A jury was unable to reach a verdict in the murder trial of a former Tucson Fire Department captain in the deaths of his ex-wife, her mother, and her mother’s friend.
The hung jury in David Watson’s trial was announced Tuesday afternoon, the third day of deliberations. After the announcement, Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields dismissed the jurors — eight women and four men — from further deliberations.
Watson, 47, was charged in April 2015 with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder. The seven-week trial in Pima County Superior Court ended Nov. 17.
A status conference to determine whether Watson will be retried by the Pima County Attorney’s Office will be held Dec. 2. The judge issued a gag order on the lawyers involved in the case and the victims’ family members.
Several members of the jury cried as they entered the elevator at the courthouse after seven weeks of trial and deliberations that began Friday morning.
The charges stemmed from the disappearance of his ex-wife Linda Watson, 35, in 2000 and the shooting deaths of Linda Watson’s mother Marilyn Cox, 63, and Cox’s neighbor Renee Farnsworth, 53, in 2003.
Watson worked at the Tucson Fire Department from 1995 to 2015 and was promoted to captain in 2007.
County prosecutor Jonathan Mosher alleged Watson killed his wife to end a “nasty” custody battle over their then 4-year-old daughter.
Three years later, he “assassinated” his wife’s mother after she publicly blamed him for her daughter’s disappearance, Mosher said. Farnsworth was caught in the crossfire and was “so much collateral damage,” Mosher said.
Watson’s defense team, Natasha Wrae and Michael Storie, said prosecutors failed to tie their client to the crimes and cast doubt on the investigative techniques used to incriminate Watson. They also pointed to other people who police should have investigated more intensely, such as the former boyfriend of one of the victims.
They also said Linda Watson may have died due to accidental drowning or killed by people in her neighborhood.
Hunters found Linda Watson’s skull in a desert area in 2003. Eight years later, the remains were identified as hers through DNA testing.
The delay in identifying her remains was due to authorities believing the skull may have belonged to a border crosser who died in the desert west of Tucson and whose remains were sent to the county medical examiner for identification, Mosher said.
David Watson’s then-wife provided his alibi for the 2000 and 2003 incidents, but recanted her account shortly after their 2007 divorce.
The defense cast her as a jilted lover upset that her husband had an affair and asked her for a divorce.
Mosher said she came forward because of the weight of carrying her husband’s secrets for so many years.
