KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasExclusive: Las Vegas Manson Disciple
Fred Anderson, former Metro homicide detective(May 18) -- In this Eyewitness News exclusive story, a Las Vegas man, who idolizes mass murderer Charles Manson, has reportedly confessed to at least seven homicides. The confession could help local detectives clear the books on murder cases dating back almost 30 years.
The killer in question is Wayne Horton, now serving a life sentence in a Carson City prison and said to be in failing health. Like his hero Manson, Horton will never get out of prison, but his recent confessions could bring peace to the families of his victims.
The names and faces of the Manson family members are etched in our memories and while most of us recoil in horror, there are many who idolized Manson -- and still do.
Vincent Bugliosi prosecuted Manson. He says, "He still gets more mail than any other inmate in the U.S. prison system."
The publicity surrounding the Helter Skelter murders made an impression on Las Vegan Wayne Horton, who fancied himself the next coming of Manson.
Fred Anderson, former Metro homicide detective, said, "Manson was his idol. I think it was the fascination with the Helter Skelter and the murders there. Wayne liked to picture himself a really bad guy."
No one would come to know Horton as well as Fred Anderson, who back in the 70's was one of Metro's most respected homicide detectives. When police first arrested Horton, they knew he was a one-man crime wave, but didn't realize he was a mass murderer. Anderson visited the jail often, and Horton started spilling his guts.
Fred Anderson said, "He was the kinda guy I would not want to meet someplace in a dark alley."
Horton first told Anderson about killing a cab driver. The driver had picked Horton up from a gay bar, made a crack about homosexuals, and got five bullets in the head. Next Horton bragged about killing a Caesars Palace executive in that casino's parking lot. Marty Buccieri was known to have mafia contacts, so many motives were suspected in his death. Horton says Buccieri wised off to him and was shot in the head.
When hauled into court for those slayings, Horton laughed about them, boasted that he would kill again, and even showed up with an X carved into his forehead.
Fred Anderson said, "He and this other prisoner put the crosses in their forehead to mimic Manson."
Anderson kept detailed notes of his conversations with Horton, including a map of the Buccieri murder site -- signed by Horton -- and hints of other slayings. When Horton plead guilty to two murders, the other charges became moot. But, he wasn't finished.
While inside, he convinced three other convicts to help him kill a 19-year-old cellmate.
"For absolutely no reason other than he didn't like the smell of the prisoner, that's what he told me," Anderson said.
A newspaper reporter who wrote about Horton got a chilling letter, warning that if Horton ever escaped, the reporter would get a visit. Now, three decades later, the full scope of Horton's murderous rampage is finally known to lawmen.
According to a letter written to a local attorney, Metro homicide detectives recently obtained a detailed, taped confession from Horton concerning at least seven murders. Horton said while driving through a neighborhood, he spotted Las Vegan Mary Ramsey in her yard. He came back just to rob her, but shot her in the head.
Before that, he used electrical wire to tie up a male victim during a bondage game, then strangled him and had sex with the body. In 1972, he met a woman in a Fremont Street bar, lured her out to the parking lot, bashed her head in and then dumped the body near Railroad Pass. Another woman was killed after meeting Horton at the Union Plaza. Those two victims are both still listed as Jane Does.
Most intriguing is Horton's hint that the Buccieri slaying may have been a contract killing, although the Manson disciple still isn't saying who else was involved. Metro homicide will not talk about Horton's confession. Sources say the police made an agreement with Horton to keep his confession a secret until after his death. Horton is being held in a prison hospital where his health is said to be failing quickly.
