The conviction of Jim Watson

for his wife's murder was undoubtedly Fayette's top crime story in 2002.

Watson was arrested in January

for the murder of his wife, Beverley. Since his wife's remains were found

in Fulton County, Watson was tried there and a Fulton jury took just over

five hours to deliberate two weeks' worth of testimony.

Watson was sentenced to life

in prison immediately after the jury's verdict was announced. The verdict

stunned his supporters but cheered Beverley Watson's friends and family,

who had long sought a resolution to her death.

When Jim Watson testified in

the case, he vehemently denied that he killed Beverley, who was 33 when

she disappeared from the couple's south Fayette home.

The only significant physical

evidence in the case were the scratches on Jim Watson's face which he

had covered up with makeup before police came to his home the day he reported

her missing. Watson said the marks came from Beverley throwing her keys

at him the night she disappeared, but he covered them up so his co-workers

and clients of his locksmith business wouldn't see them.

There was a large amount of

circumstantial evidence as friends of Beverley Watson testified that they

saw Jim Watson point a gun at his wife on two separate occasions at the

couple's south Fayette home.

Beverley Watson's friends also

testified that Beverley told them if she ever turned up missing that they

should suspect her husband had killed her. And a former neighbor of Beverley

Watson's mother testified that she once saw him pull her out of her mother's

house while choking her.

Ashley Watson, the couple's

daughter, took the stand to defend her father, saying she never witnessed

any physical violence between her parents.

Jim Watson's attorneys plan

to appeal the verdict.

Other Fayette crime stories

of note in 2002 included:

Two separate high speed police

chases in Fayette claimed the lives of innocent motorists this year when

their vehicles were struck by fleeing suspects.

Jason A. Trotman of Union City

was killed March 31 when his vehicle was struck in Fayetteville by a car

containing two armed robbery suspects who had held up the Ingles grocery

store moments before, according to police. The two suspects, brothers

Marvin and Melvin Mitchell, are charged with murder, armed robbery and

other related crimes. They were both denied bond and are awaiting trial.

The Mitchells were being pursued

on north Jeff Davis Drive by a Fayetteville officer who saw their vehicle

leave the vicinity of the grocery store; Fayette sheriff's deputies also

joined the pursuit.

A witness in the parking lot

reported the crime in progress to the Fayette County 911 center, which

helped police respond quickly.

Peachtree City resident Chuck

Vicha was killed July 27 when his minivan was struck by a Jonesboro woman

fleeing Luthersville police officers. Lorraine McCrary, 37, pled guilty

in December to vehicular homicide in the first degree and was sentenced

to 15 years in prison after prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge

against her. McCrary must serve 90 percent of that sentence according

to state guidelines.

Although Luthersville police

were tight-lipped about how the chase originated, documents show McCrary

was pursued after an officer stopped her to investigate a claim that her

vehicle ran over a stop sign. The chase reached speeds of over 100 mph

but Peachtree City police declined to join the pursuit; instead, they

blocked off intersections on Ga. Highway 54 as the chase sped through

the city to protect the public.

The incident led Peachtree

City Police Chief James Murray to call on Governor Roy Barnes to enact

restrictions on police pursuits, but the governor declined. The matter

is being studied by members of the Georgia legislature, specifically Fayette

Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, who convened a special hearing this year to learn

more about the issue.

In September, the Fayette

County Sheriff's Department announced it had purchased a helicopter to

assist it with potentially deadly high-speed pursuits. The department

took heat from county officials for the purchase of the helicopter, which

is also being used for routine patrols of the county.

County officials originally

protested the purchase but the new program was allowed to remain in place.

Recently, officials announced the helicopter will have a new home base

at Falcon Field in Peachtree City; previously it was located at free hangar

space in Coweta County.

A Peachtree City volunteer

firefighter who volunteered with the Fire Department's Explorer program

was arrested in June on multiple counts of child molestation.

Edward Wayne Ferguson, 38,

is charged with nine counts of child molestation, 12 counts of enticing

a child for indecent purposes, five counts of sexually exploiting a child,

three counts of criminal attempt to commit child molestation and one count

of sexual battery. The victims were members of the Explorer program, and

sheriff's detectives found a video tape depicting Ferguson having sex

with some of the victims, officials said.

Ferguson is being held without

bond and his trial is slated to begin in January.

A Whitewater Middle School

social studies teacher was arrested in June on charges that he molested

one of his female students at a remote area off Bernhard Road.

Charles Gregory Farmer, 42,

was charged with child molestation, sexual assault and enticing a child

for indecent purposes. Authorities were alerted to the allegations by

a second party who knew the victim, police said.

The case against Farmer is

still pending.

A Sandy Creek High School

teacher was arrested in November after authorities caught him performing

a sex act in his classroom that was being broadcast via an Internet chat

room during his break period.

Damian T. Belvedere, 44, was

charged with two misdemeanor counts of distributing obscene materials

and one count of public indecency.

No students witnessed the incident.

Two adult females who Belvedere "met" with on the chat room

noticed that it appeared the activity was occurring in a classroom and

alerted Coweta authorities originally because he had once tried to meet

them at a location in Coweta County, police said.

Police said evidence from the

school-owned computer indicated that Belvedere would visit the adult chat

room "on a daily basis."

The case against Belvedere

is still pending.

A former Starr's Mill High

School teacher pled guilty in February to having sex with one of her students,

who was 17 at the time.

Laura Voyles, 38, pled guilty

to having sex with a person in custody and was sentenced to three years

probation. She avoided jail time because the victim and his family argued

vehemently that she should not be sent to prison, officials said.

A local physician was charged

in June with improperly touching several of his patients at his Fayetteville

office.

Dr. Orlando Luis Cano, 64,

of Riverdale, has been charged with four counts of sexual battery and

one count of simple battery. One of the warrants charges that he kissed"

one of the victim's hands "in an insulting manner" after an

exam. Other charges were more graphic in detail.

The alleged incidents dated