Manson's Right-Hand Man Speaks Out by
Charles "Tex" Watson
My rating:
2 of 5 stars
As effective leader of murderous Family squads once they left Manson and Spahn Ranch, the only thing interesting about Tex, now, is to what extent he is willing to be forthcoming on the complex and confusing mass murders he has confessed to and is convicted for. In this volume, this is Tex' summation of motivation: "Manson thought he had to take things into his own hands when he saw that his prophetic philosophy, Helter Skelter, wasn't happening on its own. He needed money to finance
Helter Skelter, you know, for guns, knives, dune buggies and the like. He tried to get money
from musician Gary Hinman, but ended up having him killed instead.
When one of the family members, Bobby Beausoleil, was arrested for the murder, I was shocked! Then, a few days later, when Helter Skelter still wasn't “coming down,” Manson thought a copycat murder would spring Bobby, and bring down Helter Skelter at the same time.
He had built the Helter Skelter philosophy, and when it didn't happen, the copycat murder idea just gave him an excuse to start it. And at the same time, he thought the police would think the
real killers of Hinman were still free to commit the Tate-LaBianca murders. Therefore, they would let Bobby go..."
It all seems too convenient that the truth is the
Vincent Bugliosi conspiracy theory: race war and spring a bro from the pokey. I would think Tex could, now, offer insight and confession on the facts that came out in a trial covering his crimes but for which he was separate off in Texas. Having it fall on Manson and fit Bugliosi's theory seems a protective, not forthcoming, admission.
Since this book was published in 2003 and revised in 2012, we not only have Tex (between sermonizing and quoting scripture) touching on early
Manson Family Scientology ties, but reflecting on such events as the Heaven's Gate mass suicide, the Harry Potter books ("The material used in the Potter books results from years of research of occult history and
practices."),
the 2012 Aurora shooting, etc. While proclaiming personal responsibility, Tex's avowed Xtianity gives him a
presumptive causal link of evil music to evil acts:
"In July, 2012, a gunman shot and massacred dozens of people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The gunman was reported to a have been listening to violent hard rock music for months prior to the shootings. He even left the stereo at his apartment set to turn on with the volume set on high at the time of the shootings, in an attempt to lure police into setting off booby traps he had left. The music that was set to play on the stereo was violent, alternative rock.
In August, 2012, a gunman committed mass killings at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. This gunman was described in the August 7, 2012 edition of USA Today as a “neo-Nazi musician.” Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama stated, “The lyrics to the songs these bands sing could not be printed in any newspaper in this country. They are incredibly vile. They call for the murder of all Jews and all black people. When we say it is hate music, we’re not kidding.”
Going back to the Manson Murders, Tex was the man on the scene and in charge as much or more than Charlie, but Tex goes right for the "just following orders defense":
Q: Would the crimes have happened without Manson's order?
Definitely not! Bugliosi, the prosecuting attorney, agrees that Manson was the catalyst. We would never have gone out on our own and killed people.
Reading about the forgiveness support from Rosemary Labianca's daughter
Suzan LaBerge and her support for his (failed) parole attempt led me to do some research which uncovered
the theory they knew each other even before the Labianca murders and maybe this, somehow, led to the selection of the Waverly house.
In her book
Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family's Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice, Alisa Statman alludes to a plot between Tex Watson and Suzan LaBerge.
Apparently, they
even lived 200' apart at one point, possibly an amazing coincidence:
"Suzan and Tex lived an estimated 200 feet apart in nearby apartments in Los Angeles for six months prior to Watson’s move into Manson’s home base, Spahn Ranch. Suzan’s then-boyfriend was a member of the motorcycle gang Straight Satans that often frequented Spahn Ranch.
“There’s lot of speculation that they knew each other. And take that where you will — you can only imagine what that might mean,” Statman said."
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