Corcoran inmate confesses to killing two child molesters in letter to Bay Area newspaper

One month after officials say he beat two convicted child molesters to death inside a Corcoran state prison, Johnathan Watson confessed to the crimes and said he gave ample warning prior to the attack.

In a letter to the Bay Area News Group on Thursday, Watson said he clubbed both men in the head on Jan. 16 at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison. David Bobb died en route to a nearby medical center. Graham De Luis-Conti died two days later.

All three men were serving life sentences. Watson was convicted of first-degree murder and intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death; Bobb and De Luis-Conti of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years old.

In the letter, Watson said he had been transferred to a lower-security dormitory pod prior to the attack, a move he called “careless” and protested, according to an AP report.

A child molester moved into the pod six days later. Watson believed the man — referred to as Molester #1 in the letter — was taunting other inmates by watching children’s television programming.

Watson beat that man and was going to turn himself in to a guard, when he saw the second man, “and I figured I’d just do everybody a favor.”

In a statement released after the attack, the California Department of Corrections said officers suspected Waston in the deaths, but charges have not yet been filed and a spokesperson for the department declined to comment on Watson’s account of the incident, citing an ongoing investigation, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The letter came in response to a request from the newspaper for a telephone interview. Watson said he was allowed to communicate only in writing.

“Being a lifer, I’m in a unique position where I sometimes have access to these people and I have so little to lose,” Watson wrote. “And trust me, we get it, these people are every parents’ worst nightmare.”