Murder Suspect Set For Trial In December In Slaying Of Limerick Mom

LIMERICK, PA — Blair Watts is scheduled to go on trial in December in Montgomery County Court on first-degree murder and related charges in the killing of Jennifer Brown, a Limerick mother who was reported missing on Jan. 4.

Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter scheduled jury selection to begin on Dec. 4. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Watts, 33, of Limerick, who is represented by Philadelphia lawyer, Michael Coard, is in Montgomery County Correctional Facility, near Eagleville, awaiting trial.

Coard replaced lawyers, Assistant Public Defenders James P. Lyons and Benjamin Cooper, who were appointed in March to represent Watts.

Coard declined to comment Wednesday regarding Watts' defense.

“On behalf of Mr. Watts, I cannot make any comment apart from respectfully saying that we prefer to try this case in the court of law instead of the court of public opinion," Coard said in an email to Patch.

The judge on Aug. 15 denied Coard's request to prevent a jury from hearing evidence collected in a search of the victim's home.

On Jan. 4, Watts reported to police that Brown of the 1400 block of Stratford Court, Limerick Township, was missing.

An investigation, however, led police to identify Watts as a suspect.

Brown's body was found by a passerby on Jan. 18 buried in a shallow grave in the 200 block of North Fifth Avenue behind a warehouse in Royersford. She was missing for two weeks.

Police said Watts and Brown were planning to open a restaurant, “Birdies Kitchen,” in Spring City.

Police said records show that Watts transferred $17,000 from Brown’s account to his own and phone records put him at the scene of the slaying.

Brown worked as a senior representative of Inside Sales at Wesco Distribution in Norristown.