Wednesday, June 5, 2002
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Wednesday, June 5, 2002 |
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Beverley's daughter, friends give conflicting testimony By JOHN MUNFORD
Beverley Watson made one of her closest friends promise not to let her husband Jim get away with killing her if she ever turned up missing, it was revealed in court last week. Ellen Lord's testimony came during a special pretrial hearing in Fulton County Superior Court last week in the murder case against Jim Watson, who is charged with murdering his wife. Jury selection in the trial began Monday. "She said, 'Promise me if this happens you'll never let him get away with it,'" Lord said. Defense attorney Lee Sexton pressed Lord whether she thought Beverley Watson was telling her the truth. Lord replied, "Yes I do. ... Because I know her character." Lord said she felt Jim Watson was responsible for his wife's death, but if the evidence proves he's not guilty "I'll be glad for him." "All I really want is justice for Beverley," Lord said. "She was my friend and I made her a promise." Mrs. Watson's remains were found in a wooded area in Fulton County in 1999, more than two years after she disappeared from her Fayette County home. Jim Watson told police his wife walked away from their south Fayette County residence after an argument between the couple. Lord was the third of Beverley Watson's close friends to testify that she warned them if she ever turned up missing without the children to suspect that her husband would have killed her. Earlier in the week, two other friends testified they were given similar warnings from Beverley Watson before her disappearance. Each one claimed that Jim Watson told her that he was friends with law enforcement and court officials and therefore they would never believe her stories of abuse. Beverley Watson's friends also shared anecdotes she told them about her husband's threatening nature, including: Occasions where she would wake up in the middle of the night to find her husband standing over her with a gun pointed to her head. How he allegedly chased her through Fayetteville on several occasions after she fled their residence in their car to avoid him after an argument. Once Jim Watson reportedly struck her car with his truck to block her in and keep her from leaving. An episode when Jim Watson's gun supposedly discharged, causing a hole in the wall near where Beverley Watson was standing. It was reported that he originally told her he was cleaning his gun at the time, but later he supposedly joked about the incident and used it to intimidate her. An incident where Jim Watson supposedly grabbed his wife by the neck and flipped her over, causing her head to strike the floor. At the time, the couple was separated and there was a restraining order banning Jim Watson from entering the couple's home, witnesses said. The incident was reportedly witnessed by the couple's young daughter, Ashley, who later testified that she didn't see such an incident. Beverley Watson's friends said they never called police because they feared it cause her husband to hurt her. "I tried to tell her he was all talk," said Christa Hinkle, one of Beverley Watson's childhood friends. "I guess I was wrong."
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