Court upholds death sentence in Las Vegas slaying

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014 | 3:57 p.m.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court today upheld a death sentence for John M. Watson III in the Las Vegas slaying of his wife, whose body was never found.

The court, in a 5-2 decision, rejected a challenge that there was discrimination by the prosecution when it used six of its nine peremptory challenges to remove potential female jurors.

The court found there was sufficient evidence to convict Watson of the murder of Everilda “Evy” Watson, his wife of 34 years, on a trip to Las Vegas from their home in Ontario, Calif., in July 2006.

John Watson, a retired school teacher, was afraid his wife was going to divorce him and take part of his nearly $6,000-a-month pension, according to the prosecution.

Police found the woman’s blood in a motel room, in the couple’s car and on the point of a pistol, according to court documents. Police in Las Vegas and California trailed Watson to remote places, but a body was never discovered.

The court, in the majority opinion written by Chief Justice Mark Gibbons, said the trial judge properly gave an instruction to the jury regarding mitigating circumstances.

Watson maintained his wife had committed suicide by shooting herself and said the jury should consider his mental problems as a mitigating circumstance, according to court documents.