A Montgomery County man was convicted of murdering his business partner and then burying her body.
Blair Watts, 33, was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday in the killing of Jennifer Brown, 43.
The verdict came after two days of deliberations from the jury who heard closing arguments in the trial on Tuesday.
“I feel amazing today,” Brown’s aunt, Diane Brehm, said after the verdict. “Justice was served for my niece, Jennifer Brown. It will never bring her back. But at least I know he will never walk out and hurt another family again the way he has destroyed ours. Thank you everybody for everything. God bless you all.”
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
As Watts was led away in handcuffs following his conviction, he still maintained his innocence.
“I didn’t kill Jennifer Brown,” he said.
Brown, of Limerick Township, was last seen alive on January 3. Her body was later found in a wooded area behind an industrial facility along the 200 block of North 5th Street in Royersford on Jan. 18.
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."
The murder of Jennifer Brown
Watts, who investigators said was Brown’s “supposed friend and business partner,” was the last person to see her alive.
In an interview before his arrest, Watts told NBC10 that he had taken her son on the evening of Jan. 3 to sleep over at his house and he claimed Brown never called that night to speak with him or her son.
Brown was scheduled to pick up her son from the bus stop the following afternoon on Jan. 4 but never showed up, according to Watts.
“I put Noah on the bus the next day,” Watts told NBC10 during an interview in January.
Watts also told NBC10 he didn't know what happened to Brown between Jan. 3 and the morning of Jan. 4.
“I have nothing to do with anything,” Watts said. “Just because I’m the last person to see her, that does not mean anything.”
However, if there was a planned sleepover, Watts didn't provide clothes for Brown's son -- who has special needs -- nor did he bring medicine that the boy had to take twice a day, according to Steele.
"This was highly unusual," said Steele.
On February 9, Watts was arrested and charged in Brown’s murder, 37 days after her disappearance.
Prosecutors accused Watts of defrauding Brown for months and killing her to get his hands on more of her money.
The two entered a business contract in the summer of 2022 to open Birdie’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Phoenixville, in January 2023 and Brown was to contribute $14,000 to that business plan, investigators said. While that amount was satisfied prior to January 2023, Watts continued to ask Brown for money for other repairs and equipment, according to prosecutors.
According to prosecutors however, the restaurant had no chance of opening after the location Watts wanted to rent refused to give him a lease. Investigators also said Watts hadn't paid the owners of the building any money to use the space and he had no key to the building.
Watts still repeatedly went to Brown to get money for supplies and painting, according to investigators. Prosecutors said two cash app transactions were made from Brown’s account to Watts’ on the day they believe she died.
On Jan. 3, Brown's bank records show that $17,000 had been transferred from her account to an account for Birdie's Kitchen, according to investigators.
Then on Jan. 4 -- a day after police believe Brown was killed -- Watts showed up at the Birdie’s Kitchen location, telling the owners he had the money they needed, investigators said.
Watts' defense team, meanwhile, said their client was simply an easy target for police and someone else could’ve killed Brown.
During Watts’ trial, the jury was presented with DNA evidence that was found inside Brown’s kitchen. Witnesses who took the stand accused Watts of giving them the false impression that Birdie’s would open by the end of January 2023.
The jury also heard from Brown’s boyfriend, Watts' wife and Watts' girlfriend at the time of Brown's murder.
The jury also saw cell phone records examined by the FBI which placed Watts in the location of the time and killing of Brown and in the area where Brown was buried. A K-9 also detected human remains in Watts’ cars and the home of Jennifer Brown.
