Blair Watts (L); Jennifer Brown (R)
A former friend and business partner of a missing Pennsylvania mother has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Blair Watts, 33, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with “first-degree murder, theft by unlawful taking and fraudulently accessing a device,” Fox News reported.
“In the 37 days since this devoted mother disappeared, detectives have been gathering pieces of evidence, focusing on what happened to Jennifer and who killed her,” Steele said Thursday. “That photo shows Blair Watts killing Jennifer Brown on January 3rd, then moving her body and eventually burying her in a shallow grave.”
Jennifer Brown was found in a shallow grave two weeks after she disappeared in January.
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Watts reported Brown missing on Jan. 4 and told police that he was watching his 8-year-old son for a nap to “give Jennifer a break.”
Brown did not pack her son’s medication for sleep and the child’s teacher was unable to reach him, raising suspicions.
Jennifer Brown’s body was found in a shallow grave on January 18, and the coroner determined the cause of death to be “homicide by unspecified means.”
Brown suffered broken ribs and appeared to have died of strangulation, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.
On January 3, two large cash transfers totaling $17,000 were made from Jennifer Brown’s computer to Watts’ account.
Money transfer authorities believe Brown was killed on January 3 before the cash transfer.
Fox News reported:
A former friend and business partner of slain Pennsylvania mother Jennifer Brown was arrested this week in her murder, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele announced.
Brown was originally reported missing Jan. 4 by Watts, who told police she failed to pick up her 8-year-old son from the school bus that afternoon.
Her son had spent the night at Watts’ residence the night before Jan. 3 “to give Brown a break,” Watts told investigators.
A two-week search ensued and Brown’s body was finally found on January 18, buried in a shallow grave behind a warehouse in Royersford. A medical examiner determined she had been murdered and had three broken ribs.
Before his death, Brown and Watts planned to open a restaurant called “Birdie’s Kitchen” in Phoenixville in late January.
Investigators found that on Jan. 3, whoever saw Brown, two cash transfers totaling $17,000 were sent from Brown to accounts controlled by Watts. The transfer “was not part of the written agreement between Brown and Watts,” the district attorney said.