As detectives searched his

home collecting possible evidence of foul play after he reported his wife

missing, Jim Watson was cooperative, according to two officials from the

Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

Lt. Tommy Pope, who spoke to

Watson when he called to inquire about filing a missing persons report

on his wife Beverley, noted he sounded calm on the phone.

Calm was the same word Maj.

Bruce Jordan, the department's director of investigations, used to describe

Watson's demeanor while he was interviewed at the couple's south Fayette

home two days after Beverley Watson disappeared.

But when Jim Watson was confronted

with discrepancies from his accounts of the previous two days, "he

turned and walked away" from Jordan, the top detective testified

Monday.

Moments before, Jordan testified

that he asked Jim Watson about why he didn't look for his wife immediately

after her disappearance.

"He said, 'I don't do

that,'" Jordan said. "I reminded him that he did it as recently

as Friday night and he turned and walked away from me."

Jordan was referring to two

nights before Beverley Watson disappeared when the couple had an argument

and Beverley left to go to a friend's house. That friend, Debbie White,

previously testified that after Beverley left Jim had called looking for

her.

When Jim Watson walked away

from that exchange with Jordan, the detective said that's when he first

began to suspect him in his wife's murder. Jordan added that he shared

that suspicion with Watson the next night.

Jordan also used information

from White to question Jim Watson while the couple's home was searched,

he testified. White told him of an incident where Watson allegedly put

a shotgun to her head, Jordan said.

"His response was that

Debbie White said that ... and she doesn't like me," Jordan said.

"I hadn't told him about Debbie White (sharing that information)."

Jordan said Jim Watson also

told him that after the couple's argument "the doorbell rang"

and sometime later he discovered that his wife had left the home. Watson

also told Jordan that it wasn't unusual for his wife to leave the house

after an argument, wait on the front porch for 10 to 15 minutes and then

come back inside, the detective said.

Watson's lead defense attorney,

Lee Sexton, asked Jordan why the interview wasn't taped, particularly

after Watson was "mirandized" (advised of his legal rights).

Jordan replied that he didn't have a tape recorder on him because he had

been called to the scene while out with his family, who dropped him off

at the Sheriff's Department so he could catch a ride with a detective

to the scene.

In court Monday, another set

of conflicting stories from Watson was revealed. Jordan testified that

he asked Jim Watson if his wife was having a relationship with someone

else and Watson told him, "No, she's not like that."

But in a taped interview with

a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent at his attorney's office a month

after Beverley's disappearance, Jim Watson alleged she had several affairs

during the course of her marriage. Watson also told Jordan that the evening

his wife disappeared, he arranged for the couple's children to be away

from the home "so he could talk to her alone," the detective

testified.

Jordan also explained how detectives

noticed Watson had covered up scratches on his face with makeup the day

they searched the Watson's home. As he was lit with an auxiliary light

for a television interview, it showed something "caked" on his

face.

The jury was shown photos of

Watson's face before and after the makeup was removed. The scratches were

clearly more visible after the makeup was taken off.

Lt. Keith McQuilken, who oversaw

the collection of evidence at the scene, testified that although he didn't

question Watson about the scratches, Watson told him that Beverley threw

the keys at him during their argument hours before her disappearance.

Apparently, sheriff's detectives

were aggressive in following Watson after his wife's disappearance. Jordan

said the department once put two radio transmitters on one of Watson's

vehicles to track his whereabouts.

The department also had a video

camera aimed at Watson's residence from a house across the street that

taped 24 hours a day, Jordan said. But attempts by detectives to shadow

Watson in unmarked cars were unsuccessful, Jordan noted.

"You couldn't really follow

him without him knowing it," Jordan said. "He played games with

us."

Jordan said he only met Jim

Watson once before Beverley Watson's disappearance, when Watson spoke

to him at the post office. Watson said he was seeking his police officer's

certification and asked to ride along with deputies, Jordan added.

But on another occasion before

Beverley Watson's disappearance, Jordan received a complaint about Watson

from the Sheriff's Department's narcotics agents.

"They said he said he

was working undercover dope on Church Street (in Fayetteville)" for

the Tri-Cities Narcotics squad, Jordan recalled. At the time, Watson was

wearing a jacket that said "Police" on it but apparently didn't

name a specific agency, Jordan said.

"I called Tri-Cities Narcotics"

to check out the story, Jordan said. "They laughed and told me he's

not an agent he's a snitch."

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