Wednesday, June 26, 2002
|
Wednesday, June 26, 2002 |
|
Observations from front-row seat at Watson trial
By JOHN MUNFORD When Jim Watson took the witness stand to plead his innocence to the jury, it was the most dramatic moment in the entire trial. Here's a guy, accused of murdering his wife, pleading his innocence to the jury. He even shed some tears as he recalled missing his wife and how her death has affected him and the couple's two children. Except in my mind, Jim Watson's testimony wasn't terribly effective in proving his innocence. Particularly because he couldn't remember the specific details of his last encounter with Beverley. Watson recalled grabbing Beverley's arm that fateful night as she headed toward the garage to drive away. He claimed he didn't want her leaving the house that late, and at some point during the scuffle, she scratched him. Remember, that scuffle was the last time he saw her before she disappeared from the couple's southeast Fayette home over five years ago. If my wife disappeared "out of the blue" without warning, I'd be replaying our last moments together for the rest of my life. I'd have nightmares about them. I have a feeling Jim Watson has nightmares about his last encounter with Beverley, too. Back to the scratches. When police searched the Watsons' southeast Fayette home, TV cameras appeared on the scene. As Watson spoke to a TV reporter, Fayette detectives noticed a "caked" material on his face. Watson was later asked to take off the makeup, revealing the scratches. Why did he "cover up" the scratches? He claims he didn't want the employees or customers of his locksmith company to know his personal business. Or as the prosecutor in the case alleged, Beverley Watson used those scratches to mark her killer. In her closing argument, Sheila Ross alleged that Jim Watson strangled his wife which would leave no physical evidence and during that struggle, Beverley managed to scratch her husband's face. The prosecution's case featured several of Beverley's co-workers testify about how her husband would "stalk" her by calling at least once a day. Her close friends testified of several occasions when he would constantly call her cell phone, asking where she was, who she was with and when she was coming home. At first, those details didn't seem like evidence proving Jim Watson murdered his wife. But later Ross would point out that he stopped stalking her almost immediately after his wife's disappearance. And why did he stop then? "Because he knew she was already dead," Ross said. And if you hadn't added all that up to murder yet, let's revisit the testimony of the Fulton County medical examiner who studied the remains of Beverley Watson that were found in that remote wooded field, 22 miles from the couple's home. Dr. Carol Terry said Beverley Watson's cause of death could not be determined since only 12 of her bones were found at the site. But because the site was such a remote area so far away from where she was last seen, Terry said she felt Beverley Watson was murdered. Add to all this the testimony of Beverley Watson's friends, two of whom witnessed her husband pointing a gun or shotgun at her during a New Year's Eve party at the couple's home in the late '80s, and you've got even more damning evidence. Several of Beverley Watson's close friends also testified that she told them her husband threatened to kill her and dispose of her body where no one would find it. Defense attorneys would argue these folks have a grudge against Jim Watson. They couldn't use the same argument against the next-door neighbor of Beverley's mother, who testified that she once saw Jim Watson choke his wife after pulling her out of her mother's Riverdale home. Greg Bierbrodt, one of the Watsons' neighbors, didn't have an ax to grind with Jim Watson either. So when he testified to seeing Jim Watson outside carrying something under his arm around 3:25 a.m. the night of Beverley Watson's disappearance, it was pretty convincing. Especially considering that Bierbrodt knew the exact time since he was trying to get home before his wife's alarm clock went off at 3:33 a.m. In a taped interview with the GBI, Watson said he stayed inside the house after his wife stormed outside following their argument. Jim Watson remembered watching TV before going to bed that night, but he never said anything about going outside. Watson said he didn't become concerned about his wife's disappearance until two days later when she didn't report for work at WhiteWater Country Club, where she was a comptroller. Beyond the scratches on Jim Watson's face, the majority of the evidence against him was circumstantial. But Georgia law allows jurors to convict defendants on circumstantial evidence as long as there is no other reasonable explanation for the crime. Needless to say, there weren't many other solid theories as to how Beverley Watson ended up off Red Mill Road in south Fulton County where her remains were found. To get to that area, one had to weave through prickly vines and other vegetation, according to several witnesses. Without a doubt, foul play was involved. The jury's verdict showed that they thought Jim Watson masterminded the murder of his wife ... and almost got away with it. Ross alleged that Watson needed to kill his wife before she moved into a Fayetteville apartment with the couple's two children. Why? Because there would be more potential witnesses to the killing at the apartment complex than there would be at the couple's home, Ross said. In the end, Ross was able to pull off a miracle. Without a murder weapon, without knowing how Beverley Watson died, she was able to convince a Fulton County jury that Jim Watson killed her. I have to admit, if I was on that jury, I'd have been just as convinced. But then again, if he was guilty, why in the world did he stay around here particularly after her body was found in 1999? Maybe he just didn't figure he'd ever be tried, much less convicted, of Beverley's murder.
|
||