Tex Watson, known as Charles Watson to his family, was a normal kid — an exceptional one, even.

In his hometown of Farmersville, Texas, about an hour northeast of Dallas, he attended church and became a youth group leader in his home state of Texas, he was an A student, and a star athlete in football, basketball, and track.

He attended college at North Texas State University.

But then, a visit to a friend in California changed Watson’s life forever.

Entranced by the hippie counterculture brewing on the West Coast, Watson decided to move there — where he met mass murderer Charles Manson. Watson became Manson’s right-hand man and stood by his side through seven grisly murders.