California Inmate Claims Prison Ignored His Warning Of Plan To Beat Child Molesters To Death

A California inmate who confessed to murdering two child molesters in his prison claims he warned his prison counselor about his intentions hours before the attack.

Jonathan Watson, 41, urged his counselor to transfer him “before I really (expletive) one of these dudes up,” he wrote in a letter to the Bay Area News Group. However, the counselor just “scoffed and dismissed me,” he claimed.

Watson was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison in 2008 after murdering a marijuana grower, according to the Times-Standard, a California paper.

Seven days before the attacks on Jan. 26, Watson's security class had been lowered from Level III to Level II — prompting a transfer from his single-occupancy unit to a dorm-style cell at Corcoran, a men's state prison in California, according to his letter.

He claimed he repeatedly protested this transfer, calling it a “careless” mistake.

Six days into his time at Corcoran, a man convicted of child molestation was moved into his pod, Watson wrote. The man then began watching PBS Kids in front of the other prisoners — which Watson said he and his fellow inmates saw as a taunt.

That evening, “I could not sleep having not done what every instinct told me I should’ve done right then and there, so I packed all my things because I knew one way or another the situation would be resolved the following day," he wrote.

After Watson had his exchange with his counselor, he alleged he returned to his pod to find one of the men once again watching PBS Kids.

“But this time,” he wrote, “someone said something to the effect of ‘Is this guy really going to watch this right in front of us?’ and I recall saying, ‘I got this.’ And I picked up the cane and went to work on him.”

After allegedly viciously beating the inmate with a walking cane, Watson said he left his pod to find a guard and turn himself in. On the way, he came across another convicted child rapist, who he allegedly attacked as well. 

He was surprised when no guards responded and he had to find one himself, Watson wrote.

“I told him, ‘I’ve got some pretty bad news,’ to which he ironically replied, ‘You’re not going to hit me with that cane are you?’” he wrote. “… I told him what I’d just done, which he also didn’t believe until his looked around the corner and saw the mess I’d left in the dorm area.”

Watson did not name either of the convicted sex offenders in his letter, but simply referred to them as “Monster #1” and “Monster #2.” Authorities identified them as David Bobb, 48, and Graham De Luis-Conti, 62. 

Both men were serving life sentences for aggravated assault of a child under 14 years old.

The two men were rushed to a nearby hospital after the beatings. Bobb died en route, while De Luis-Conti died from his injuries three days later, according to a previous Associated Press report.

If taken to court, he will plead guilty to his charges, Watson said in his writing.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to comment, as it is an active investigation.