CRESCENT CITY, Calif. — A man sentenced to death for the 1980 rape and murder of a Seal Beach woman has died in prison at the age of 80. Benjamin W. Watta was found unresponsive in his cell at Pelican Bay State Prison shortly before noon on December 22. Authorities reported that he was pronounced dead shortly after emergency responders arrived.
Watta was convicted in 2008 for the murder of 70-year-old Simone Sharpe, whose body was discovered on Christmas Eve in 1980. She had been fatally assaulted in her neighbor’s home while taking care of their pets. A jury recommended the death penalty, which was officially imposed in 2009.
The tragic circumstances surrounding Sharpe’s death remained unsolved for over two decades until advancements in DNA technology revived the case. In 2001, a specialized task force targeted unsolved murders and sexual assaults, ultimately linking Watta to the crime using DNA evidence from a rape kit collected at the time of the incident. At the time of the breakthrough, Watta was already incarcerated in Florida for attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend.
After being extradited to California, he was subsequently transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison, where he served his condemned sentence. The California Department of Corrections confirmed the details of his death, and an investigation into the cause is ongoing, led by the Del Norte County Coroner’s Office.
Simone Sharpe’s murder has had a haunting legacy in the Seal Beach community, bringing to light the challenges law enforcement faces in solving cold cases. Her son discovered her body in a bedroom, leading to a lengthy search for justice that spanned decades. The case is a stark reminder of the impact such tragedies have on families and communities.
In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom enacted a moratorium on the death penalty, effectively halting executions in the state, which last took place in 2006. Watta’s passing raises questions about the future of death row inmates amid changing attitudes toward capital punishment.
As the investigation into his death unfolds, the story of Benjamin W. Watta and the unresolved pain surrounding Simone Sharpe’s murder continue to resonate, underscoring the complexities of justice and the lingering effects of crime on society.