Two days before he was taken to the hospital where he died, Charles Manson had a long phone call with this friend, Ben Gurecki. He said a lot of things — some nonsensical, some loving, some resigned. The eerie part was that he implied his belief that he’d live on after death.
“Gone in the sky, the dead but never die,” Manson said.
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Gurecki is something of a Manson zealot, who’s released recordings of his calls with the serial killer in the past. He shared parts of his their last conversation with UK news site The Sun, and promised that the full recording would be released later this year.
In what we’ve seen so far, Manson rambles in an apparent delirium, making little linguistic sense and letting sentences run into each other. He does, however, seem to be speaking about mortality and existential conundrums. If Manson’s words have any meaning here, they seem to suggest that he didn’t believe he would die forever.
Manson also shared a surprising, uncharacteristic sentiment with Gurecki.
“Love for all,” Manson stated. Shortly after that, the call was interrupted by Corcoran State Prison officials.
Gurecki has put a lot of time and energy into a campaign to exonerate Manson from “character assassination” and “false imprisonment.” He runs a website and frequently appears in blogs and forums to discuss Manson as an artist and a martyr. Gurecki collected and released an album of Manson’s original music. On his website, he sells all manner of Manson merch — hand-scrawled letters, signed photos, and old prison documents.
No one from Corcoran has verified the legitimacy of Gurecki’s recordings.
