Charles Watson

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Tex Watson (2004)

Charles Denton Watson , called "Tex" (born December 2, 1945 in Dallas , Texas ) is an American murderer . He was a member of the Manson Family led by Charles Manson and was involved in the summer of 1969 in the Tate murders , the murder of the entrepreneurial couple Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, and the murder of Donald Shea .

Life

Charles Watson went to school in Farmersville . He graduated from school with several sports awards. Watson has been voted the school's most popular student twice. He then studied at North Texas University , which he left after a short time to go to California as part of the hippie movement . During his student days, in January 1967, Watson worked for Braniff Airlines at the Dallas Love Field Airport . In August 1967, Watson moved to Los Angeles . There he worked for a while as a wig seller in Beverly Hills . He then moved to West Hollywood, to a house on Wonderland Drive in Laurel Canyon . There he met Dennis Wilson , a member of the Beach Boys , and through Wilson Charles Manson in 1968 . In the summer of 1968, Watson joined the Manson Family and traveled with them across California. The "family" spent most of their time at the Spahn Movie Ranch .

Murders and convictions

On the night of August 8 to August 9, 1969, on the orders of Charles Manson, Watson and Susan Atkins , Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel broke into the property of Roman Polański and Sharon Tate , and murdered the heavily pregnant Tate together with Atkins and Krenwinkel , their overnight guests Abigail Folger , Wojciech Frykowski and Jay Sebring as well as the student Steven Parent . The following night, Watson, Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in his house. At the end of August 1969, he was also involved in the murder of Spahn Ranch employee Donald Shea together with Manson, Steve Dennis Grogan and Bruce Davis .

In late September 1969, Watson fled to Texas and was arrested there. The criminal case against Watson was conducted separately from the Manson trial. Watson was sentenced to death in the gas chamber on October 21, 1971 . Like his accomplices, he escaped execution as a result of a change in the law, and his death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment .

Detention and probation hearings

During his imprisonment, Charles Watson turned away from Manson and sought knowledge in Christianity . In 1979 he married Kristin Joan Svelte, with whom he - during visiting hours - fathered four children over the years. Watson himself says he was a born again Christian.

His 16th application for parole was denied in 2011; as well as his 17th application on October 27, 2016, so that he remains detained in Mule Creek State Prison in California . The next application can be made five years later at the earliest.

reception

The Manson Family crimes have been filmed multiple times. Bill Durkin played Watson in the feature film Helter Skelter - Night of the Long Knives (1976). In 2004, Eric starred Dane Watson in the feature film Helter Skelter . Austin Butler played Watson in the 2019 movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . He is portrayed by Christopher Backus in the Netflix original series Mindhunter .

literature

  • Charles Watson: Confessions of a Murderer. Haenssler, 1988, ISBN 3-7751-1316-9 .
  • Charles Manson: Charles Manson in his own words. Grove Press, 1988, ISBN 0-8021-3024-0 . (English)
  • Ed Sanders: The Family: The Story of Charles Manson. German translation. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1995, ISBN 3-499-19644-1 .
  • Carol Greene: The Charles Manson Case. Murderer from the retort. EIR, 2001, ISBN 3-925725-13-X .
  • Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry: Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders. Norton, 2001, ISBN 0-393-32223-8 . (English)
  • German edition: Helter Skelter. Charles Manson's murder frenzy. Riva, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-86883-057-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Matt Hamilton: Parole denied for convicted Manson follower Charles "Tex" Watson. latimes.com, October 27, 2016, accessed December 16, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Watson, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Watson, Charles Denton (full name); Watson, Tex (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American murderer
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas , Texas , United States