There’s no proof: Watson
Crown points out discrepancies between Watson’s testimony and statements in police interviews as defence wraps up case
Andrew Watson asked for one iota of proof that he killed Lise Fredette.
“Why don’t you produce a witness who can say they saw me or my car that night ... then you can hang me,” Watson said to the Crown prosecuting his case.
The accused was referring to the night his ex-girlfriend was last seen Nov. 12, 2014.
Watson said he had nothing to do with Fredette’s disappearance. He said he didn’t leave his house the night she went missing, though his neighbour testified she saw him leave that evening.
The Scotland native testified in his defence for a second day Tuesday. He’s charged with the first-degree murder and criminal harassment of Fredette, 74. He pleaded not guilty.
Though her body has never been found, two large pools of her blood were found in her driveway, along with a drop of Watson’s as well.
Her glasses, key and earring were also found in her driveway the day after she was last seen by a co-worker at Walmart on Chemong Road.
Watson told a different story on the stand than he told to police.
He testified Monday he lied to police because they were lying to him.
Watson, 78, and Fredette, 74, dated for three years off and on, before they broke up for good in April 2014.
The Payne Street resident said he and Fredette decided not to get back together again and he was fine with that – they weren’t “compatible.”
Yet when Watson’s house was searched by city police six months after their break up, photos of the former couple and of Fredette were on his coffee table.
“So you were still looking at them,” asked Andrew Midwood, assistant Crown attorney. “That’s correct,” said Watson. Midwood pointed out multiple discrepancies between Watson’s interviews with police and his testimony Monday and Tuesday.
He wrote letters to Fredette after they split that indicated they weren’t speaking. That’s what he told police, too.
But in court, he said he and Fredette remained friends and she stopped by his place to visit – despite her contacting police because she believed Watson was stalking her.
Their continued friendship also left room for Fredette’s blood to get on his vehicle and in his trunk, as well as on a shovel of his, he testified.
“Lise and I both bled a lot because we both took blood thinners,” Watson said.
But when interviewed by police the day of his arrest, Watson said he didn’t know how Fredette’s blood would get on or in his vehicle because she hadn’t been in it in months.
Watson’s Subaru SUV had mud splattered on both sides of the vehicle when police seized it.
“If you think that some dirt on my car indicates that I killed someone, than I wonder about your sanity,” Watson said to Midwood on Monday.
Midwood suggested a theory of what he thought happened the night Fredette went missing. He said Watson waited for Fredette to come home from work and attacked her in her driveway. “In your dreams,” Watson said. A strike to Fredette’s head caused her glasses to fly in one direction and her earring to go another. Watson then put her in tarps to transport her in the trunk of his vehicle so he could bury her somewhere. In doing so, Watson injured his hand, leaving a drop of blood in Fredette’s driveway, Midwood alleged.
“This is all in your imagination,” Watson told Midwood.
Watson, a retired Ministry of Natural Resources clerk, said he didn’t know where Midwood was coming up with these ideas.
The accused became agitated on the stand when Midwood pressed on with questions.
At one point, Watson refused to explain what he meant by pulling a “prank” on Fredette in a letter he’d written her.
After telling Midwood that he wasn’t there to teach him the meanings of words, Watson proceeded to tell judge the same thing when the judge asked for clarification.
“I didn’t come here to give you instructions on the English language,” Watson said to the judge.
Watson’s lawyer closed his case Tuesday.
Lawyers’ closing submissions will start next Tuesday.