A jury was picked Wednesday in the trial of a Montgomery County man accused of killing his "friend and business partner" and leaving her body behind an industrial facility, after taking thousands from her bank account on the day she died.
Opening arguments are expected in the trial of Blair Watts, 33, of Royersford, following the January slaying of Jennifer Brown, 43.
Brown's remains were recovered in a wooded area behind an industrial facility along the 200 block of North 5th Street in Royersford on Jan. 18.
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Prosecutors accused Watts of defrauding the victim for months and killing her to get more of her money as his restaurant -- Birdie’s Kitchen -- was trying to lease a property.
During a preliminary hearing, earlier this year, prosecutors claimed Watt defrauded Brown for months before killing her.
Prosecutors allege that the two had entered a business contract to open Birdie’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Phoenixville and Brown was to contribute $14,000.
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That was done but, according to prosecutors, the restaurant never had a chance of opening as the location Watts wanted to rent refused to give him a lease, because he never paid the building's owners any money.
The last day Brown, of Limerick Township, was seen alive was Jan. 3. In an interview with NBC10’s Deanna Durante Watts claimed he had taken Brown's son that evening to sleep over at his house and he claimed Brown never called that night to speak with him or her son.
According to court documents, an owner of the property that Watts was attempting to lease told them, on Jan. 4, that he finally had money they needed.
Prosecutors claim two cash app transactions were made from Brown’s account to Watts’ on the day they believe she died. Bank records from Jan. 3 show that $17,000 had been transferred from her account to an account for Birdie's Kitchen, according to investigators.
Watts' defense team, meanwhile, has said their client was simply an easy target for police and someone else could’ve killed Brown.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said that an autopsy found that Brown's cause of death was "homicide by unspecified means."
However, he said that the coroner's office had found that three of Brown's ribs were broken before she died and her death was likely caused by "compression asphyxiation."
Jury selection in Watts' trial is set to start Wednesday morning with opening arguments shortly after. The trial is scheduled to last through next week.
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