Los Angeles -- Los Angeles police want to review audio recordings of conversations between a Manson family member and his attorney to see if they contain information about unsolved killings.
Police Chief Charlie Beck requested about eight hours of recordings between attorney Bill Boyd and Charles "Tex" Watson, according to KNBC-TV. The request was made in a letter dated March 19 and was included in a U.S. bankruptcy filing involving Boyd's law firm in Texas, the station said.
Beck said the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division will be investigating the recordings.
"The LAPD has information that Mr. Watson discussed additional unsolved murders committed by followers of Charles Manson," Beck wrote in his letter. "It is requested that the original recordings be given to the LAPD in order to determine if information regarding unsolved murders was included in the recordings."
A hearing on Beck's request is scheduled Tuesday in Texas.
Watson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 Tate-LaBianca killings. Actress Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and four others were killed at her Beverly Hills home on Aug. 9, 1969. The next night, Watson helped kill grocery owners Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
Watson, 65, was convicted in a separate trial after Manson and three female followers were found guilty of the seven murders. Their death sentences were commuted to life when the U.S. Supreme Court briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972.
In November, Watson was denied parole from for the 16th time and ordered to continue serving his life sentence. He married and divorced in prison and has four children from conjugal visits KNBC says the audio remained private until Watson authorized its sale to an author to help cover unpaid legal fees.
