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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2002)
8 Monday, July 22, 2002 Glitch may allow serial killer to be released HOUSTON (AP) — If efforts to keep him in prison aren’t successful, a Texas inmate known to have killed 13 women and suspected of more than 80 slayings could in less than four years become the nation’s only known serial mur derer to be released. It’s been almost 20 years since state District Judge Doug Shaver sentenced Coral Eugene Watts to 60 years without parole for burglary with intent to commit murder. A glitch in that sentencing, however, has given Watts the opportunity to have that charge reduced and to become eligible for “good time” benefits of three days’ credit for each day served. This means he could be released on May 8, 2006, when he would be 52 years old, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday. His impending release has sparked an 1 1 th-hour effort to keep him in prison. “It makes me kind of sick,” said Shaver, now retired. Following Watts’ arrest in May 1982 after he nearly drowned a woman in her bathtub, his attorney struck a deal with the Harris County district attorney’s office that resulted in the 60-year sentence and immunity in the slayings to which he had con fessed while in police custody. Prosecutors agreed to the deal because of a lack of evidence linking Watts to the murders. Travis and Galveston coun ties and one county in Michigan, where Watts also killed women, made similar agreements. The burglary charge was con sidered aggravated because the water in the bathtub was seen as a deadly weapon, leaving Watts ineligible for parole. However, Shaver failed to specify the water as a deadly weapon in the court record. In 1989 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reduced his As he was heading off to prison, the last thing he told me was ‘Ladd, you know if I ever get out, Vm gonna do it again. — Tom Ladd Houston police investigator crime to burglary because there was no evidence a deadly weapon had been used. The decision made Watts eligible for parole, good time, bonus time (for acts such as donating blood) and, eventually, release. Many of the victims’ family members, already angry about the plea bargain, are further upset at the thought he could go free. Andy Kahan, Houston Mayor Lee Brown’s victims’ NEWS IN BRIEF advocate, is organizing a rally on Aug. 3 of survivors of Watts’ victims to bring attention to the case and put pressure on legisla tors and the governor to amend the laws that would free him. “We want to draw attention to Watts before his release date draws too near, and we want to bring some pressure on the Legislature,” Kahan said. “We call it the beginning of a four- year war.” Another mistake made in the Watts case might work against him. Investigators mistakenly placed the killing of Emily LaQua, 14, in Harris County. The LaQua slaying occurred in Waller County, outside the immunity blanket Watts received from Harris County prosecutors. Watts could be prosecuted in the LaQua case, if evidence other than his confession can be found. Investigators could try to match hair or other DNA evi dence possibly found on the teen’s clothing. But her clothes have been misplaced, and offi cials are trying to locate it. Police are hoping Watts can be kept in prison and off the streets because they fear the consequences. “I remember the last time I spoke to him,” said Houston police homicide investigator Tom Ladd, who interrogated Watts. “As he was heading off to prison, the last thing he told me was, 'Ladd, you know if I ever get out. I’m gonna do it again.’” Driver jailed after 60-mile chase DALLAS (AP) — A truck driver was in jail Saturday evening after running over a police car and ramming into other law enforcement vehicles during a 60-mile chase that began in Dallas and ended in Canton. No one was injured in the chase, during which offi cers shot at the truck's tires and placed spikes in the road. The trucker drove on rims for some time after several tires were flattened. The driver faces charges of aggravated assault of a police officer, evading arrest and leaving the scene of an accident, according to broadcast reports. 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