Wednesday, June 19, 2002
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Wednesday, June 19, 2002 |
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Watson's fate in jury's hands By JOHN MUNFORD
Now it's the jury's turn. The case against Fayette locksmith Jim Watson, 39, on trial for the 1997 murder of his wife Beverley, 33, was in the hands of a Fulton County jury as of press time Tuesday. In closing arguments Tuesday morning, lead defense attorney Lee Sexton told the jurors that prosecutors showed no direct evidence proving that his client, Jim Watson, murdered his wife. Lead prosecutor Sheila Ross, however, contended that Beverley Watson herself provided additional evidence to the jury that her husband indeed had murdered her. Ross also charged that Watson's two children were covering for their father. Sexton said that the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death of Beverley Watson, whose remains were found in a wooded area in south Fulton County in March 1999. The mother of two disappeared from her southwest Fayette home on a cold January night in 1997, leaving behind her purse, baggage, car keys and car, according to testimony in the trial. Jim Watson claimed she left on foot after an argument and just never came back. Sexton also urged the jury to discount the testimony of several of Beverley Watson's close friends who testified that Beverley once told them if she ever disappeared without the children that her husband would have killed her because he threatened to do so and dump her body where it would never be found. Sexton also reminded the jury that if their "minds are wavering" they must come back with a verdict of not guilty. "You cannot make the quantum leap from suspicion to conviction unless the state can show some real evidence," Sexton said. But during her closing arguments, Ross contended that it was important for the jury to note other witnesses' accounts that Jim Watson stalked his wife by calling her repeatedly and showing up unannounced at her various places of work. "Right up until the last moment of her life, he was stalking her," Ross said. Ross argued that Watson stopped stalking his wife after he claimed she disappeared because he had already killed her and he knew where she was. "He doesn't need to stalk her anymore ... he knows she's dead." Ross also noted that in Jim Watson's testimony he admitted to grabbing his wife's arm to keep her from taking the car to leave the couple's home because of the late hour on the last night that he saw her. Ross said it was not believable that Jim Watson kept his wife from driving away but that he let her leave the home on foot. "She never left the house that night," Ross said. "The only evidence to that comes from him and he's a liar." Ross also noted that it is not reasonable to believe that Beverley walked away and never returned to the couple's two children, Ashley and Todd. Ross also pointed out that Jim Watson could not remember details of the argument between the two just before he claims she disappeared. "But he can remember that he went to go play with his dogs," Ross said. Ross pointed the jury to a Fayette County 911 record in which Beverley Watson called police for help, saying her husband had a gun and was trying to pull her out of her car. Ross also referred to Beverley filing for divorce in 1994, claiming her husband abused her. Ross also referred to the testimony of 75-year-old Cecile Winton whom Ross claimed was an impartial witness. Winton had previously testified that she witnessed Jim Watson stalking his wife at the home of her next-door neighbor Alyce Callaway, who was also Beverley's mother. "She saw it for her own eyes ... one time that he pulled her out and choked her. And who did Cecile Winton say was right there? The children. The children are covering for him," Ross said of the defendant.
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