Who Was Tex Watson Before the Manson Family?
Watson was born in Dallas in December 1945 and grew up in the small community of Copeville. His early life offered few obvious signs of what was to come: He attended church, excelled in school and athletics and was captain of his high school football team and editor of the school newspaper. He attended college but later dropped out. In 1967, he moved to California, where he found work and became immersed in the counterculture, experimenting with drugs and adopting a far different lifestyle from the one he had known in Texas.
During the spring of 1968, Watson had a chance encounter that changed the course of his life. While driving along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, he picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson. Watson drove Wilson to his Pacific Palisades home, where Manson and several of Manson's followers were gathered. Watson later recalled spending a couple of hours there, eating and smoking hash with the group.
Watson did not immediately become one of Manson's followers. He began returning to Wilson's home, however, and eventually moved in, becoming increasingly immersed in drugs and the philosophy circulating around Manson's circle. By the fall of 1968, Watson had moved to Spahn Ranch and joined the communal group that would become known as the Manson Family. (Watson left the ranch in December 1968 but later rejoined.)
Manson Family Murders Begin
By the summer of 1969, Watson had become involved with drug dealing and other criminal activity. In one pivotal episode, he arranged a marijuana deal with a man named Bernard “Lotsapoppa” Crowe, then took Crowe’s money without delivering the drugs. When Crowe threatened retaliation, Manson confronted him and shot him in the stomach, mistakenly believing he had killed him. However, Crowe survived.
Violence soon escalated further. Later that month, Manson followers Bobby Beausoleil, Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner became involved in the murder of musician Gary Hinman. Watson did not participate in Hinman’s killing, but by the time of the Tate-LaBianca murders in August, he was part of a group whose activities had moved well beyond drugs and petty crime into serious violence.
The Tate Murders
On the night of August 8, 1969, Manson sent Watson to 10050 Cielo Drive with Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian. According to the prosecution’s case and testimony from Manson Family members, Manson instructed Watson to kill the people at the house and make the murders appear particularly gruesome.
Exactly what Manson told Watson that night has been debated ever since. Watson himself gave differing accounts over the years, while Manson denied ordering the killings. Those disputes did not change Watson’s own role: Once the group reached Cielo Drive, he took charge of the attack and participated in the murders.
Manson knew the property because record producer Terry Melcher, who he had unsuccessfully pursued for help with his music career, had previously lived there. By then, however, the house was occupied by actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, who was away in Europe that night.
Shortly after midnight, Watson climbed a utility pole and cut the telephone line. As the group approached the house, 18-year-old Steven Parent, who had been visiting the property's caretaker, was driving away. Watson shot and killed him.
Inside the house were Tate and three friends: celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and writer Wojciech Frykowski. Watson, Atkins and Krenwinkel attacked them while Kasabian remained largely outside.
All four were killed. Tate pleaded to be allowed to live long enough to give birth but was stabbed to death. Before leaving, the killers used Tate’s blood to write “PIG” on the front door.
The LaBianca Murders
The following night, Manson accompanied Watson and several other followers as they searched for another target. After entering the Los Feliz home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca with Watson, Manson restrained the couple with Watson’s help before leaving the house. Watson, Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten then carried out the killings.
Leno was stabbed repeatedly, and a carving fork was left embedded in his abdomen. Rosemary was stabbed dozens of times. Before leaving, members of the group wrote phrases including “DEATH TO PIGS” and “HELTER SKELTER” in blood inside the house.
Violence at Spahn Ranch continued after the Tate-LaBianca murders. Later that month, ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea was killed by members of the Family, reportedly because Manson believed Shea had informed police about activities at the ranch and wanted the Family removed. According to later testimony, Watson participated in the attack and stabbed Shea. However, Watson was never charged in Shea’s murder; Manson, Bruce Davis and Steve “Clem” Grogan were convicted of the killing.
Arrest, Trial and a Death Sentence
Within weeks, Watson left California and returned to Texas. As investigators gradually connected the Tate and LaBianca murders to Manson and his followers, Watson was charged with seven murders and conspiracy. He was arrested in Texas on November 30, 1969.
Unlike Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten, Watson was not tried in the original Manson trial. He fought extradition to California for months before ultimately being returned to Los Angeles in September 1970. Questions about his mental condition delayed proceedings further until he was found competent to stand trial.
In 1971, a jury convicted Watson of seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to death, bit in 1972, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s existing death penalty law, and the death sentences of Watson, Manson and other condemned prisoners were commuted to life imprisonment.
Where Is Tex Watson Now?
Watson underwent a highly publicized religious conversion behind bars. In the mid-1970s, he became a born-again Christian and later, an ordained minister. He also founded Abounding Love Ministries, a prison ministry through which he distributed religious writings. In 1978, he published an autobiography, Will You Die for Me?, describing his involvement with Manson and the murders.
The next year, Watson married Kristin Joan Svege. Because California then permitted conjugal visits for prisoners serving his type of sentence, the couple had four children while Watson was incarcerated. They eventually divorced in 2003.
Watson has said that he accepts responsibility for the murders and has portrayed his religious conversion as evidence of his transformation. However, expressions of remorse and decades of prison programming have not persuaded parole officials to release him.
Watson became eligible for parole decades ago but has repeatedly been denied release. At his most recent hearing, in October 2021, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied him parole for the 18th time. The brutality and scale of the Tate-LaBianca murders have remained central to those decisions. Watson is next eligible for parole in October 2026.
Decades after the crimes, Watson has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars. Manson died in prison in 2017, while some former Family members have since been released. Watson, however, remains incarcerated at California's Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility for his central role in the two nights of violence that made the Manson Family infamous.
