Watson sentenced in attempted murder case

POMEROY, Ohio – A woman will serve 22 years in prison for her part in a vicious assault in March of 2018.

A perceived “competition” over a man led to a horrific chain of events that nearly led to the death of a woman according to the argument presented by the Meigs County Prosecutors Office during sentencing for Brook Watson, 29. Watson was characterized by the prosecution as the “mastermind” behind the attempted murder of the victim. Meigs County Prosecuting Attorney James Stanley outlined the brutal assault on the victim on March 7, 2018. According to Stanley, Watson along with co-conspirators Marissa Starcher, 34, and Nathan Grimm, 31, kidnapped and assaulted the victim and left her for dead off the side of a cliff along Forked Run Lake. Two of the three suspects have now been convicted and sentenced. Grimm is currently serving a sentence for his part of that day and Watson will begin her sentence immediately. Starcher has an upcoming trial for her alleged roll in the incident.

Watson, however, according to Stanley was the “ring leader” in the events that involved the victim being beaten with a base ball bat, a sledge hammer, and a broom handle. Her hair was viciously cut as well during what the prosecution described as “torture” which also involved sexual assault. Judge I. Carson Crow listened to the details of the fateful day along with defense counsel Michael Huff state that it was not his client’s intent to kill anyone and that the injuries were not as severe apart from the compound fracture of the victim’s arm. The victim was pushed off a cliff and left by the defendants in the case. The victim had managed to crawl up from the steep embankment and make it to a house at least a quarter of a mile away for assistance. According to Stanley, the injury to the victim’s arm was so severe first responders thought it was a gun shot wound initially. It was in fact a compound fracture which required several surgeries to correct.

The victim did not appear in court on Thursday and has not been heard from since the plea hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 25 in the Meigs County Court of Common Pleas. Stanley said it was “troubling and concerning” that the victim had not been heard from since Tuesday. She was to have met at the prosecutor’s office prior to the hearing, but did not show and could not be contacted. Stanley said there have been several threats against the victim’s life and that the victim was “terrified” since the event occurred that one of the accused or another acting on their behalf would kill her.

Watson, however, will be serving time on the conviction which includes charges of kidnapping and felonious assault. During the court proceedings, Watson did address the court on her own behalf. Most of what she said was inaudible except she did say, “It turned out really bad” in reference to what the intentions that day were and what happened.

More stories can be found in the link below on this case.

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