Manson Family was rumored, although never proven, that Hughes was murdered by the Family, possibly because he had stood up to Manson and refused to allow Van Houten to take the stand and absolve Manson of the crimes. Though he might have perished in flooding, Family member Sandra Good stated that Hughes was "the first of the retaliation murders". Watson returned to McKinney, Texas after the Tate–LaBianca murders. He was arrested in Texas on November 30, 1969, after local police were notified by California investigators that his fingerprints were found to match a print found on the front door of the Tate
Charles Manson as a tourist attraction after his death. According to Simone, Manson believed he would never die, and may simply have used the possibility of marriage as a way to encourage Burton and Hammond to continue visiting him and bringing him gifts. Together with co-author Heidi Jordan Ley, and with the assistance of some of Manson's fellow prisoners, Simone wrote a book about Manson and was seeking a publisher for it. Burton said on her web site that the reason the marriage did not take place is merely logistical. Manson was suffering from an infection and had been in a prison