with the planet’s life-support systems, whatever that means.

Afton was intrigued by this belief and began to write Manson letter after letter which eventually led to speaking with him on the telephone. By the time she was 19 years old, she moved from her hometown in Illinois, to Corcoran California so that she could live near the State Prison where Manson was confined to life-in-prison. There she would speak with him every day via telephone and visit Manson on most weekends, although with a sentence of life, conjugal visits were not an option, even if the two married.

Critics believed that Star was being manipulated by Manson similarly to how his female co-conspirator followed his every word and beliefs in 1969. For instance, when Manson was put in solitary confinement, Star shaved her head and carved an “X” in her forehead, an act identical to what the girls in the Family did during his 1971 trial.

When Manson was put into solitary confinement, something which made visiting him and speaking with him impossible, the relationship became strained and the marriage certificate expired; the two then lost touch. When a prisoner is moved to solitary confinement, there is no visitation or phone calls permitted.

Later it was discovered that many believed the true intent of his girlfriend and fiancee Star was to benefit from his estate and belongings when he passed. Specifically, news stories alleged the entire relationship was based on Alton receiving the rights to his body so that she could put it on display and charge eerie visitors to see it. In 2015, the New York Post ran a story headlined “Charles Manson’s Fiancée Wanted to Marry Him for His Corpse.” Star also spoke with Rolling Stone Magazine and did several other interviews.

Afton Burton remains fond of Manson, even after his death and rejects all claims that the relationship was based on anything other than mutual respect, true feelings and attachment.

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