Heather Watson (Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office)
A Missouri woman will spend more than two decades behind bars after she admitted to killing a 32-year-old disabled man, beating him with a bar of soap stuffed in a sock and waterboarding him before leaving him for dead in a shallow pond.
Circuit Court Judge Scott A. Lipke on Dec. 21 ordered Heather Watson to serve a sentence of 25 years in a state correctional facility for her role in the 2021 slaying of Josh Taylor, authorities announced.
Watson previously reached a deal with the Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in which she agreed to plead guilty to one count of second-degree murder in Taylor’s brutal death. Lipke credited her with 994 days already served, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Watson’s co-defendant in the case, Joshua Proffer, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with the possibility of parole. He and Watson had been initially charged with first-degree murder before entering into plea deals.
Joshua Proffer (Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office)
According to a news release, deputies with the Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call at about 1:15 a.m. on April 2, 2021, regarding an unresponsive male at a residence in the 300 block of Bollinger County Road.
Deputies found Taylor lying face up and partially submerged in a pond on the property, authorities said.
“Upon further observation, it was determined that Mr. Taylor was deceased and had several facial injuries which consisted of bruising of both eyes, several abrasions on the forehead, bruising of the nose, laceration to the lip, and lacerations above both eyes,” the news release said. “In addition to those injuries, red marks consistent with ligature marks were observed on Mr. Taylor’s left forearm and wrist from where it appeared as though he had been restrained at some point prior to his death.”
After making the discovery, deputies made contact with Watson and Proffer, the residents of the property. Deputies also said they spoke with a third person, who was not identified but was said to have witnessed the attack.
“According to the witness, Mr. Taylor was restrained to a chair inside of Joshua Proffer and Heather Watson’s residence,” authorities said. “After he was restrained, Heather Watson then began to assault Mr. Taylor. During the assault by Heather Watson, Mr. Taylor was repeatedly struck with a bar of soap that had been placed into a sock as well as closed fist strikes. Additionally, a towel had been placed over Mr. Taylor’s head as water was continuously poured onto the towel covering his face. During that time, it was reported that Joshua Proffer was present for the assault and was giving instructions to Heather Watson on how to carry out the assault.”
The witness added that after the gruesome assault, Proffer and Watson “presumed that Mr. Taylor was deceased” and dragged his body into the pond where it was later found.
“I hope the conclusion of this investigation brings closure to the victim’s family in their grieving process regarding the loss of their loved one,” said Sheriff Casey A. Graham in a statement.
The motive for the attack on Taylor was not clear.
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