Sunday, June 16, 2002
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Sunday, June 16, 2002 |
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Watson tells Fulton jury, 'I did not kill my wife' By JOHN
MUNFORD
"I did not kill my wife," murder suspect Jim Watson told a Fulton County jury in a moment of high drama Friday afternoon. Taking the stand to defend himself against charges that he murdered his wife Beverley five years ago, Jim Watson, 39, said that he has never hit, choked, or pushed his wife. "All I wish to say is that I did not harm or kill my wife," Watson said, as he locked eyes with the jury. "I have never abused my wife at any time," Watson said in testimony Friday afternoon. He also denied stalking Beverley where she worked although he said he would visit her about three or four times a week at her various work places "to eat lunch." Jim Watson, a locksmith and former police officer who lives southeast of Fayetteville, explained how he got scratches on his face that police noted were covered by makeup while they searched the Watson's home after he reported his wife's disappearance. Watson said he received the scratches on his face when Beverley, 33, either threw her keys at him or she scratched him during an argument at their southeast Fayette home the cold night she disappeared in January 1997. Several witnesses for the prosecution testified previously that at a New Year's Eve party in the late 1980s Jim Watson pulled a shotgun and pointed it at his wife in a bedroom of the couple's home. Jurors also heard testimony that he also pointed a handgun at his wife in the couple's garage. Watson said after the argument that he went to the garage to play with his dogs. While there he heard the door chime and assumed that his wife had gone outside to the front porch to "cool off" after their last argument. Watson also testified that during their last argument he grabbed his wife's arm as she headed toward the garage, hoping to stop her from leaving. "I grabbed her arm and told her she didn't need to leave ... because it was so late.... And that's the last time I had seen her." After Beverley Watson returned home from work the day she disappeared, the original plan was for the couple to take their young son Todd to the movies, Jim Watson said. But Jim Watson said he had called Movies 10 earlier in the day and learned the movie they wanted to go see was not going to be playing that evening. When the couple had their last argument before she disappeared, neither Ashley nor Todd were present at the home, Jim Watson said. Ashley had previously planned to spend the night at a friends' house he said. Todd Watson was picked up by Jim Watson's sister, who Jim Watson said "had volunteered to take Todd to the Discovery Zone." Todd Watson spent the night at his aunt's house, witnesses have said. Watson testified that when he told police his wife was missing two days later, he was not worried for her safety. Watson said he began to worry about his wife's safety after he learned she had not reported for work Monday, Jan. 20, at Whitewater County Club. He said his wife would sometimes leave the home for several days without telling him where she went. Watson also denied that after he last saw his wife that evening that he was outside the home at one time. A former neighbor of the Watsons previously testified that he saw Watson outside of the home "carrying something under his right arm" around 3:20 a.m. That witness said he was sure of the time he saw it because he wanted to get back home just before his wife's alarm went off at 3:33 a.m. After work at FAA in Hampton, the witness had no more than two drinks at a bar and then dined at a Waffle House before returning to his home and noticing Watson in a lighted area next to the Watson's house, the jurors heard. Watson also testified that he was not aware his wife had hired a lawyer and filed for divorce in 1996. She dropped the charge in 1997 against her attorney's advice. Watson also testified that he could not remember if his wife's car was clean or dirty the night she disappeared. Previous witnesses have testified that there was a coating of dust on the car. Prosecutors want to tie that dust to the dirt and gravel road near where Beverley Watson's remains were found in march of 1999. Watson choked back tears when his attorney asked him how the death of his wife affected him and their children. "It's been very tough trying to raise two kids alone ... Beverley and I were high school sweethearts," Watson said. "She was my best friend many, many years before we got married... so it's been hard." "It has been very tough on both of them," he said, adding that their daughter, Ashley, recently graduated from high school. Defense attorneys planned to play a video tape of an interview taped by WSB-TV with Watson after his wife's disappearance. Superior Court T. Jackson Bedford ruled Friday that the tape could be played in front of the jury but without any audio because during those interviews Watson indicated he was innocent, and such statements are inadmissible in court. Jim Watson explained that he did not know his wife's friends very well because she "always kept her friends separate from our social life." Assistant District Attorney Sheila Ross asked Watson if he remembered telling a Union City police officer "that you could not afford a divorce and Beverley would take you to the cleaners?" "No, I do not recall that," Watson said. Watson's testimony had not concluded by press time Friday. In earlier testimony Thursday, a medical examiner concluded that Watson's wife was murdered. While Beverley Watson's cause of death was undetermined after her remains were examined, she was likely murdered, according to a Fulton County medical examiner testifying in the murder trial against Beverley's husband Jim Thursday afternoon. Dr. Carol Terry said that was her opinion based on the location where Beverley Watson's remains were found, 22 miles from her southeast Fayette County home in a heavily wooded area in south Fulton County in March 1999, more than two years after her disappearance. The prosecution wrapped up its case Thursday afternoon with the testimony of Dr. Terry, who said she felt it was likely Beverley Watson was killed and her body was "dumped" off Red Mill Road in south Fulton County. On cross examination, Terry admitted she could not say to a medical certainty exactly how Beverley Watson died because of how few of her remains were found. "Not all forms of death are reflected in the bones." Terry said. Terry said her opinion that Beverley Watson was murdered was not based on anything but where and how her remains were discovered and the following examination of those remains. Beverley Watson's remains were identified through dental records, and Terry said she was certain the identification was correct. Defense attorney Lee Sexton pointed out they could have used DNA testing to prove the skull found at the scene was indeed part of Beverley Watson's remains. "I am 100 percent certain this is Beverley Watson," Terry said.
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