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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (TCD) — A judge sentenced a man to life in prison after he was found guilty of killing his friend and business partner this year.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday, Dec. 13, that a jury convicted Blair Watts of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Jennifer Brown. Following the conviction, the judge handed Watts a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
NBC Philadelphia reports Watts claimed after the trial that he “didn’t kill Jennifer Brown.”
On Jan. 4, Watts reported 43-year-old Brown missing to the Limerick Township Police Department after she failed to pick up her 8-year-old son from the bus stop. Her son slept over at Watts’ house the night prior, but Brown, who was described as an “attentive and loving mother,” did not pack her son’s medicine for the night or a change of clothes.
Police went to Brown’s residence and found that her car, wallet, keys, purse, and work cellphone were still there. Her personal cellphone, however, was missing. A police K-9 trained to sniff out human remains found a scent inside Brown’s kitchen and in the dumpster outside her house.
Investigators located Brown’s body in a shallow grave on Jan. 18. The Montgomery County coroner determined Brown died from “homicide by unspecified means,” and added she had three broken ribs.
The K-9 searched two of Watts’ cars and found there had been human remains in each vehicle.
In August 2022, Watts and Brown became business partners when she said she would invest in Watts’ restaurant, Birdie’s Kitchen. The two planned on opening the restaurant in January 2023. One day before Brown went missing, Watts transferred $17,000 into the business’ bank account.
The property owners where Watts wanted to open the restaurant told police he never signed a lease and that they would not want to move forward with the deal. Watts reportedly threatened to sue them. On Jan. 4, the same day Brown went missing, Watts went to the property and said he had enough money to pay for the lease.
The prosecutor’s office charged him with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, theft by unlawful taking, and access device fraud.
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