Denny and Tex

[dennyschild]

In 1968, Wilson picked up a couple of women hitchhikers and took them to his house to party. The women were associated with a wanna-be song-writer named Charles Manson, who invited himself to visit the Beach Boy. Wilson also picked up a male hitchhiker that year, drug dealer Charles Watson, whom Dennis invited to hang out at his house. In fact, Manson met "Tex" Watson at Wilson's house; the two would become partners in some of the most infamous murders of the 20th Century. Initially, Wilson tolerated Manson's presence at his house, as he brought his groupies with him. Wilson had encouraged Manson's musical ambitions and one of his songs, "Cease to Exist", appeared on the Beach Boys album "20/20" under the title "Never Learn Not to Love". Eventually, Wilson and his musical confederates whom had been introduced to Manson became disenchanted with him, despite the former pimp's provision of women, due to Charlie's fierce temper. Ultimately, Manson and his girls proved to be unwanted guests who tried to commandeer Wilson's house. Wilson, too intimidated to evict his guests, eventually moved out of his own house. Shortly thereafter, Manson and his followers left and began their descent into the hellish frenzy that culminated in the Tate-LaBianca killings. committed the Tate-LaBianca murders.




I found this looking around on the internet on IMDb and thought Denny met all the manson family when they took over his home. This say's Denny picked up a hitchhiker named Tex watson and he met Charlie manson at Denny's home. I never knew Denny was the first to meet Tex Watson and thats how Tex and Charlie Manson met . Is this true.

[Mikie]

Charles (Tex) Watson was a killer. A real bad killer, who went on at least two major killing sprees. Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Kasabian, and Van Houten were the worst. Tex was a real smart guy, a star athlete in school with a promising future, then got pulled into Charlie's web and was brainwashed to kill. Tex consumed a lot of drugs and alcohol and became a wild madman. Yes, Tex was instrumental in introducing Dennis to Manson and the "family". Last I heard, Tex Watson is serving a life sentence, and has become a born-again Christian and a self-ordained minister at the church at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.  

[Mike's Beard]

To be honest it bugs me when people say 'The Manson Murders' - they weren't, they were the Watson murders. All nine victims died at the hands of Tex. And he was scum before he met Manson. A drug dealer with a nasty habit of ripping people off.

[dennyschild]

So you're saying Denny Introduced Tex to Charlie. I never knew that. How strange he met Tex first and gave him a ride to his home where Charlie and the girls were. This story gets more scary and frighting as I find out more Info. For the record, did Denny met Tex first or did Charlie Introduce Denny to Tex.

[Jay]

So you're saying Denny Introduced Tex to Charlie. I never knew that. How strange he met Tex first and gave him a ride to his home where Charlie and the girls were. This story gets more scary and frighting as I find out more Info. For the record, did Denny met Tex first or did Charlie Introduce Denny to Tex.

Tex introduced Dennis to Charles Manson.

[Mike's Beard]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

[dennyschild]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

That's what  the article said. I learn more everyday. Thanks.

[bgas]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

Sounds like a pre-planned set up to me; Tex already knew Manson and they hatched the hitch-hiking plan to confuse Dennis and help control him. 

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Tex was an idiot! Manson needed idiots to do his bidding. Drugs and alcohol can only do so much to help brainwash someone. Dennis was steeped in drugs and alcohol too and didn't fall for any of Manson's sh*t.

I guess my point is, Tex and the others need to be held accountable for their actions, Manson or no Manson.....

[dennyschild]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

Sounds like a pre-planned set up to me; Tex already knew Manson and they hatched the hitch-hiking plan to confuse Dennis and help control him. 

That's Interesting. It would seem more logical.

[dennyschild]

Tex was an idiot! Manson needed idiots to do his bidding. Drugs and alcohol can only do so much to help brainwash someone. Dennis was steeped in drugs and alcohol too and didn't fall for any of Manson's merda.

I guess my point is, Tex and the others need to be held accountable for their actions, Manson or no Manson.....

Absolutely.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

Sounds like a pre-planned set up to me; Tex already knew Manson and they hatched the hitch-hiking plan to confuse Dennis and help control him.  

That's Interesting. It would seem more logical.

You mean they planted Tex out on the side of the road in order to lure Dennis into picking him up?

Wouldn't a couple of cute girls do the tick better than doofy Tex Watson? Or was Dennis the type of guy who just liked giving anyone a ride in order to help them out?

[bgas]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

Sounds like a pre-planned set up to me; Tex already knew Manson and they hatched the hitch-hiking plan to confuse Dennis and help control him. 

That's Interesting. It would seem more logical.

You mean they put Tex out on the side of the road in order to lure Dennis into picking him up?

Wouldn't a couple of cute girls do the tick better than doofy Tex Watson? Or was Dennis the type of guy who just liked giving anyone a ride in order to help them out?

Operative words being "Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson"

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Egad! Thank God I'm not employed as a copy editor!!!!! 

[Mike's Beard]

Wrong way round. Dennis introduced Tex to Manson. Manson and co were already staying at Dennis's home when one day Dennis was hitchhiking (the family had wrecked both of his cars!) and was picked up by Tex Watson. Dennis told Watson all about Manson and insisted that he meet him for himself.

Sounds like a pre-planned set up to me; Tex already knew Manson and they hatched the hitch-hiking plan to confuse Dennis and help control him. 

Sorry to disagree, but Tex did not already know Manson, if not he would already have been living at Denny's along with the rest of Charlie's merry band of freeloaders. History has made Tex and Charlie appear much tighter than they apparently were. Tex was merely one of Manson's many acquaintances and it was only after Tex had burned all of his other bridges and had nowhere else to stay that he came to live at Spahan Range. Even then, Watson could not play an instrument and was a wimp without a weapon in his hands, so Charlie had little time for him.

Tex was an idiot! Manson needed idiots to do his bidding. Drugs and alcohol can only do so much to help brainwash someone. Dennis was steeped in drugs and alcohol too and didn't fall for any of Manson's merda.

I guess my point is, Tex and the others need to be held accountable for their actions, Manson or no Manson.....

It's worth noting and I've mentioned it before that Dennis did NOT believe Charlie was behind the murders. The more I look into the case the more I believe this may be true. As you mention drugs can only brainwash a person to a certain point. You simply cannot brainwash a person to become a killer through LSD. The CIA tried this with the MK - Ultra project and failed. Are we to believe a smelly ex con achieved in a little over a year what the US Government's top scientists, with millions of dollars at their disposal over a period of a decade could not?

Unless someone can present me with solid proof otherwise , I'll stick with the theory that the murders were drug burn related. Manson may or may not have had a hand in them - with all the BS that surrounded the case it was never proved conclusively either way. Forget personal opinion on Manson (he was a thief, conman, freeloader, egotistical nutjob etc), it's clear he didnot receive a fair trial.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'll never forget this retired LAPD detective who used to come into a bookstore I worked at. He talked about the case once and said there were S&M parties at the Polanski house where they'd pick up hitchhikers for S&M shenanigans, and according to this guy, they picked up a couple of Manson girls once and beat them up pretty badly. He wouldn't say this was the reason ( or A reason) for the murders, but he still put it out there. I think Ed Saunders mentioned this in "The Family" but I could be wrong. But I do remember this guy saying the truth to the case is somewhere in the original case files.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

As for Manson, if he in fact DID enter the La Bianca's home and tie them up, he's guilty as hell regardless.

[dennyschild]

As for Manson, if he in fact DID enter the La Bianca's home and tie them up, he's guilty as hell regardless.

I agree 100%

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

"You simply cannot brainwash a person to become a killer through LSD. The CIA tried this with the MK - Ultra project and failed. Are we to believe a smelly ex con achieved in a little over a year what the US Government's top scientists, with millions of dollars at their disposal over a period of a decade could not?"

I'm inclined to agree 100% with this, but it is perhaps arguable that Charlie's mix of LSD, sex, hippie blather, removed communal living situation, and Armageddon, was maybe a more potent brew than what the MK - Ultra guys had going on.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

And if the Tate murders were drug-burn related, how do we explain the La Bianca's?

Sorry to go on and on. I just find this topic endlessly fascinating.

[Steve Mayo]

i always found this book interesting. by tex watson himself. esp chapter 6 i think tex says he picked up dennis. later was introduced to charlie. it's an online  book. interesting reading. who knows where the truth actually lies.

http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/wydfm/wydfm-001.php

[Mike's Beard]

Me too Erik H and I will happily discuss it endlessly with anyone willing to listen! I may have worded my earlier post a little poorly before, so I'll clarify. Charlie did at least have a hand indirectly in the murders , as he's freely admitted he later went to the Tate residence to survey the carnage and make sure that nothing was left that could be traced back to Spahan Range. In the eyes of the law this makes him an accessory to murder. What has never been proved is did he stick knives in the hands of Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkle and Kasabaian and say "go kill these people for me". The amount of hard evidence to support this is zero and any halfway decent lawyer should have got this charge quashed. Charlie was facing serious jail time regardless. Let's see, drug possession, credit card fraud, arson and destruction to government property, corruption of a minor, grand theft auto, possession of unlicensed firearms, assult with a deadly weapon, attempted manslaughter, accessory to murder.... all whilst he was out on parole! He would have got a minimum of 20 years for the above.

And if the Tate murders were drug-burn related, how do we explain the La Bianca's?

This is where the waters become much more muddy but I'd say drugs again.  Are we meant to swallow that Rosemary La Bianca had around a million dollars in 1969 money from investing money she'd made as a waitress?
As to Manson's physical involvement, he's always denied that he tied them up. Tex claims he tied them up himself. The hole in the oft told storey that Manson went in first by himself and tied them up at gunpoint is unless he grew an extra arm, just how can you hold a gun at two people and simultaneously tie them up?? I suppose he could have forced one to tie the other up at gunpoint first? You and Denny's Child are right, if he DID tie them up then that makes him an accomplice to murder and just as guilty as those who stabbed them.

Charlie claims they were in the neighbourhood to see Harold True who lived next door and when they found he wasn't home they snuck into the La Bianca's to party as they had apparently done several times before. He claims when he saw they were there he left. This story does seem fishy. What I struggle to get my head round is why Charlie would willingly want to be in a car looking to party with a bunch of people who he knew had butchered 5 people less than 24 hours beforehand? This shows at best that he was highly amoral.

[Mikie]

Sorry for the erroneous post last night - I was tired. Here's closer to what happened - maybe Jon will come along and confirm:

Watson picked up Dennis Wilson, who was hitchhiking. After arriving at Dennis' Pacific Palisades' mansion, he invited Watson up to see the house and meet the people hanging out there. Watson was introduced to Charlie Manson. Wilson invited Watson to return to the mansion anytime to hang out and swim in the Olympic-sized pool. The mansion was filled with dropouts who hung out doing drugs and listening to music. Watson eventually moved into the mansion where he mingled with rock musicians, actors, children of stars, Hollywood producers, Charlie Manson and members of the Manson "Family."

Mike's Beard, you're funny!   You and Vince Bugliosi should sit down and have a coupla beers together.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Mike's Beard: I always understood it that Manson snuck up on a sleeping Leno Labianca who woke up and Charlie told him to keep quiet and still and did tie him up while still holding the gun. (It's possible to do!) Then when Leno was tied up, he went into the bedroom and did the same with Rosemary who was likely asleep.

Maybe Manson chose the Labianca house with the intent of killing Harold True (and whoever else was around)! Makes more sense than sneaking in to party after a night of driving around looking for people to kill!!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Also, even if Manson put knives in people's hands and told them to kill for him, THEY made the decision to go out and do it instead of driving the car straight to the nearest police station.