They are a family that refuses to give up.

Believing convicted killer Jim Watson to be innocent of murdering his 33-year-old wife Beverley in 1997, his parents and children continue to speak up and speak out. Evidence of their tenacity was visible at a rally Oct. 15 at McCurry Park near Fayetteville, as nearly three dozen people poured through the large volume of documentation on hand and heard comments from family and friends who contend that Watson was placed behind bars based on circumstantial evidence and altered testimony by witnesses.

In a highly publicized trial, Watson was convicted of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a wooded area of South Fulton County. Beverley Watson disappeared in January 1997. Her body was found in a wooded area of South Fulton in 1999. Watson was convicted in 2002 of murdering his wife and dumping her body and is currently serving a life sentence in Reidsville State Prison.

Speaking at the Oct. 15 rally amid posters and notebooks full of information on the case, Watson’s father, Jim, said he son is innocent of the charges that sent him to jail. The family believes that the evidence used to convict him was circumstantial at best and that testimony at the trial had significant contradictions.

“We still believe Jim is innocent of all the charges against him and so we’re out here today to try to show people some of the injustices that have been done,” said the soft-spoken elder Watson. “There were contradictions at the trial. That’s what these posters and the books we have will show. There were contradictions from the time (witnesses) were first questioned until the time they went to court and changed their stories. They changed them quite often and we’ve got proof that they did that, we’ve got court records showing that they did.”

Fifteen year-old Todd Watson was only seven years old when those life-altering events entered his life. Now no longer a small child, Todd articulated his thoughts to the assembled group with the confidence of someone that has spent time researching the circumstances surrounding the death of his mother and the conviction of his father. Todd said the discrepancies in the case, the testimony of witnesses and the circumstantial evidence that convicted his father do not bode well for a teenager that has grown up being told by society that he should trust the justice system.

“It’s disturbing. The court systems are just pushing for convictions,” he said. “Sometimes it seems like they don’t want to know the truth, they just want somebody to be held accountable for (a crime). You’re taught to trust the justice system, but you can’t always trust it. It’s contradictory.”

Jim Watson’s daughter, 21-year-old Ashley, said the rally was being held to prompt Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford, who presided at her father’s trial, to take further action. Ashley still contends that if the evidence had pointed conclusively toward her father’s guilt she would not be pursuing the case, she told the three dozen at the rally. For Ashley, the entire affair is a house of cards built on lies in need of a small puff of wind.

“We’re here today because we’ve taken the documents proving that the witnesses have lied to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard and he has refused to do anything about it,” she said emphatically. “So we’re here today to ask Judge Jackson Bedford to take a stand and look at our allegations and look at our proof and indict these witnesses.”

Watson’s mother, Gail, also believes Judge Bedford should examine the documentation the family has amassed and take a fresh look at the testimony of witnesses. Her unassuming demeanor and the clarity of her belief was unmistakable as she spoke.

“If he will look at the information we’ve compiled there is no way he can’t say these people didn’t lie. It definitely shows where they changed their Fayette County statements to their Fulton County statements and then when they testified they changed their statements again,” she said. “One of these could be true but not all of three of these can be true. So if Judge Bedford were to look at this (documentation) he would see that there were lies told.”

Speaking as a mother who has seen the murder of her daughter-in-law, the murder conviction of her son and the loss suffered by her grandchildren, Gail Watson had a message for anyone struggling for what they believe in, struggling against the odds. Her message was central to the rally held Saturday for her son. Her message was a reflection of what she carries inside, regardless the opinion of others about the guilt or innocence of her son.

“I would tell them not to give up. We know Jim is innocent and we’re not giving up. We’re going to push and try to get answers just as long as we possibly can. And if anyone has information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please contact us. It might be the one last piece of the puzzle we need,” she said seriously. “For other people, what if it was their son, their Daddy, their husband? Would they just give up or would they say they’d done all they could do? Think of what they would want if they were in our place and someone had heard something. They would want to be told.”

Gail Watson asked that anyone with information contact the family at www.jimwatsonframed.com

Many people in Fayette County and beyond kept up with Beverley Watson's disappearance, the murder trial and conviction of Jim Watson, the events that led to it and the appeals that followed. But for the Watson family it was different. They lived it. The Watson family said they are undaunted by the detractors of their cause. For their family, said Jim Watson, Sr., their mission is personal and it is important.

“We’ll be fighting this to the very end to prove that he is innocent,” he said.

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