The Tex Watson tapes are recordings of Charles “Tex” Watson and his lawyer, in which he narrates his experience with the “Manson Family” murders. The recordings, totaling around 20 hours across eight cassette tapes, were made on November 29, 1969, and represent the earliest documented account of the murders.
According to Bill Boyd, Watson’s attorney, Watson discusses murders carried out by the Family that had not previously been identified or associated with them. Boyd also revealed that Watson provided information about murders committed by Charles Manson, including the killing of a biker.
In 1976, Chaplain Ray Hoekstra purchased a copy of the recordings from Watson’s attorney. Watson had granted a waiver allowing his attorney to sell certain items to raise funds for Watson’s legal defense. The copy sold for $49,000 and became the foundation for the book Will You Die For Me?, written by Hoekstra in collaboration with Watson. It remains unclear whether Hoekstra purchased all the tapes or only a portion, since multiple recordings were created.
The Los Angeles Police Department became aware of the tapes in 2012, three years after Watson’s lawyer passed away. They had been stored in the lawyer’s safe for decades and never publicly disclosed. The recordings were discovered by Linda Payne, a Department of Justice trustee assigned to liquidate the assets of Boyd’s law firm after it went bankrupt. She found “two boxes of legal files and eight cassette tapes” and contacted the district attorney herself.
In 2012, the LAPD sought a search warrant for the tapes identifying three murders—Karl Stubbs, Filippo Tenerelli, and an unnamed outlaw biker. The department’s interest in the Stubbs and Tenerelli cases was revived after officers reviewed a 2008 Desert News article titled More Manson Mysteries in Inyo County, which revisited longstanding suspicions surrounding both deaths. Notably, none of these crimes occurred within the LAPD’s jurisdiction; the Stubbs and Tenerelli cases originated in Inyo County.
In November 1968, 82-year-old Karl Stubbs was found severely beaten and later died in the hospital. He had last been seen with a group of hippies. Before his death, he told investigators that he had been attacked by two young men and two young women, who laughed and giggled as they assaulted him.
Filippo Tenerelli, 23, was found dead in a hotel in Bishop in October 1969 from a shotgun blast to the head. Initially ruled a suicide, police grew suspicious when Tenerelli’s car was discovered weeks later in Panamint Valley on the road to Barker Ranch, a known Manson Family hideout. Blood was found both inside and outside the vehicle, raising questions of foul play.
The third case involved an unidentified outlaw biker. Although the warrant did not list a name, it cited a 2008 taped interview between Bill Boyd and author Tom O’Neill as the source of the information, during which Boyd described additional murders Watson attributed to the Family.
Despite these details, the warrant was blocked two days later by Federal Judge Richard Schell, who criticized the LAPD for attempting to bypass the bankruptcy court process.
However, the police ultimately obtained the tapes not through the warrant, but because Watson’s legal team missed an appeal deadline regarding the bankruptcy ruling. Watson’s lawyers believed they had 30 days to appeal, but they actually had only 14. Detectives Jenks and Sequeira flew to Texas and seized the tapes on the 15th day, April 12, 2013—just moments before Watson could file a stay. They were literally racing against the clock.
In a critical legal misstep earlier in the process, Watson had unintentionally waived his rights. He had filed a motion attempting to compromise, stating he had “no objection to the LAPD listening to the contents,” provided the physical tapes were returned to his defense team. The judge interpreted this statement as a waiver of attorney-client privilege.
Publicly, the LAPD insists there is “no new information” on the tapes regarding unsolved murders. Yet they continue to refuse release of the tapes or transcripts, claiming they are part of an “ongoing investigation.”
Privately, the LAPD shared additional details. In a confidential meeting with victims’ family members Debra Tate and Anthony DiMaria, officials acknowledged that Watson “minimized the involvement” of Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel. If Watson took responsibility for acts the women were convicted of, it could strengthen their chances at parole. This gives the police a potential motive to suppress the tapes: preventing any information that could help the women secure release.
The LAPD also revealed that they had begun examining a dozen unsolved homicides that occurred near areas associated with the Manson Family. Some have speculated that Tex Watson may have been involved in the unsolved 1969 murder of Marina Habe. Notably, Watson lived near Marina Habe in early 1968, before he joined the Manson Family, and investigators have pointed out additional connections between him and the area during that period.
Author Tom O’Neill has also suggested that the tapes may contradict the “Helter Skelter” race-war motive used by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi to secure the original convictions. If the tapes undermine that narrative, the LAPD may be hiding them not only to protect ongoing investigations but also to preserve the integrity of a 45-year-old case. According to Boyd, Watson had “jealously guarded” the tapes for decades, once telling his lawyer, “Ain’t nothing in there that’s gonna help this guy [Manson]. Don’t send them.”
Numerous attempts have been made to make the tapes public, including efforts by Leslie Van Houten and her attorney, but none have succeeded.
Charles “Tex” Watson, the main perpetrator in the Tate-LaBianca murders, was convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Although he participated in the murder of Donald Shea, he has never been charged or convicted for that crime. Watson was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He has since become a born-again Christian and remains incarcerated.