A Fulton County

Superior Court Judge overseeing the murder trial against Jim Watson denied

a motion to declare a mistrial in the case Tuesday afternoon.

Judge T. Jackson

Bedford Jr. said there was "no evidence" to support claims from

the defense that a written statement from a particular witness was not

provided to them before the trial.

The witness,

Greg Bierbrodt who used to live in the Watsons' south Fayette subdivision

testified that as he drove by the Watson home several hours after Beverley

Watson reportedly disappeared, he saw Jim Watson outside the home carrying

"something he had underneath his right arm."

Jim Watson

saw him drive by and he "appeared a little startled to have seen

somebody drive by," Bierbrodt said.

Bierbrodt's

statement is important to the prosecution since in a three-hour interview

with the GBI, Watson never mentioned carrying anything outside his home

after his wife disappeared.

Instead, Watson

told the GBI he watched TV and later went to bed after playing with the

dogs.

Bierbrodt said

knew the approximate time he drove by that morning around 3:20 a.m. because

he wanted to make sure he was home before his wife's alarm went off at

3:33 a.m. so she could get up and go to work.

Bierbrodt also

said he knew the person he saw early that morning was Jim Watson since

outdoor lights near the garage were on, giving him a clear view of Watson's

face.

Watson attorney

Lee Sexton asked for the mistrial since Bierbrodt also said he gave a

written statement to the Fayette County Sheriff's Department about what

he saw that night. A copy of that statement hasn't been provided to defense

attorneys, Sexton argued.

But such a

statement from Bierbrodt apparently doesn't exist, countered Fulton County

Assistant District Attorney Sheila Ross. Ross said before the trial she

looked through the entire case file at the Fayette County Sheriff's Department

and didn't find it.

The local sheriff's

department investigated the case as a missing person's case although a

top detective admitted to suspecting Jim Watson of foul play in Beverley

Watson's disappearance just hours after he reported she walked off from

the couple's home in January 1997.

The Fulton

County Police Department opened a murder investigation in the case after

Beverley Watson's remains were found in a wooded area off a gravel road

in south Fulton County in 1999.

Watson told

the GBI that he assumed his wife had arranged for a friend to pick her

up. He noted that he had heard the front door chime just before she left

the couple's home; the chime always rang anytime the front door was opened,

he said.

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