Bill Nelson might be the most interesting of the Manson researchers who went crazy on the quest. He is tagged fifteen times in posts along the right column of this blog. While researching Tex Watson last week, I fell into Nelson's twenty-nine page pdf manuscript. A madcap binge of all things Nelson followed. I hoped to create a sort of Cliff's Notes for noobs and maybe a quick reference guide for everyone else.
There's too much tomfoolery for a single post.
A one-dimensional slash across Nelson's one-dimensional face - nasty as he became - isn't fair. Bill Nelson was a complicated man. I went searching for a starting point, failed, and asked secret agent Deb for help. Within an hour, I was falling down the rabbit hole.
Nelson's cumulative stats senior year of high school. No GPA. I'm unsure how someone plays on the football team and marches with the Color Guard but maybe that's why the numbers are included. Just one year of track. No hurdles records.
I hope the Nelson's weren't related. Thanksgiving Dinner might be rough. "Didya hear NASA made Joe a supervisor?"
"Pish-posh. Bill sent Sadie Mae Glutz a nightie."
Nelson entered the Navy after high school and served during Vietnam.
He married a pretty gal in a beautiful dress.
Nelson doxxed. I won't return serve but he's gotta pay something. You can't follow little kids around and expect compassion.
A friend sent me a Manson saga version of the Stages of Grief. Stage One is Jailbait Orgy Obsession. Did Nelson never move beyond Stage One?
Hindsight is 20/20 but this interview with Snake Lake is heavy on the cringe regardless. Slime oozes from his words. Nelson asks about her sex nickname at age fifteen. You will find a baby GreenWhite comment below the post from back when I thought I could solve things. Shudder.
You think you know people?
Nelson knew people. He was in with the prosecution, the victims' families, the incarcerated, and the Family. He worked with Court TV filming parole hearing. And sold Manson stuff on his website. We will never see his like again.
Going after Sandy was a mistake. Nelson grew comfortable terrorizing inmates and moved into the private sector. Before long, a little bird whispered into Stimson's ear and Nelson was finished. Sex charges involving minors. Oh, Bill.
Do we separate the art from the artist? His research for the 25th anniversary update of Helter Skelter was solid. Nelson brought a lot to the study but will time remember him? Will his name come up when they're arguing race war in seventy-five years?
Tracking back through Internet history, I struggled to find Nelson supporters.
Nelson never attempted to cozy up with Family men. The ladies were his special concern. Jumping from new friend to new friend on his climb to the top, the researcher chewed them up and spit them out. When someone from the Family answered one of his syrupy letters, Nelson sold copies of the reply.
He stole the show at LVH's parole hearing. Lulu ran back to her room while Nelson yucked it up in his goofy Hawaiian shirt. That video remains on Bret's YouTube page if you remember Bret. Last year, a decade after his death, Bret's page began sharing scammy, unrelated content. They get no links.
Without question, Nelson craved dune buggy time machine sex with the Spahn's girls. How a square like him ever imagined he stood a chance is baffling. Listen to that convo with Lake. Yikes!
But Nelson's biggest boner was reserved for Mr. Watson. Maybe to play Bugs to Tex's Manson and rake in that cold cash. Brothers-in-arms selling paperbacks until the end of time. Except no Gentry on Team Nelson. Another mistake. Nelson wrote like a middle schooler.
Or maybe he thought Tex was the star of the production?
Jealousy over finding himself excluded from prison parking lot sex with Watson's wife in a wood-paneled trailer also crossed my mind. But maybe a few years before Kristin Joan Svege became Mrs. Tex Watson. Nellie liked them green.
Kristin and her parents steamed into New York from Norway the last day of August 1961. She was two years old or almost two. Kristin and her mother are US citizens.
The future Mrs. Tex attended Asbury Park High School. Below is her yearbook photo from 1974. The Boss was ten years older and attended Catholics schools. Miami Steve was born in Massachusetts but grew up in Middletown, New Jersey. Bruce came to see him play in '65 and the rest is history.
Tex and Kristin's wedding announcement in the Sacramento Bee. The Secret Service agent behind Nixon looks like Watson. Baseball player Rod Carew poses with the former US President.
After a week spent reading, watching online, and bothering people about Bill Nelson's obsession with Tex Watson, I walked away shaking my head. Dude lost his mind trying to be chief Manson expert and former young love confidant. A sigh of relief went up from every Manson circle when Nelson exited this mortal coil in 2005.
If we don't discuss Nelson's Tex book in the comments, I'll write about it next week.
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Bonus Material:
What happened in your brain, Bill?
I'm interested in learning more about Mr. Nelson if you're willing to share. +ggw
51 comments:
I found both of his books online recently to add to my collection I enjoyed Manson behind the scenes
Hey there, Devil! I've been thinking about you the past week. You home and feeling good?
Ajerseydevil said...
"I found both of his books online..."
For free or for sale? If the former, can you share a link?
Hey Greenwhite with the exception of being tired a lot I'm doing well thanksfor asking
Hey Star I actually found both books on the Thrift books website the cool thing is if they don't have what your looking for you can make a wish list & they will inform you when they have a copy I paid up for The Manson one it was just over a hundred the Watson book was in the twenty's
Also Etsy can be a good source for Manson related items
GreenWhite said:
“If we don't discuss Nelson's unfinished Tex "book" in the comments, I'll write about it next week. “
Are you saying that in addition to the book,
“ Tex Watson, The Man, The Madness, The Manipulation”, Bill Nelson, 1991, Pen Power Publications
that there is an additional unpublished book on Tex, or that you have a pdf that contains some of the book mentioned above?
Hi, ToF. "A Night of Evil" is the title of the first chapter?
"Darkness had begun to fall over the Los Angeles basin, a welcome relief from the unusually hot summer of 1969. It was August. It was Friday night. The kind of night that would see friends gather for a time of food, fellowship, or even drugs. After all, this was the 60s and most of the Los Angeles community had become very familiar with the message of tuning out, turning on with the free sex of the pot smoking flower children. This night was to be different though. The flower was about to wilt and the death nail would be hammered into the hippie movement. Peace was about to turn into tragedy."
That's Nellie's typo lol.
I asked Judy Hanson if she was ever going to write a book and she told me she already did and then onto tell me about how Nelson stole her research. Nelson along with Ed Sanders is the source of a lot of disinformation that people still believe to this day. The biggest is that Watson lived right near LaBerge in Silverlake. He didn't, it's not true whatsoever. He did however live a few doors down from a condo Leno owned.
The worst thing he's ever done is support the ideas of Howard Davis. I think he released his book.
Do the numbers one through four following Nelson's school activities refer to his year of high school during which he participated in the preceding activity?
Would 1 be his freshman year etc. ?
orwhut said:
Do the numbers one through four following Nelson's school activities refer to his year of high school during which he participated in the preceding activity?
Would 1 be his freshman year etc. ?
Yes.
Also, it’s not uncommon to see that a sport is played in years 1-2 and not played beyond, because they are not that good of an athlete or they have other interests such as a part time job. It’s also somewhat common for a boy, that doesn’t play sports, to just be in the football team his senior year (sitting the bench) so that he can say he participated in something.
Years ago State Athletic Authorities/Associations did not limit students from playing multiple sports concurrently, so you would occasionally see someone earn 5 letters in the same year.
GreenWhite said:
"A Night of Evil" is the title of the first chapter?
Yes, that is the name of chapter one in the book
“ Tex Watson, The Man, The Madness, The Manipulation”
Thank, ToF. I will fix.
Hi, whut. That was my guess. Off topic but I wondered why he went into the guard and not Cross Country in the fall. Lotta young females in little cowgirl etc outfits in the guard I suppose.
Mythos - That map and Mr. Butcher's people timeline are two of the biggest contributions to the study in recent years. Thank you both.
Green,
If you suspected that the numbers are there to show that Nelson made the football team as a freshman then gave up the position as a sophomore and junior, I think you're correct. Maybe he thought he'd meet more girls in the color guard.
LOL whut! Agreed. It'd be kinda weird watching your former teammates play while carrying a flag around during halftime but what do I know. I had fun swimming in the crazy pool of Nelson last week. Someone could write a book on his antics and never run out of material.
Yes this is an interesting topic. As a late comer to it all, I've just read cols rants about what a creep he is and the shananigans with the aging babs
GreenWhite, I’m not sure but you may be conflating what “color guard” meant back in the 60s with what “color guard” in terms of a modern marching band or drum corps. Back then it was a military-type activity of marching with and literally “guarding” the U.S. flag, like one sees in the military then and now. It’s not what it is now, attached to a competitive marching band, mostly young women, twirling and tossing 5’ pikes and decorative flags. (Band director-type here).
Thanks, Jenn. You are correct. I am surely a conflater. Conflationist?
Three little greens played in school bands and choir. One even marched in college. I live in a bandy kinda place. Several adults in our neighborhood were members of TBDBITL, including the people who owned our house before us. Two percussionists. The garage code when we moved in was "drum." LOL!
Dan S, is "drum" your garage code now?
Wait. It's bike isn't it.
Too poor for a garage. I do have 2 drumsets and 10 bicycles crammed in my room though.
Anyone in sac wants to talk bike bands or Mansonoid come hang out at the Neighborhood bike shop of La Riviera tue to sat; I'm the only worker there so come right in and say "hi, Dan S, stabby llama is a megatool!"
From an archive of Michael Channels’ old website, “mansonbackporch.com” (on ‘The Yard’ page), there is a letter from Watson to Michael that mentions Nelson.
“Tex, do you know of any bodies in the Desert at Barker Ranch?”
"Dear Michael: Thanks for your letter. Those rumors of bodies at BARKER ranch first came to light by a man named Bill Nelson. He passed away in 2005, but while alive wrote "tabloid" type books, while fabricating his stories from those just trying to seek attention. This was attempted 8 years ago when they went to Barker Ranch finding nothing. This is just another effort to bring attention to a fabricated story of untruths. No, I DO NOT think there are bodies buried at Barker Ranch.
My website is www.aboundinglove.org. My book "Will you die for me" in full context is on the site. It depicts my time after the Tate LaBianca murders to my arrest in Texas, Nov. 30, 1969."
GreenWhite, are you talking about Mark Turners' maps
Hi, Cielo. Whoever made that Google Earth Map of the LA locations. I thought Dennis did.
I emailed you last week btw.
I didn’t receive your email
TabOrFresca,
Thank you for answering my question. I don't know how I missed seeing it until just now.
Whut
Cielo, I just resent it.
ToF - Thanks also for always helping me.
I like that Bill Nelson endlessly harassed those creeps minus Dianne Lake. She deserved to be left alone, but I haven't a lot of compassion for the killers or the ex-Family members who spent a considerable amount of their time threatening people's lives and harassing everyone from prosecution witnesses to the prosecutor himself during the trial!
Do you like that he fondled little children too?
Tex, Pat, Leslie, Bobby and Bruce are still alive. Why don't you harass them?
I did make the map GreenWhite. Thanks for the compliments.
I commented that I liked that Bill Nelson endlessly harrassed "those creeps" meaning The Family and you come back with, "do you like that he fondled children?" Really? Now why in the world would I like that he fondled children? Him harrassing dirt bags like the Manson Family in no way, shape or form means anything other than that activity! Geez!!
It's probably worse to be harassed by a pedo than a normal person anyway
He also gave those "scumbags" sexy lingerie. Took trips to Death Valley with them and got a big thrill when one flashed her beaver at him.
I think Ann misread- he harassed Diane, showed up at her door, got real aggressive.
I knew Bill Nelson. I lived the site and all the adventures from his very expensive trip with Hoyt to his harassment of Patti Tate and her children. I loved when he was outed as sick pedo who touched up a twelve year old.
here is some of his site https://web.archive.org/web/20000101000000*/mansonmurders.com
I have emailed Max Frost who actualy went on a trip with the guy to Zodiac sites. Maybe he will return. He knew Nellie well.
Nellie was crazy - and yed BUG loved him so that tells you something.
Ask me anything..... The Col does after all know all!!!
Huge fan. First time caller. Loved your sword fights with Jim from NY.
What would you say was the major driver behind Nelson's Manson days? Young loves? Fame? Doris Tate's cooking?
GW- are you addressing me? I've posted before during your tenure. And it took me three whole minutes to remember who Jim was. Dang.
Nelson was a grifter and in the early days of the net he had the only real site. If you go back to it it is painfully rudimentary. But he wanted attention. His proudest moment was when Leslie stormed out and a real journalist said "Bill now YOU are the story." He loved it.
Otherwise he wanted money. Aesnihil wanted money but that was for acid. Bill just wanted money and to be important. I got into it to do a movie that never happened.
Swings and roundabouts
Col - Yeah I meant I was your fan. Your blog was my intro to this quicksand. My phone changed "this" to "Thor." Thor quicksand would be pretty badass altho I'm not sure what it would be exactly.
Anyway. You made me laugh so many times with your comments here. I am grateful.
I remembered when I was typing about Nelson last weekend that you'd bought a lot of his stuff. Was there anything amazing you were thrilled with? Like a top get?
GreenMile wipe that shit off your nose, it's stinkin up the place
LOL! The heart of this blog is its comments sections. Idk what's come over me, Vera. I've had like a weird happiness feeling inside my body the last couple of days. When I hear nice things come out of my mouth (or off my fingertips) it sounds in my head like Fonzie saying he was wrong.
Nice rationalization
I know. Weird like I said. Today, I noticed I remained in a good mood when I woke up. And I'm an awful morning person, Vera. Just vicious. But this morning I went downstairs to make coffee and saw sunlight hitting the bunch of Italian parsley I rehydrated overnight in a glass of water on the kitchen counter. It'd puffed out like a flower bouquet. Except flowers going into delicious meatballs later.
I also received a big fat direct deposit this week. It's like ya type and type in some cold ass room like Poe sans talent and then one day, if only for a day, a writer becomes a somebody. Rich people becoming richer pretend they're my friend before going away to their actual friends and me and my hillbilly family hop into our fifteen year old minivan and drive 45 minutes to the closest Starbucks located next a lonesome freeway ramp in the middle of bumdiddly Ohio. Cake Pops all around!
Oh! Moreover. Every time I see a comment from you and I imagine you're a sexy Bingley, Diamonds and Rust starts playing in my head. Not the dumb hippie version either. Straight off Unleashed in the East.
Vera is a frigid homophobe loser whose own family disowned her. I ony speak facts.
GW thank you for the kind words. I'm just me but it is nice of you to say nice things.
To be honest gun to head
1- I enjoyed all the VHS tapes I bought off Aesnihil back in the day- they were shitty quality but really the only way to see so much stuff that I wanted to see. I think he got more shit off Nellie that he later digitized. Again hoping for Max Frost perspective.
2- I suppose my favorite purchase was a framed foto of Little Paul by the side of the road in Death Valley. Never seen it it was cool to have. Years later I made a copy for Lise and she appreciated it.
Of course my best purchase ever was 2002 when I bought Bobby's vest from him and Barbara made by the girls on the corner. It remains under parspecs in a great case. Probably a Smithsonian donation one day,
A story
Back in the day my circle of friends which included Tarantino there was this bloke, first name Richard. Early thirties, balding, he was just a general white guy. He's the guy you would never notice in a crowd. If he did the shooting he would walk because you couldn't id him. "Ummm he was white and had a tint belly (insulin)". He was a master shoplifter- size didn't matter no did costs. $500 program at Egghead? 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke? Ten laserdiscs? His skill was he was nobody special. Haven't seen him in 20 years but I am sure he is still him.
That is who Nelson was. Older. Bigger. Dumber. But he was nobody. you would never stop for five minutes to wonder who he was- he was nobody just a fucking white guy. So when he went on a crusade his super power was he was nobody and he didn't stop. If you read the two self published books, the clear through line is that the Mansonites had secrets they wanted kept- and his very existence threatened that. So they humored him (Gypsy) or dodged him (Pittman) or eventually caved (Snake).
But all of them despised what he was. And then Sandy and George took him down.
I did learn some things from his stalking. Linda still being a drug user and her daughter LADY DANGEROUS being as bad as you would think. Hoyt being a lying liar who lied.
Much better info came from the early Manson message boards. When we learned that Steven was gay so much more made sense. There was the first board (where Ouisch impersonators began) then the one for that dumb mediocre self published book. Then the yahoo group run by someone actually named HEAVEN. That ws the one that led to the only Official TLB Blog - which led to this blog.
Throughout the journey I have only cared about motive. I have learned som many facts and mostly been disappointed with Neslons and his spin offs (fucking Tom O'Neil!)
Cats was great and my respect for Grim has grown in leaps and bounds ...I have never talked to cielodrive but they rule.
In the end as I approach the post truth era I believe we will never know.
I mean who can tell us? Does Tex really know? Linda? Fuck Katie and Leslie.
Who will save the widow's son?
typos due to auto correct and I can't edit in this godforsake program blogger
I've been thinking lately that Gen X is the first to spend a huge portion of their lives typing on computers and typing online. Typos are almost like the doctor's handwriting jokes of old I think.
I read his "Manson Behind the Scenes" when it was published, and it was dubious at best. The most sick, invasive thing Nelson did in the book was to publish Kristin Watson's (then) phone number within the book. Her husband was certainly a monster but the potential problems of Bill's action for an essentially single mother and 4 kids is sickening.
Hi, Andy. Yeah. Something about a sex offender with crimes against kids surreptitiously snapping photos of kids has a bad feel to it.
Luther and Kathleen's crime, and the Nelson saga once he arrives in Manson, would make incredible stories and films. I see both playing in my mind a lot.
D for D bag
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