MUNFORD

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He's charged

with killing his wife and the mother of his two children, but his daughter

is still convinced of Jim Watson's innocence, according to testimony during

a pretrial evidentiary hearing before a judge Thursday afternoon in Atlanta.

Ashley Watson,

now 18, testified that she never saw her parents have physical fights

before her mother, Beverley Watson, was reported missing from the family's

east Fayette County home in January of 1997.

Her father,

Jim Watson, is facing a murder trial in Fulton County next week because

that's where Beverley Watson's remains were found over two years after

her disappearance.

Ashley Watson's

testimony, depicting a peaceful existence between her mom and dad, contrasted

sharply with previous testimony from two of Beverley Watson's closest

friends since childhood: Debbie White and Christa Hinkle.

White and Hinkle

testified that Beverley Watson told them of several specific instances

of physical abuse, including one instance in which Mrs. Watson had awakened

in the middle of the night to see her husband pointing a gun at her.

Once, Mrs.

Watson said her husband's gun went off as a shot struck the couple's wall

near where she stood; at the time he told her he had been cleaning his

gun and it must have discharged accidentally, White said.

Mrs. Watson

also told White that her husband would "make jokes" about the

incident and tell her, "See how quickly you could be gone."

"I tried

to tell her he was all talk," Christa Hinkle said, beginning to sob.

"I guess I was wrong."

White and Hinkle

also testified about Mrs. Watson telling them that she broke her arm after

Jim Watson pushed her down the stairs. Ashley Watson disputed that version,

saying that she saw her mother slip and fall on her brother's pillow that

had been left in the hallway outside Ashley Watson's bedroom.

In his questioning

of witnesses, Watson's attorney Lee Sexton pointed out that Mrs. Watson

wanted a divorce and that such stories could buttress her divorce case,

a contention both White and Hinkle denied.

Both women

admitted to disliking Watson to different degrees. Sexton also asked White

and Hinkle if they ever called 911 to report the alleged domestic abuse.

Both women indicated they were afraid it would anger Jim Watson and that

he would take it out on his wife.

"I just

knew it would've been worse after the fact," Hinkle said. White added

that Beverley Watson told her that her husband scared her from calling

police by saying that he was friends with police officers from many agencies

and that he would just tell them she was crazy.

Jim Watson

once worked part-time as a narcotics officer with the Riverdale Police

Department and later with the Manchester Police Department.

Ashley Watson

also recalled during her testimony that when she was told her parents

were separating that it was because "they felt they would help the

marriage to spend some time apart." White and Hinkle testified that

Beverley Watson had secured an apartment in Fayetteville and planned to

leave the couple's home with both children. Though she originally kept

it secret from Jim Watson, Beverley eventually told him, White and Hinkle

said.

The testimony

came during a hearing before a judge designed to determine if the information

will be admissable in court. As of press time Friday, a final ruling on

all the motions in the case had not been handed down.

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