Friday, June 7, 2002
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Friday, June 7, 2002 |
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Opening arguments begin in Watson case By JOHN
MUNFORD
In laying out the theory which accuses Jim Watson of murdering his wife, Fulton County prosecutor Sheila Ross told the jury Wednesday that he gave several different stories to police in the days and months after his wife Beverley disappeared from their south Fayette County home. Jim Watson's attorney, Lee Sexton, countered that his client plans to take the stand to defend himself of the murder charge and answer various allegations. In her opening statement Wednesday, Ross alleged that Jim Watson wore makeup to conceal scratches on his face when he allowed police to search his residence two days after Beverley Watson's disappearance. Ross argued that the scratches were a mark from his wife Beverley which prove there was a physical struggle between the two when she disappeared in January 1997 from the couple's south Fayette County home. Although police found no blood in the Watsons' home after Beverley's disappearance, it is possible Jim Watson could have killed his wife by strangling her, which would leave no blood, Ross said. However, the prosecutor admitted that the medical examiner was unable to determine how Beverley Watson died after examining the bones that were discovered in a wooded area of south Fulton County over two years after she disappeared. Sexton hammered that point at the jury. "There will be no forensic evidence at all that ties Jim Watson to the death of Beverley Watson," Sexton said. Beverley Watson's car also helped police connect a link between Jim Watson and the location where her remains were found, Ross said. The red Dodge Avenger had "atmospheric dust" which attaches itself to vehicles when they travel on gravel roads, she noted. Hours before Beverley Watson disappeared, she visited a friend in Stockbridge, Debbie White, who said Mrs. Watson's car was "clean" at the time. Beverley Watson's remains were found just off Red Mill Road, which is a gravel road near Fairburn, Ross said. Ross also claimed Jim Watson lied to a Fayette County sheriff's deputy he first called to ask when he could legally report his wife missing. Jim Watson told that deputy that he wanted to hold off on the report so he could drive by several of her friends' homes and see if her car was there, Ross said. But deputies found Beverley Watson's car in the couple's garage when police went to search the house after she was reported missing, Ross said. As to the "covered-up" scratches on Jim Watson's face, the jury will hear three different explanations during the trial, Ross said: From Beverley herself, which Watson allegedly told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; From keys Beverley threw at him during the argument, which Watson originally told police; or When Watson was putting the family pet outside, as one of Watson's former coworkers at the Riverdale Police Department will testify. Sexton told the jury that his client will testify to defend himself of various allegations. When he reported her disappearance two days after he says she stormed off from their home on foot in January 1997, Jim Watson allowed police to search his home, giving sheriff's detectives the key to his home, Sexton said. Jim Watson eventually decided that his wife had left him and the kids, and he notified personnel at the children's schools to be on the lookout for Beverley Watson and make sure she doesn't take the kids with her, Sexton said. "This is not the first Beverley walked away from their home without telling Jim or the children where she was going," Sexton said. But it was a cold night when Beverley Watson allegedly walked away from the couple's south Fayette home, reaching 11 degrees, Ross noted.
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