The results of new tests gave

Fulton County prosecutors the momentum to present a grand jury with evidence

Tuesday that Jim Watson killed his wife, Beverley, according to officials.

But the indictment handed down

Beverley Watson died.

According to the indictment,

Jim Watson is accused of murdering his wife "by a method which is

unknown to the grand jury at this time."

A bond hearing before Fulton

Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford has been scheduled for Monday,

Jan. 28.

Watson's attorney, Lee Sexton,

said a medical examiner told him there was no way to tell whether Beverley

Watson died of foul play or natural causes. Sexton also contested whether

there was any "new" evidence.

Watson maintains his innocence

in the case, Sexton said.

The case is in Fulton County's

jurisdiction because Beverley Watson's remains were discovered in a wooded

area in rural south Fulton County near Fairburn in early 1999, over two

years after her disappearance.

The remains were tested at

the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, but after the tests they

were released to Jim Watson because no hold had been placed on the "evidence."

Watson had his wife's remains

cremated before authorities found out about the glitch in the investigation.

The nature of the tests and

their results was not released by the Fulton County District Attorney's

Office. But a spokesman confirmed that the case was bolstered recently

"I know going forward

was the result of new evidence from additional tests that have been done,"

said spokesman Erik Friedly. "There has been a lot of work on this

case in the last several months which allowed us to go forward. We definitely

have more now than in the past."

Watson originally told police

his wife left the house Jan. 18, 1997 after they argued over their impending

separation.

Watson's case has been assigned

to Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Friedly said.

If there is any new evidence in the case, it will be shared with Sexton

when the district attorney's office files its discovery once Watson is

arraigned.

The couple's son and daughter,

who have been living with Jim Watson, have stayed with his relatives since

his arrest, Sexton confirmed.

Watson, a former part-time

narcotics officer for the Riverdale Police Department, was arrested by

the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's metro fugitive squad, which had

staked out the house Tuesday awaiting word on the grand jury decision.

Sexton complained that detectives

tried to question Watson while arresting him although they already knew

he was represented by an attorney.

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