A New York couple paid $1,600 to get portraits of cult leader Charles Manson tattooed on their legs, using some of his ashes mixed into the ink.
Patrick Boos told TMZ his wife, Deanne, of Niagara Falls, wanted to be the first woman with a tattoo featuring the cult leader’s ashes, and he did not want her to go it alone, so he got one, too.
Patrick’s is on his thigh, and Deanne’s is on her lower leg.
They got their tattoos from artist Ryan Gillikin, otherwise known as Ryan Almighty, who said Manson’s ashes were mixed in with red and black ink to create the eerie artwork.
He wrote on Instagram last week that he ‘spent an amazing evening with the infamous Patrick Boos and his wonderful family last night.
‘They got matching Manson tattoos both based on my blood portraits of the old man, with something very special mixed in for good measure and the ultimate memento mori and tribute to Charlie.’
Patrick is now reportedly thinking of getting another tattoo using Charles Manson’s ashes, potentially featuring one of his followers, Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted of murdering several people in 1969.
Patrick and Deanne Boos received matching tattoos of cult leader Charles Manson on their legs, using some of Manson’s ashes mixed into the red and black ink
Patrick has previously gotten a ‘Helter Skelter’ and an X tattooed on his head in another tribute to Manson. The X was meant to match the one the serial killer carved into his head as he stood trial for murder, and ‘Helter Skelter’ was a Beatles song that Manson misinterpreted as a call to incite a race war
The matching tattoos come just 10 months after Boos, then 45, got a Helter Skelter tattoo on his head, complete with an X in the middle of his forehead to match the one the serial killer carved into his own head as he stood trial for murder.
‘Helter Skelter’ was a 1969 Beatles’ song on the White Album, written by Paul McCartney, using a fairground ride as a metaphor for chaos.
But Manson, the leader of the notorious Manson Family cult, thought it was a subliminal call to incite a race war.
And after he instructed members of his cult to carry out a brutal string of murders, including Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, as well as pregnant actress Sharon Tate, they wrote ‘Death to Pigs,’ ‘Rise,’ and ‘Helter Skelter’ in blood at the scene.
In an interview with Vice after getting the Helter Skelter tattoo, Boos said he considered the tattoo ‘a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’ calling it ‘a piece of history.’
‘I think people are fascinated by how the typical serial killer’s mind works, or why they did it,’ Boos said, noting: ‘We really don’t know if Charles Manson did anything other than being a cult leader – he may have sent others to kill, but he claims he had nothing to do with it.’
He added: ‘It’s weird that Charles is a part of me now. Kind of creepy, I guess.
‘And I don’t think it will affect me in any way.’
But, he said at the time, it did affect Deanne, who was upset by the backlash from the face tattoo.
‘She just didn’t like all the mean stuff people were saying, because she cares about me,’ he said. ‘Art is supposed to make people feel – especially if it has anything to do with murder or serial killing.
Patrick, right, said his wife, Deanne, left, wanted to be the first woman with a tattoo featuring the cult leader’s ashes, and he did not want her to go it alone
They got their tattoos from artist Ryan Gillikin, also known as Ryan Almighty, who managed to snag some of Manson’s ashes from the friend of one of his grandson’s
‘I decided to go all out and add the Helter Skelter because of all the chaos going on today, which is still going on, with this virus and all the potential bulls*** and Black Lives Matter.
‘Charlie was a prophet, if you listen to some of his interviews,’ Boos said.
He added that the Helter Skelter tattoo ‘has nothing to do with race for me.
‘I get along with everyone, pretty much,’ Boos said. ‘If I don’t like someone, it’s not by the color of their skin, it’ their character and actions.’
‘I don’t want to be like him at all,’ Boos said of Manson. ‘I’d rater be home with my family than be around people.
‘I’m just trying to get by in this world, and I like weird and bizarre things.’
Manson was the leader of the Manson Family cult, which killed several people in 1969
After Manson’s death in prison in 2017, there was a lengthy battle about what to do with his remains – which his grandson, Jason Freeman, eventually won
Following Manson’s death in prison in 2017, there was a lengthy legal battle about what to do with his remains – which his grandson, Jason Freeman, eventually won.
He said he would cremate Manson and spread the ashes.
But a friend of Freeman’s, Tony Miller, managed to co-opt some of the ashes and give them to Gillikin.
He told Vice: ‘Long story short, Miller grabbed a handful of cremains at the spreading of the ashes.
‘Miller and Freeman then had a falling out over Miller selling funeral pamphlets without giving Jason his cut.’
Since then, Gillikin has used the ashes in some of his own art, in masks, and tattoos for the Boos, as well as for Manson’s former pen pal – Jason Michael Jones.