Before she

died Beverley Watson reportedly once told a close friend that if she ever

disappeared without her children it was because her husband would have

killed her, it was revealed in court Thursday morning.

The husband,

Jim Watson, is charged with murdering his wife who he claimed disappeared

from their Fayette County home after an argument in January 1997.

The trial is

slated to begin Monday in Fulton County because Beverley Watson's remains

were found in a rural area near Fairburn in the Summer of 1999.

The allegations

of Beverley Watson's friend and coworker, Ellen Lord, were at the heart

of the first clash between prosecutors and defense attorneys during pretrial

motions in court Thursday morning.

Defense attorneys

argued that because Lord had been interviewed by detectives while hypnotized,

any of her testimony must be limited to her statements that were taken

before she was hypnotized.

Former Fayette

County sheriff's department Det. Sgt. Sam White testified that Lord was

hypnotized in an effort to draw out any detailed information Beverley

Watson may have told Lord about a location where her husband may have

disposed of her remains. White said the effort yielded no new information.

The hypnotic

interview session occurred in the fall of 1997 several months after Beverley

Watson's disappearance. At the time, detectives were running out of places

to search for Mrs. Watson, White said.

Complicating

matters is that the tape of the hypnotic interview has turned up missing

from the Fayette County sheriff department. Detective White, who is now

a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service, said he turned that tape

over to another detective at the sheriff's department.

It was also

revealed in court that Lord told police that Beverley Watson told her

that Jim Watson said he knew how to hide her body without it ever being

found because of his law enforcement background.

Watson once

worked part time with the Riverdale police department as a narcotics officer.

He has also worked for the Manchester police department

More evidentiary

hearings were scheduled Thursday afternoon after the Citizen's press time.

The Citizen will periodically update its web site with new information

as it becomes available.

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