Photo: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office
Pennsylvania authorities have arrested the “supposed friend and business partner” of Jennifer Brown in her killing, officials said Thursday.
He is awaiting arraignment at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. He was arrested while appearing in court on anunrelated case, according to NBC Philadelphia.
Brown’s body was discovered on Jan. 18 partially buried in a field near the city of Royersford, which is about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
The district attorney’s office said their investigation began after Watts reported Brown missing. The two were allegedly friends who had gone into business together last August, with Brown investing in a soon-to-be restaurant called “Birdies Kitchen” in Phoenixville, according to the district attorney.
Court records, naming him as Blair Anthony Watts, show no bond has been set.
His attorney, Christopher David Mandracchia, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Thursday.
Investigators used a cadaver dog, cellphone records and business records to piece the case together.
They allowed Watts to hang a banner on the facade of the building but no renovations were made to ready it for a restaurant opening, according to the press release.
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In late December, one of the property owners told Watts they decided to not rent the property to him, which led to Watts threatening to sue, the district attorney’s office said.
However, he returned on Jan. 4, “now saying he had money to put down on a lease,” the district attorney’s office said.
Investigators with the Limerick Township Police and Montgomery County detectives said on the day Brown went missing, Watts picked up her son from the school bus stop and told the 8-year-old his mom was at the supermarket and that he would be sleeping over at his home for the night. The 8-year-old allegedly told detectives he saw Watts with his mother’s cellphone at the time.
According to the district attorney’s office, Brown’s personal cellphone traveled away from the home before returning a short while later. The cellphone still remains missing.
The next day, cellphone records show, Brown’s phone and Watts' phone traveled together once again before the phone’s signal was lost at around 7 a.m.
Watts has defended himself publicly in the case.
“I have nothing to do with anything,” Watts told NBC Philadelphia earlier this month. “Just because I’m the last person to see her, that does not mean anything.”
source: people.com
