Wednesday, January 30, 2002
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Wednesday, January 30, 2002 |
| Deputy: 'Watson
stalked my family'
By JOHN MUNFORD
Until weeks ago there hadn't been enough evidence to arrest Jim Watson for the five-year-old murder of his wife Beverley. But a top Fayette sheriff's official revealed in court Monday that he tried on several occasions to convince prosecutors to seek a warrant against Watson for stalking. At Watson's bond hearing Monday, Maj. Bruce Jordan claimed Watson stalked him in a number of ways, including following his vehicle between 20 or 30 times during the investigation and driving by his home several times. Jordan also claimed Watson confronted him in the parking lot of a local grocery store in 2000 and attended one of his daughter's softball games. "I made several pleas with the DA (district attorney) and state solicitor" to file stalking charges on Watson, Jordan said. "The DA asked me not to because he felt he would eventually try him for homicide." Jordan said when Watson tried to physically interfere with him during a traffic stop for driving with illegally tinted windows, he actually called the DA on his cell phone to see if criminal charges could be filed on Watson. "I said, 'How much are we going to let this guy get away with?'" Jordan recalled. "Nobody else gets away with stalking investigators and driving with illegally tinted windows." Jordan said the grocery store confrontation happened although he tried to avoid Watson after noticing him in the check-out line. Jordan said he gave Watson time to leave the area that night before he attempted to leave the store. Jordan said after he and his son checked out, they left the store only to have a vehicle creep up behind them. Jordan said he pointed at the vehicle and Watson, who was a passenger in the car, asked if he was talking to him. "I warned him again about stalking," Jordan said. "... And after a couple of comments from him, he drove off. "... He was obviously waiting for me in the parking lot." The vehicle was actually driven at the time by Watson's daughter, Ashley, Jordan said. Watson was not questioned about the confrontation during his testimony. Jordan also alleged that Watson tried to intimidate him by attending his daughter's softball games. He said on one occasion Watson stood in front of him while he sat in a chair near the fence. Watson's attorney, Lee Sexton, indicated that he might have been there to scout potential players for the girls' softball team he coached. "Mr. Sexton, I do not believe that is what he was doing," Jordan replied. Jordan said he was fearful for his family "when he (Watson) is out and about." Jordan also complained that Watson drove slowly through the parking lot of the Sheriff's Department a number of times during the investigation, which worried some employees of the department. Watson testified that when he drove through the parking lot he was looking for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent assigned to the investigation. Sexton also argued that the allegations of Watson "following" Jordan could be attributed to the fact that they lived within three miles of each other at the time. "I never intentionally followed anyone from the Sheriff's Department," Watson testified. But moments later, he admitted to once following a van from the Sheriff's Department while his sister drove his vehicle. Watson also admitted to driving by Jordan's home on several occasions "just to see where he lived."
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