GUILTY AZ - Linda Watson, 35, Marilyn Cox, 63, & Renee Farnsworth, 53, Tucson, 2000 & 2003

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Five years ago, On August 20th, 2000, Hinkle lost her niece Linda Watson. The 35 year old, single mother was violently abducted from her Tucson home and never seen again.

"She'd went to church that Sunday," Hinkle recalls, "and her bible was laying there...her pager on the bible. And she never, never went anywhere without that pager."

Over the next three years, Hinkle and her sister Marilyn Cox devoted their lives to finding Linda. Marilyn was Linda's mother. She moved to Tucson from Ohio to help raise her grand-daughter. But on May 7th, 2003...the unthinkable happened. Marilyn Cox and friend Renee Farnsworth were gunned down outside their midtown homes.

"I feel it was just a continuation of what happened to Linda," Hinkle says. Speculation about Linda's ex-husband and a former love interest surfaced just as it had following Linda's disappearance. But authorities could prove nothing. And to this day, nobody's held responsible for Watson's kidnapping or the May 7th murders.

"There was somebody who came forward at one point...and said they thought they knew where her body was. If that person would just have the nerve to come forward, we'll ask no questions. We just want Linda so I can take her home."
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3740352
 
The case that has baffled sheriff's homicide detectives for years involves the presumed death of Linda Watson, who went missing Aug. 20, 2000, and the May 2003 slayings of her mother, Marilyn Cox, and Cox's neighbor RéNee Farnsworth.

Their families are set to publicly discuss the case this afternoon at a press conference hosted by Homicide Survivors.

What's known about the case:

Watson, 35, disappeared from her West Curtis Road home in the summer of 2000 while going through divorce from her husband and a custody dispute over their young daughter.

Watson has been "deemed" dead by a Superior Court judge. Her family believes she was murdered by a man she knew.

No trace of Watson has been found, Detective Lt. Michael G. O'Connor said today.

While the disappearance still is classified a missing-person case, O'Connor said he and other detectives suspect Watson was murdered.

After her daughter's disappearance, Marilyn Cox moved into Watson's house and became a vocal crusader for justice in the case.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/51235.php
 
This is the first I have heard of this... How sad.
I hope this family sees justice!
 
New information in the slaying of two women and the disappearance of another woman several years ago has prompted the sheriff's cold-case unit to put all its other investigations on hold, an official said Tuesday.

The unit has decided to move the cases of Linda Watson, 35 — who disappeared more than seven years ago and has since been declared dead — and the 2003 slayings of Watson's mother, Marilyn Cox, 63, and Cox's friend, RéNee Farnsworth, 53, to the forefront.

"We have developed additional evidence that caused us to open up the case again and as a result of those efforts, we have dropped all other investigations now out of investigative necessity," said Sgt. Brad Foust, supervisor of the unit. "Information in this case is snowballing and we have to pursue that."

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/metro/215836.php

Hopefully justice will prevail in this case. Someone has gotten away with triple murder for far too long IMO. Prayers and support go out to the families of the victims.
 
RIP Linda... Peace to your loved ones while they continue to wait for justice. :rose:
 
snipped

Watson kin aware of her death for weeks
Family says her body was found in desert; it was ID'd via DNA


Sgt. Dawn Barkman, spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff's Department, said it will be at least a few weeks before detectives are prepared to release additional information about the renewed investigation.

more at link

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/cri...cle_f6b6cacd-6d3e-5b90-9300-66e2cfeb2552.html
 
A little more info from when Linda's mom & neighbor friend were gunned down in 2003 & a correction of why Linda was to meet with her attorney the day after she disappeared. She was trying to restrict ex-husband David Watson’s visitation with the child.

Slain woman afraid she’d ‘disappear,’ too

http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/2003/05/09/153471-slain-woman-afraid-she-d-disappear-too/

I sure hope these cases can be finally solved & an arrest made. There's Linda's now 16 year old daughter to be concerned for.
 
Most recent update:

http://www.jrn.com/kgun9/news/Linda...stice-more-than-a-decade-later-240373241.html

"There was a broken cup," said Hinkle. "Coffee all up on the wall and blood all over the floor." Linda disappeared just hours before a child custody hearing with her ex-husband. That's why Linda's mother, Marilyn Cox, believes she knows who wanted her daughter gone, for good...

Someone murdered Cox right after she scored a legal win against Linda's ex-husband. A judge granted her one weekend a month along with her granddaughter, along with two phone calls a week. Investigators say someone jumped out of the bushes and shot Cox and Farnsworth right after one of those visits.

"Whoever did this planned it out very well," said Hinkle. "They left hardly anything at the home. They found nothing... He can't be that good. Somewhere there has to be a shred of evidence somewhere."
 
3 cold-case slayings solved with 1 arrest Saturday, sheriff says
3 hours ago

snipped
The Pima County Sheriff's Department made an arrest Saturday in the 2000 slaying of Linda Watson and the related, subsequent killings of her mother and a neighbor.

Watson's ex-husband, David Duane Watson, 46, was arrested, chief deputy Chris Nanos announced in a news conference Saturday night, citing DNA evidence.

All three homicides stemmed from a child custody dispute, Nanos said, and Watson has been the prime suspect since the start of the investigation.

Incredible.
 
Thanks for the update, luckyseven! Looks like we can move this one to "resolved".
 
A bit more info today...

UPDATE: Victims' family 'overjoyed' by cold-case arrest

Pat Hinkle -- sister of Marilyn Cox and aunt to Linda Watson -- released a statement after David Watson's arrest that reads, in part, "Our family is overjoyed that David finally is behind bars. We've waited for 15 years for this justice, but it is also bittersweet. He is still destroying lives; his children are going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives. We are all still in a kind of shock; after so many years we sometimes felt it would never happen."

Nanos did not describe what led to Saturday's arrest, but said Watson has been the primary suspect for the last 15 years. In that time, he said detectives never gave up on the case.

"It just goes to show you that the men and women of this department are bulldogs," said Nanos. "We'll keep tracking you, we'll find you and you will get punished for the crimes you do."
 
He's reminding me of a Drew Peterson.

Arizona firefighter arrested in 3 cold case slayings

David Duane Watson, 46, was taken into custody in the evening at his home without incident, Pima County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Chris Nanos said. Watson, a captain with the Tucson Fire Department, was booked into Pima County jail on three counts of first-degree murder with a $2 million bond, reports CBS affiliate KOLD.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/arizona-man-arrested-for-3-slayings-in-15-year-old-cold-case/
 
From May:

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/...es-may-reveal-details-behind-cold-case-arrest

Personnel files for a former Tucson Fire Department employee accused in a cold case murder paint a picture of a firefighter who scores high on public safety but has a bad attitude and suffered the consequences of a DUI arrest. The City of Tucson released a nearly 200-page file on 46-year-old David Watson who served as a captain for the agency since 1995. He quit May 29 once he learned he would be terminated, according to TFD.

Watson was arrested for allegedly murdering his ex-wife Linda Watson, her mother Marilyn Cox, and Cox's friend Renee Farnsworth. Watson was hired by TFD in 1995 and had been serving in the role of captain since 2007.

From July:

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/...ions-for-pima-county-cold-case-murder-suspect

Hundreds of pages of interviews, evidence logs and investigator narratives outline the details of the roughly 15 years' worth of detective work it took to arrest the authorities' primary suspect in three cold case murders...
 

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