Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison Following Murder of Estranged Wife

The man who meticulously planned and carried out the brutal killing of his estranged wife in the home they once shared will spend the next 20 years behind bars at Dodds Prison.

This was the judgment handed down on Monday to confessed murderer Sean Watson, a resident of Bannantyne Gardens, Christ Church who had pleaded guilty to non-capital murder in the stabbing death of 37-year-old Nicole Harrison-Watson who was killed on April 28, 2012.

“This was not a crime of passion, or spontaneous. You had time to think through your actions,” Justice Randall Worrell told the 46-year-old architectural draughtsman moments before announcing the sentence in the No. 2 Supreme Court.

Giving a starting sentence of 35 years for the offence, the judge increased the time to 40 years after outlining the aggravating factors, in particular the level of planning, premeditation and preparation that went into the crime, and Watson’s break-in and his use of a weapon.

He referred to the convicted man’s extremely detailed statement to the police, pointing to his purchase of the tools and other items in the weeks before the incident, including two hammers, a chisel, two crowbars, duct tape, a roll of plastic, gloves, cable ties, two notepads, a black marker, rope, a box cutter, scissors, a knife, a pair of black riding gloves and two gas containers. The judge also made reference to the lengths of rope Watson had pre-cut to tie onto the bed legs.

Noting that the convicted man had stalked his estranged wife for months, Justice Worrell highlighted the long hours he waited that night for her to leave her Ferniehurst, Black Rock home so he could break in, and the time he spent inside the house until she returned and fell asleep.

He pointed out that Watson was presented with multiple opportunities to reconsider what he was doing and leave the home but chose not to.

In addition, the judge pointed to Watson’s search of Harrison-Watson’s computer, tablet, social media accounts, receipts and passport to find out what she had been up to after they had broke, up, stating, “You have to learn to accept in relationships that if something is finished, it is finished . . . . You yourself have been able to go on with your life after her death.”

He considered the fear Harrison-Watson must have experienced waking and finding herself tied to the bed with her estranged husband over her and as he choked her.

In addition, the judge told Watson that his decision to wrap his wife’s head in cling wrap after she was unconscious, as he believed she would suffocate, indicated clearly, “You had one intent; that was to kill her.”

Justice Worrell also pointed to Watson’s behaviour after the crime, noting that he had “calmly and cooly” walked away after stabbing her twice in the neck and had neither looked to either render first aid or to contact the police or an ambulance.

“There are no mitigating features in this offence. Absolutely none!” Worrell stressed.

However, he identified the offender’s previously clean criminal record and his cooperation with the police as two mitigating factors and deducted two years from the 40-year sentence.

Worrell also dismissed Watson’s claim in his pre-sentence report that he had gone to the house to make Harrison-Watson watch as he committed suicide.

“I do not accept that you went there to kill yourself. I do not think any jury would have accepted that either,” the judge said.

He then gave a one-quarter discount for Watson’s early guilty plea, a four-year deduction for the delay in his case going to trial, and also took into account the 1 560 days he already spent on remand.

The judge then informed Watson that he had 7 383 more days to serve.

Justice Worrell also ordered that the killer undergo anger management counselling while at Dodds and take advantage of any vocational training available.

The convicted man showed no visible reaction to the sentence.