Friday, April 23, 2010Lawyer: Erb shot lover's ex-husband in self-defense
Mike Peters - Greeley Tribune
A lawyer for Cecil “Joe” Erb said Thursday that Erb fired upon Jeffery Watson Sr. in self-defense.
File photoA trial began Thursday in a stunning Greeley murder — in which the victim was shot at 29 times with an assault rifle — and in opening statements, the suspect's attorney said it was a case of self-defense.
The first-degree murder trial of Cecil “Joe” Erb began Thursday in Weld District Court, with the surprising self-defense story.
On Feb. 19, 2009, Jeffery Watson Sr. was shot multiple times with an SKS assault rifle as he sat in his pickup in west Greeley. The early-morning shooting occurred about a block from the west Greeley Walmart Store, in the 600 block of 46th Avenue Court.
In opening statements Thursday, prosecutors and defense attorneys told wildly different stories.
Defense attorney Steve Doolittle said Erb was attacked by the victim earlier that morning. Doolittle said Erb was awakened at his home that morning by a noise outside, went out to investigate and was shot at by the victim, who then ran from the house. Erb then got in his car and drove to Watson's house, according to the attorney. “Joe wanted to talk to Jeff Watson and reason things out, and he brought along his rifle for protection.”
Doolittle said Erb drove to Watson's house on 46th Avenue Court and pulled his car next to Watson's pickup. Watson got out and walked to Erb's car. “Jeff Watson said ‘You're a dead (obscenity)' and punched Joe Erb in the face,” Doolittle told the jury. “Joe was scared for his life ... he knew it was kill or be killed. So he pulled the trigger until there were no more bullets.”
Doolittle said the victim's .44 magnum handgun was found on the seat of the pickup after he was killed.
Prosecutors allege that Erb, 28, and his girlfriend, Georgia Watson, 45 — the victim's former wife — killed Watson to collect $100,000 in life insurance. Georgia Watson has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and will go to trial Sept. 20.
“The defendant changed his story several times (after he was arrested),” Deputy District Attorney Ben Whitney said. “He was planning this murder long before he committed it.”
Whitney said Erb emptied the 30-round clip in the rifle, stopping once to eject a bullet that misfired, then he continued to shoot into the pickup cab.
Prosecutors and Greeley police say they collected enough evidence to prove Erb had planned the murder:
» When Erb was arrested in Iowa the day after the shooting, they found the assault rifle in his car, along with bullets that matched the ones that killed Watson.
» A checklist found in the car showed his plan to buy two 30-round clips for the rifle, ammunition, and develop an escape route, Whitney said.
» Erb sent a friend to buy ammunition and two 30-round clips from a Walmart store in Fort Collins, according to police.
» Police said Erb also used Georgia Watson's computer during the planning stages of the murder. Whitney said the investigation into the shooting led police to Georgia Watson, who had been embroiled in a stormy divorce with the victim and won the $100,000 insurance policy in a court decision.
Erb's defense said the shooting was “not planned, not premeditated, and had nothing to do with an insurance policy.”
Friends of Erb, who prosecutors say were allegedly in on the planning stages of the murder, will testify during the two-week trial.
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