"He was convicted of murder during the commission of rape and burglary in 2008 for the 1980 rape and killing of 70-year-old Simone Sharpe in Seal Beach. A jury recommended the death penalty for Watta and that sentence was imposed in 2009. Sharpe was found dead by her son at her neighbor's home on Christmas Eve 1980. She had been raped, strangled and suffocated the day before."
"Benjamin W. Watta, formerly of Long Beach, was found unresponsive in his cell at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City around 11 a.m. on Monday during a count and pronounced dead by paramedics just after 11:30 a.m., the corrections agency said. The Del Norte County Coroner will determine his cause of death."
Benjamin W. Watta died in his Pelican Bay State Prison cell on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, and was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly after 11:30 a.m. The Del Norte County Coroner will determine his cause of death. Watta was convicted in 2008 of murder during the commission of rape and burglary for the 1980 rape and killing of 70-year-old Simone Sharpe in Seal Beach. A jury recommended the death penalty and the sentence was imposed in 2009. Sharpe was found dead on Christmas Eve 1980 after being raped, strangled and suffocated the day before. The case was unsolved until DNA from a 1980 rape kit linked Watta in 2001.
Read at www.ocregister.com
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