The Dateline episode “Secrets of the Desert” investigates the disappearance of 35-year-old Linda Watson in Tucson, Arizona. On August 20, 2000, the mother of 4-year-old Jordynn Watson was abducted from her home. Three years later, Linda’s mother, Marilyn Cox, 63, was awarded unsupervised visitation rights to see her granddaughter, Jordynn. (Cox had fought her former son-in-law David Watson in court for visitation rights.)
After her first unsupervised visit with Jordynn, Marilyn asked her friend Renee Farnsworth, 53, to come with her to drop off Jordynn at her father’s house. When Marilyn returned home and pulled into the driveway, she and Farnsworth were shot dead.
In April 2017, Dave Watson, former Captain at the Tucson Fire Department, was sentenced to life in prison for the three murders. (Linda Watson’s skull was found in 2003 but not identified until 2011.) Watson insists that he is innocent, and his daughter Jordynn, who is now an adult, spoke at his sentencing.
The 20-year-old told the judge she was sending an “innocent man” to prison. According to The Arizona Daily Star, Jordynn read from a prepared statement “as her hands shook” holding the paper. She claims her mother and grandmother are “looking down disgusted” at the investigation and trial. Dateline airs Fridays at 9 pm on NBC.
Jordynn speaks with a local TV news station about her father being “a nice guy” who bought her a dog when she was 10…
