Wednesday, January 1, 2003
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Wednesday, January 1, 2003 |
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Watson murder conviction tops local legal news By JOHN
MUNFORD
The conviction of Jim Watson for his wife's murder was undoubtedly Fayette's top crime story in 2002. Watson was arrested in January for the murder of his wife, Beverley. Since his wife's remains were found in Fulton County, Watson was tried there and a Fulton jury took just over five hours to deliberate two weeks' worth of testimony. Watson was sentenced to life in prison immediately after the jury's verdict was announced. The verdict stunned his supporters but cheered Beverley Watson's friends and family, who had long sought a resolution to her death. When Jim Watson testified in the case, he vehemently denied that he killed Beverley, who was 33 when she disappeared from the couple's south Fayette home. The only significant physical evidence in the case were the scratches on Jim Watson's face which he had covered up with makeup before police came to his home the day he reported her missing. Watson said the marks came from Beverley throwing her keys at him the night she disappeared, but he covered them up so his co-workers and clients of his locksmith business wouldn't see them. There was a large amount of circumstantial evidence as friends of Beverley Watson testified that they saw Jim Watson point a gun at his wife on two separate occasions at the couple's south Fayette home. Beverley Watson's friends also testified that Beverley told them if she ever turned up missing that they should suspect her husband had killed her. And a former neighbor of Beverley Watson's mother testified that she once saw him pull her out of her mother's house while choking her. Ashley Watson, the couple's daughter, took the stand to defend her father, saying she never witnessed any physical violence between her parents. Jim Watson's attorneys plan to appeal the verdict. Other Fayette crime stories of note in 2002 included: Two separate high speed police chases in Fayette claimed the lives of innocent motorists this year when their vehicles were struck by fleeing suspects. Jason A. Trotman of Union City was killed March 31 when his vehicle was struck in Fayetteville by a car containing two armed robbery suspects who had held up the Ingles grocery store moments before, according to police. The two suspects, brothers Marvin and Melvin Mitchell, are charged with murder, armed robbery and other related crimes. They were both denied bond and are awaiting trial. The Mitchells were being pursued on north Jeff Davis Drive by a Fayetteville officer who saw their vehicle leave the vicinity of the grocery store; Fayette sheriff's deputies also joined the pursuit. A witness in the parking lot reported the crime in progress to the Fayette County 911 center, which helped police respond quickly. Peachtree City resident Chuck Vicha was killed July 27 when his minivan was struck by a Jonesboro woman fleeing Luthersville police officers. Lorraine McCrary, 37, pled guilty in December to vehicular homicide in the first degree and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge against her. McCrary must serve 90 percent of that sentence according to state guidelines. Although Luthersville police were tight-lipped about how the chase originated, documents show McCrary was pursued after an officer stopped her to investigate a claim that her vehicle ran over a stop sign. The chase reached speeds of over 100 mph but Peachtree City police declined to join the pursuit; instead, they blocked off intersections on Ga. Highway 54 as the chase sped through the city to protect the public. The incident led Peachtree City Police Chief James Murray to call on Governor Roy Barnes to enact restrictions on police pursuits, but the governor declined. The matter is being studied by members of the Georgia legislature, specifically Fayette Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, who convened a special hearing this year to learn more about the issue. In September, the Fayette County Sheriff's Department announced it had purchased a helicopter to assist it with potentially deadly high-speed pursuits. The department took heat from county officials for the purchase of the helicopter, which is also being used for routine patrols of the county. County officials originally protested the purchase but the new program was allowed to remain in place. Recently, officials announced the helicopter will have a new home base at Falcon Field in Peachtree City; previously it was located at free hangar space in Coweta County. A Peachtree City volunteer firefighter who volunteered with the Fire Department's Explorer program was arrested in June on multiple counts of child molestation. Edward Wayne Ferguson, 38, is charged with nine counts of child molestation, 12 counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, five counts of sexually exploiting a child, three counts of criminal attempt to commit child molestation and one count of sexual battery. The victims were members of the Explorer program, and sheriff's detectives found a video tape depicting Ferguson having sex with some of the victims, officials said. Ferguson is being held without bond and his trial is slated to begin in January. A Whitewater Middle School social studies teacher was arrested in June on charges that he molested one of his female students at a remote area off Bernhard Road. Charles Gregory Farmer, 42, was charged with child molestation, sexual assault and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Authorities were alerted to the allegations by a second party who knew the victim, police said. The case against Farmer is still pending. A Sandy Creek High School teacher was arrested in November after authorities caught him performing a sex act in his classroom that was being broadcast via an Internet chat room during his break period. Damian T. Belvedere, 44, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of distributing obscene materials and one count of public indecency. No students witnessed the incident. Two adult females who Belvedere "met" with on the chat room noticed that it appeared the activity was occurring in a classroom and alerted Coweta authorities originally because he had once tried to meet them at a location in Coweta County, police said. Police said evidence from the school-owned computer indicated that Belvedere would visit the adult chat room "on a daily basis." The case against Belvedere is still pending. A former Starr's Mill High School teacher pled guilty in February to having sex with one of her students, who was 17 at the time. Laura Voyles, 38, pled guilty to having sex with a person in custody and was sentenced to three years probation. She avoided jail time because the victim and his family argued vehemently that she should not be sent to prison, officials said. A local physician was charged in June with improperly touching several of his patients at his Fayetteville office. Dr. Orlando Luis Cano, 64, of Riverdale, has been charged with four counts of sexual battery and one count of simple battery. One of the warrants charges that he kissed" one of the victim's hands "in an insulting manner" after an exam. Other charges were more graphic in detail. The alleged incidents dated back to June of 2001. Peachtree City police arrested three illegal aliens in June on a raid at a massage parlor that was used for prostitution, police said. One of the suspects, Phouth Van, 35, of Riverdale was charged with keeping a place of prostitution, carrying a concealed weapon and giving false information to a police officer. Two others were also charged: Rujee Kongngoen, 31, of Riverdale for unlawful practice of massage and Onanong Manivong, 28, of Riverdale for masturbation for hire. A Fayette man was arrested for assaulting his then-pregnant girlfriend, who later miscarried as a result of that altercation, according to police. Michael Antonio Glass, 35, is charged with aggravated assault and three counts of cruelty to children in the second degree because the assault took place in front of the couple's three children, police said. Authorities also sought to charge Glass with two counts of feticide, but a Fayette County grand jury declined to indict him on those counts in September, while upholding the other charges against Glass. Three Colombian illegal aliens were arrested by Peachtree City police in October after they allegedly stole $100,000 in jewelry from a courier's vehicle at the Braelinn Village shopping center. Juan Fernando Sellhorn-Vergara , 26 Marcelo Bonilla Salazar, 32 and Jhon Blanquis, 22, are each charged with one felony count of entering an automobile. Blanquis is also charged with driving without a license. After the incident was reported, a manhunt was conducted in the city for a vehicle that left the scene. Citizen tips of suspicious activity in the Hippocket Road area helped led police to arrest the suspects.
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