Almost five

years to the day after his wife's disappearance and eventual death, Jim

Watson has been indicted for the murder of Beverley Watson.

Watson, long

suspected in the murder/disappearance of his wife, Beverley, back on Jan.

18, 1997, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at his home. Just minutes before,

a Fulton County Grand Jury indicted him on one count of malice murder

relating to Beverley Watson's death.

Mrs. Watson's

remains were found in March 1999 by a surveyor working in a rural area

of south Fulton County near Fairburn.

Watson was

apprehended by members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's metro

fugitive squad, said Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's

Department. Watson's home was staked out Tuesday while officials awaited

word on whether the Fulton County Grand Jury would indict him.

According to

the indictment, James Lamar Watson, 38, did "cause the death of Beverley

Watson ... by a method which is unknown to the grand jurors at this time."

Four witnesses

were scheduled to testify to the grand jury, including Jordan.

Mrs. Watson,

whose body was found over two years after her disappearance in a wooded

area in south Fulton County, was originally reported as a missing person.

Jim Watson claimed she walked away from their residence at 295 Stoneridge

Way in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 1997, without even a coat,

leaving behind family vehicles, a purse, her car keys and two children.

Jim Watson

had told police his wife left after they argued over their pending separation.

The case has

taken a number of twists and turns before Watson's arrest. In July 1999,

Jim Watson took custody of his wife's remains and had them cremated before

officials in Fayette County were notified. Investigators wanted to keep

the remains as possible evidence.

The Fulton

County Medical Examiner's Office, which examined the remains, eventually

concluded that the cause of her death was undetermined.

The case has

also resulted in several federal lawsuits, as Jim Watson sued the Sheriff's

Department over a traffic stop months after his wife's disappearance that

was ordered by Maj. Bruce Jordan, the lead investigator for the department.

Jordan countersued for slander libel, but both suits were dismissed by

a federal judge.

The traffic

stop was for having illegally tinted windows, and deputies discovered

a gun in the vehicle, which was later returned to Watson.

The department

also was sued in another case relating to the traffic stop as a former

lieutenant at the Sheriff's Department claimed he was wrongfully fired

for speaking to Watson's attorney about the traffic stop after department

officials told him not to.

Watson was

first publicly identified as the prime suspect in a hearing on that case

in May of 2000 by Jordan and several other deputies.

After learning

Mrs. Watson's remains were found, a local attorney turned over documents

to authorities that he claimed she had told him to give to police were

she to be found dead. The attorney, Jim Bischoff, represented Mrs. Watson

in a divorce proceeding she brought, then reconsidered, several years

prior to her disappearance.

Mrs. Watson's

father, Fred Callaway, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her former

husband, which was ultimately settled in August 2000. Callaway lodged

the suit on behalf of the Watsons' two children, but the details of the

settlement were not released.

An order relating

to the settlement revealed that a trust will be created for both children

and the trust will hold proceeds of the settlement agreement.