Charles ‘Tex’ Watson grew up in small-town Copeville as a tall, handsome, straight-A student, star athlete, and devout churchgoer, seemingly destined to become an all-American success story.
But a trip from the quiet Texan community to visit a friend in California in the summer of 1967 would change everything.
There, Watson became entranced with the West Coast’s burgeoning counterculture movement. Drawn in by psychedelic drugs, he drifted from campus life to campsites and communes before eventually landing in the orbit of Charles Manson.
Watson, soon under Manson’s spell, traded his Bible for a butcher’s blade, and peace and love for violence and hate, to become a central figure in one of the most infamous murder sprees in American history.
Seven people would be brutalized and slaughtered across Los Angeles during two nights of carnage in August 1969 – at Manson’s direction and under Watson’s command. Among the victims was actress and model Sharon Tate, nearly nine months pregnant with the child of her husband, the film-maker Roman Polanski.
Now 79, Watson has spent 56 years in prison. He has been denied parole 18 times and is among only a handful of former Manson acolytes still behind bars.
That number could dwindle further after fellow Manson Family alumna Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, was tentatively approved for early release by a parole board last month.
In a rare and exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Watson reveals how Krenwinkel’s case might impact his own chances of securing freedom – and whether, after so many decades, he even wants an existence outside the confines of his cell.
Charles ‘Tex’ Watson, pictured in his senior year at Farmersville High School in 1964, seemed destined to become an all-American success story
‘I was asked this exact question this morning by an inmate while walking back to the cell from breakfast,’ said Watson, in answer to whether Krenwinkel’s case gave him any cause for optimism ahead of his next parole hearing, slated for October 2026.
‘He thought it gave me hope, but I told him, “I did too much!” He said, “At least you are honest”.’
Krenwinkel’s fate still rests with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who blocked her release in 2022, citing a risk for ‘future dangerousness’.
Watson said he believed that Newsom would most likely deny Krenwinkel’s parole again in the interest of his own political aspirations.
‘It’s hard for me to get excited for Patricia, since Governor Newsom will probably be running for president in 2028, and will deny her request because of politics,’ he said.
‘Her Manson connection continues to keep her in prison.’
Since his conviction, Watson has become a born-again Christian, ordained as a minister, earned a degree in Business Management, founded a prison ministry and published an autobiography, Will You Die For Me?, in 1978.
Watson, seen above, has been denied parole 18 times since 1976 after being convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder in 1971. He’s now 79
Charles Manson pictured in 1969 is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case. He died in prison in 2017
He also fathered four children with a prison pen pal, Kristin Svege, whom he married, before conjugal visits were banned by the state in 1996.
Watson and Svege separated in 2003. While the reason for their split was never disclosed, his repeated parole denials are thought to have played a role.
For now, the convicted killer insists that his heart rests solely with the Lord and his attentions are laser-focused on ‘saving souls, not seeking parole’.
During his previous parole hearings, prosecutors and loved ones of Watson’s victims have consistently opposed his release, arguing that he has never accepted full responsibility for his actions or exhibited signs of genuine remorse.
At his last hearing in October 2021, Sharon Tate’s younger sister, Debra, called Watson a dangerous sociopath who was incapable of empathy.
‘It’s all about him. He didn’t have it then, and he doesn’t have it now,’ she said.
Watson was often referred to as ‘Charlie’s lieutenant’ by other members of the Manson Family. He was the leader of the murders and the most violent offender
Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, has been recommended for parole by officials in California after serving 55 years of a life sentence. She was 21 at the time of the murders
Sharon Tate was more than eight months pregnant at the time of her death. She was butchered along with six others during two nights of brutal violence across LA in August 1969
Tate and four others were killed at the Cielo Drive home she shared with husband Roman Polanski, the film-maker and actor, on August 8
While insisting to the Daily Mail that he was sorry for his actions, Watson said there was a strong possibility he wouldn’t request parole again.
‘My loved ones aren’t in agreement,’ he said. ‘[But] I’m almost 80 years old.
‘Not that I’ve lost faith! All things are possible through Christ, but I’ve learned to be content or at peace, bond or free.’
Last week, Ava Roosevelt, a friend of Tate’s who narrowly avoided falling victim to the Manson massacre, told the Daily Mail that she believed the likes of Krenwinkel and Watson should be condemned to death behind bars. Killers capable of such acts of depravity, she said, were beyond rehabilitation.
Watson agreed that ‘some may be beyond rehabilitation’ but believes all can find salvation in a higher power, as he claims to have done.
‘God, who is rich in mercy, gives everyone a second chance spiritually, though they may not deserve a second chance for physical freedom. I seem to be one of those,’ he said.
Reflecting on his own personal growth, Watson said he had spent almost six decades conducting a ‘spiritual, mental, and emotional autopsy’ upon himself in an attempt to reconcile with his past and atone for his crimes.
‘It does feel like a lifetime ago, but at the same time, it feels very real, because of the victims. I live with deep regret, but God has given me His power and grace to overcome the memories of my past.
‘My living amends show how deeply I regret my role in the murders,’ added Watson, before plugging his website, AboundingLove.org, saying that it offered transparency about his crimes and honoured his victims.
‘Being transparent about my past sinfulness on the website reveals how God brought me to my knees in repentance.
‘When I turned to God in 1975, He forgave me and filled me with His Spirit for comfort. I don’t expect others to understand, but God is willing to accept repentant sinners and desires their restoration.’
In a rare and exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Watson has revealed how Patricia Krenwinkel’s case might impact his own chances of securing freedom
Manson believed there was an apocalyptic race war impending. After growing impatient for the bloodshed to begin, he plotted a mass murder in 1969 that he hoped would be the spark to ignite nationwide chaos
Charles Manson followers, from left: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, shown walking to court to appear for their roles in the 1969 cult killings of seven people, including the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, in Los Angeles on August 20, 1970
Watson was 21 when the Manson Family murders took place.
He had met Manson two years earlier through The Beach Boys drummer and singer Dennis Wilson, whom he picked up one night while hitchhiking along Sunset Boulevard.
A strong kinship was quickly forged between Manson and Watson, and Watson became engrossed by Manson’s wildly unhinged ‘Helter Skelter’ philosophy.
Manson’s prophecy foretold of an impending race war that he believed would engulf the country and lead to the extinction of white Americans.
Believing that black people were incapable of leading themselves, he and his acolytes would hide out in the desert, wait for the conflict to end and emerge to assume control over the victorious population.
The deranged philosophy borrowed its name from a song on The Beatles’ White Album called Helter Skelter, which Manson believed contained hidden messages of the forthcoming upheaval.
To hasten his fantasy, Manson concocted a plan of mass murder, surmising that the ensuing bloodshed would be blamed on black militants and spark nationwide warfare.
Watson, as his most capable and devoted follower, was entrusted with triggering the chaos and leading the ‘crews’ that would commit horrific acts of ritualistic murder.
Late on August 8, 1969, Watson, flanked by three young women – Susan Atkins, then 21, Patricia Krenwinkel, 21, and Linda Kasabian, 20 – crept up the winding driveway of 10050 Cielo Drive, where heavily pregnant movie star Sharon Tate was enjoying a gathering with friends.
In his hands, he held a revolver and a knife. Ringing in his ears were Manson’s chilling final instructions: ‘Do something witchy.’
Crime scene photos show the aftermath of the Tate murder scene
At the time of Manson’s death aged 83, he was serving nine life sentences at Corcoran State Prison for his central role in the murders
Their first victim was 18-year-old Steven Parent, who had been visiting Tate’s caretaker that night and found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Watson stepped out in front of Parent’s car as he attempted to leave the property and fired four bullets through the teenager’s windshield, striking him dead.
He then cut the home’s phone lines, scaled a fence and burst into Tate’s home with the three accomplices at his side.
‘I’m the devil and I’m here to do the devil’s business,’ Watson reportedly declared before a frenzy of stabbing, shooting and torture erupted.
He quickly wrangled a terrified Tate and her guests – ex-boyfriend and celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, 35; coffee heiress Abigail Folger, 25; and Polish screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski, 32 – into submission.
Watson attacked Sebring, pistol-whipping him in the face, binding him with rope and stabbing him repeatedly.
Frykowski fell next, bludgeoned and shot by Watson, suffering 51 stab wounds in the attack.
Watson also chased down Folger, who attempted to run, pinning her on the front lawn and ordering Krenwinkel to finish the job.
Folger was stabbed 28 times by Krenwinkel, pleading for the brutal assault to end and crying out: ‘Stop! I’m already dead.’
Then there was Tate, 26, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. She sobbed and pleaded for her own life and that of her unborn child but Watson showed no mercy.
She was stabbed 16 times, many of which were inflicted by Watson. Her unborn son did not survive.
Sharon Tate was stabbed 16 times. It was Watson who administered the fatal blows
The word ‘pig’ was later scrawled on the front door in Tate’s blood.
The following night, Watson and another group struck again, this time at the Los Feliz home of wealthy grocer Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, who were tied up, stabbed and mutilated.
‘War’ was carved into Leno’s abdomen, while phrases such as ‘Death to Pigs’ and ‘Healter Skelter [sic]’ were written in the LaBiancas’ blood on the walls.
The murders did not trigger the conflict that Manson had envisioned but the acts of Watson and his accomplices sickened the world.
Watson was convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder in 1971 and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison after California ruled the death penalty unconstitutional.
During the trial, prosecutors labeled him as ‘Manson’s chief lieutenant’ and the ‘hands of the Family’s violence’, saying that he personally committed six of the seven murders across the two nights.
At the time of Manson’s death aged 83 in November 2017, he was serving nine life sentences at Corcoran State Prison for his central role in the murders.
In his autobiography, Watson reflected: ‘Charlie gave the order and I went out and did it.
‘I believed it was the right thing.’
Now, Watson said, that belief was the product of total psychological and spiritual collapse – a void he claimed had since been filled by a faith rediscovered in captivity.
