THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230389
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELKINS, W.VA. LENGTH: 137 lines
A prosecution witness in the capital murder case of Joseph Roger O'Dell III, sentenced to death in 1986 for raping and strangling a woman in Virginia Beach, has changed his story, saying he lied when he testified that O'Dell confessed the murder to him in jail.
The recantation of Steven Lee Watson, 38, comes as O'Dell's appeals have nearly run their course. O'Dell faces execution on Dec. 18.
In September, a federal appeals panel reinstated O'Dell's death sentence, which had been overturned two years ago on a technicality. The appeals panel rejected O'Dell's claims that he has new evidence proving his innocence.
O'Dell now has two options left: a final review of his case by the U.S. Supreme Court and a clemency plea to Gov. George F. Allen.
Allen has not received official notice of the recantation and so could not comment, a spokesman said Tuesday.
A jury convicted O'Dell in September 1986 for the murder of Helen Schartner, 44, outside the County Line Lounge on Feb. 5, 1985. There were no eyewitnesses. Prosecutors relied on two pieces of evidence: Watson's testimony and serology tests linking Schartner's blood to blood found on O'Dell's clothes.
O'Dell maintained his innocence, saying he was at the nightclub but never approached the woman. He said that after leaving the club he got into a fight in Ocean View and, in the melee, became covered in blood.
Watson disputed this during the trial. He testified that O'Dell confessed to the murder while the two men talked about their cases in jail.
Now, Watson says that that testimony was a lie.
On Oct. 12, Watson wrote a letter of confession to O'Dell's lawyers, which was then sent to Allen. Watson wrote that during O'Dell's trial, ``I said things that were not true about how Mr. O'Dell confessed to killing the woman in Virginia Beach. . . . Mr. O'Dell never confessed to me. I said the things I did in order to help myself because I was afraid of facing a life sentence on my charges. . . .''
``I feel very badly about the problems I have caused Mr. O'Dell and could not live with myself if anything ever happened to him. I have been afraid of being charged with perjury and that is why I never came forward until now,'' Watson wrote.
Watson's testimony has been significant in keeping O'Dell on death row, court records show.
In 1994, when U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer overturned O'Dell's death sentence, he also refused to grant a new evidentiary hearing. Spencer said that even though O'Dell claimed to have new DNA evidence that contradicted the state's serology tests, Watson's testimony still would have influenced the jury.
Watson, in reversing his story, wrote a letter to O'Dell's lawyers and made a videotape of his recantation, which was aired locally Tuesday on WVEC-TV. He also signed a sworn affidavit, which has not yet been filed in court.
O'Dell's lawyers hope that Watson's recantation will lead to a new trial or clemency by the governor. But Stephen Test, who was a prosecutor in O'Dell's trial, does not think it will have any bearing on O'Dell's execution.
``Witness credibility is a jury function, and the jury was well aware of Watson's criminal background and could have chosen to not believe his testimony,'' said Test, who is now a defense attorney. ``I think this recantation is highly suspect. . . . The guy's been consistent for well over 10 years, and now all of sudden he wants to clear his conscience?''
Asked why Allen should believe his recantation, Watson said: ``People change. Back then, I was looking for any way to stay out of jail. Now, I can't deal with the lie. I don't want an innocent man's death on my shoulders.''
Watson was a fugitive from West Virginia when he was stopped in February 1985 on a traffic offense, he said Saturday during an interview at his home in Elkins, W.Va.
A computer check showed warrants against Watson for arson, burglary and attempted murder, and he was sent to jail to await extradition.
He soon complained of a heart murmur and was moved to the jail's medical block, he said. While there, Watson said, he met O'Dell, and the two discussed their cases.
``O'Dell acted like he knew a lot about the law and after going over my charges he said I would probably get a life sentence,'' Watson said. ``The thought of life in prison terrified me. . . . I was looking for any way to keep from going back to West Virginia.''
Watson then asked O'Dell about his charges. ``He said, `They got me for strangling a woman and dumping her body.' But he also said, `I didn't do it.' He said he was being framed, that they didn't have any evidence against him, that he didn't even know the woman,'' Watson recalled.
That night, Watson said, he concocted the lie about O'Dell's confession. He sent a letter to prosecutors in hopes that they would help him with his charges in West Virginia in exchange for his testimony against O'Dell.
But Watson was returned to West Virginia before prosecutors received his letter. Soon after he arrived, Watson said, he talked with Virginia Beach prosecutor Albert Alberi over the phone. Watson said he asked for help with his charges, but Alberi said he could not help. His plan to swing a deal had failed.
Then, Watson said, he learned that the whole reason for concocting the lie was a mistake. O'Dell's supposed legal expertise was a mirage: Instead of getting life, as O'Dell had predicted, Watson pleaded guilty on May 10, 1985, to entering without breaking, a lesser charge, and received three years of unsupervised probation. The other charges were dropped.
One unusual condition of his plea was that he spend his probation in Virginia. He returned to Virginia Beach. Then, in August 1985, Alberi called and wanted him to testify against O'Dell, Watson said.
``I was scared all over again,'' Watson said. ``They wanted me to testify about a story I made up and I was afraid that if I told them the truth, they'd charge me for giving false information. That would violate my probation, and I'd go back to jail.''
Watson said he told Alberi he did not want to appear in court, but Alberi said he could get a subpoena and force him to testify, so Watson agreed.
Alberi could not be reached Tuesday for comment, but Test disputed this part of Watson's story. During the trial, Watson had testified that O'Dell said he met the victim at the bar, bought her some drinks and left with her. ``And they got in the car, and he asked the girl if he could have a little (sex) and he said the girl refused,'' he Watson testified. ``He got mad, put his hand around her throat and strangled her.''
Prosecutors said O'Dell followed the unsuspecting Schartner outside the nightclub and forced her into his car, then demanded sex and killed her when she refused. But O'Dell, acting as his own lawyer, didn't catch the discrepancy.
``Joe cross-examined me,'' Watson said Saturday. ``I didn't feel good about myself, knowing that he hadn't told me this and I was looking right at him saying, `Oh yeah, you did.' ''
Several investigators visited Watson in the years following, trying to discover whether he had made a deal with prosecutors. He always denied it, but he now says his conscience has plagued him. Watson said he thought of confessing but was scared of a perjury charge, a felony which carries a maximum 10-year sentence and for which there is apparently no statute of limitations.
This month, Watson said, conscience finally won out. ``I feel better now,'' he said. ``I feel relieved. I knew I didn't have to lie anymore.''
He said he also has asked O'Dell's forgiveness through his lawyers.
``They said he forgave me,'' Watson said. ``Still, I want to tell him myself. I would like to be at the prison gates when Joe is released, and shake his hand.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Steven Lee Watson, above, says he lied when he testified that Joseph
Roger O'Dell III confessed to him in jail.
Photo
Joseph Roger O'Dell III
KEYWORDS: MURDER RAPE SEX CRIME CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT VIRGINIA DEATH ROW WITNESSES by CNB