Wednesday, June 5, 2002
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Wednesday, June 5, 2002 |
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Watson on trial for murder Prosecutors hope circumstantial evidence sways jurors to convict By JOHN MUNFORD
They don't even know how Beverley Watson died, but Fulton County prosecutors hope to convince a jury that her husband Jim, a former Riverdale police officer, murdered her. The case may be a tough sell since the only reported "physical" evidence in the case are the remains of Beverley Watson's body that were collected by the Fulton County Police Department from a wooded area in Fairburn in 1999. Prosecutors and defense attorneys questioned potential jurors about their biases Monday and Tuesday before a Fulton Superior Court judge. A panel is expected to be chosen by midweek to hear evidence alleging that Watson murdered his wife. He told detectives that, after an argument at their Fayette home, his wife left in a huff and disappeared on foot the night of Jan. 17, 1997, taking no baggage and leaving behind her purse, car keys and vehicle. Neither of the couple's two children was present during the argument. In court during pretrial hearings last week, Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Sheila Ross said police only recovered 12 of Mrs. Watson's bones when her remains were discovered. Judging by the courtroom activity two days before the trial, the case will likely come down to the believability of witnesses. Prosecutors hope Judge T. Jackson Bedford will allow several of Beverley Watson's close friends to testify that she told them if she ever disappeared without their children to suspect her husband had her killed. Those friends also testified that Beverley Watson told them of several occasions where Jim Watson injured or threatened her. One time, after she suffered a broken arm, Beverley Watson reportedly told them her husband had pushed her down the stairs. Ross argued that Beverley Watson's friends should be allowed to testify in court because Georgia's courts have ruled "in homicide cases they will not silence the victim forever." The Watsons' daughter, Ashley Watson, rebutted testimony of her mother's friends, telling the court that her mother broke her arm after slipping on a pillow in the hallway just outside her bedroom, which was supposedly Beverley Watson's original account. Beverley Watson's friends testified that she always told them a different story when her husband was around. She would share her claims of abuse in private places such as the ladies room or a vehicle when Jim Watson wasn't around, they said. During her testimony, Ashley Watson, who's now 18, portrayed a peaceful existence between her mother and father. Under tough questioning, she often indicated she couldn't remember specific details, but she did recall that her mother told her she and Jim Watson were separating at one time because "they felt it would help the marriage to spend some time apart." Testifying with no visible emotion about her deceased mother, Ashley Watson said she didn't think that was odd at the time, noting that she was much younger when the "separation" talk took place. Beverley Watson's close friends testified that she had told the children just before her disappearance in 1997 that she planned to move out of the family's home. Ashley Watson recalled her mother telling her that she and brother Todd would split time between both parents.
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