James P. Watson: The West Coast "Bluebeard" Killer
A Killer Hidden Behind Marriage
James P. Watson was a serial bigamist and murderer who used promises of marriage to deceive women throughout the western United States and Canada. Operating under numerous aliases, he courted widows and unmarried women through newspaper advertisements, quickly gained their confidence, and persuaded many of them to marry him. Some of the women were abandoned after Watson obtained their money or property. Others disappeared during supposed honeymoons and sightseeing trips.
Watson confessed in 1920 to killing seven women, although contemporary reports sometimes attributed as many as nine confessed murders to him. The true number of his victims remains uncertain because he used false names, traveled constantly, maintained several marriages at the same time, and gave inconsistent accounts of his activities. Investigators believed that additional missing wives may also have died at his hands, but many of those suspected cases could never be conclusively established.
Early Life and Numerous Identities
Watson was reportedly born Charles Gillam in Paris, Arkansas, on July 3, 1871. Accounts of his background vary, partly because Watson repeatedly changed his identity and supplied authorities with conflicting personal information. He was also known as Joseph Holden, Walter Andrew Watson, James B. Hilton, Andrew Hilton, Charles Newton Harvey, William B. Huirt and several other names.
His ability to move between identities became central to his crimes. By changing his name whenever he entered a new city, Watson concealed his existing marriages and prevented one wife from discovering another. He presented himself as a prosperous businessman, government employee, secret-service agent or financially secure traveler. His expensive clothing, automobile and attentive courtship helped create an appearance of respectability.
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