Brenda Watson

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With no seller fees, you keep every dollar you earn. A grandfather found murder in his Florida home. We saw a body wrapped up in a rug. He had been shot. June, Florida weather, it was hot. The body started decomposing quicker. Detectives fear his wife might also be a victim. You got a dead body on the floor. She's missing. We actually thought somebody came, killed him, and took her. The technical started asking me, did he have any enemies? And I'm like, no, like, absolutely not. But the investigation reveals both parties were occupied by their own affairs. He didn't just love one woman. He loved women. And she's having affairs. She's bringing men into the house. Wish all relationships, friends, and sex, no friends. But a shocking confession takes the case in a different direction, leading to a killer on the brink of despair. She was tired of him treating her like she was dirt. You see it, he was never a dull before he would care for me. She purchased a ticket for Canada. She was trying to get out in the country. She is to be considered armed and dangerous. She just fought rouse until the gun was empty. June 23, 2009. It's a humid summer morning in Lake City, Florida, when detectives are called to the scene of a reported dead body. We received a call from Broward County. Sheriff's Office said they had informant that state there was a murder committed here in Lake City. But we didn't have that much information. Broward County had gotten information from one of their confidential informants saying that the person in the residence was a guy by the name of Tommy Kellum, that he had been shot. Property records reveal there is a Tommy Kellum who lives in the area and investigators race to his address. When I arrived, you can smell the body before you can actually walk all the way up to the house. We walk around. Now, as I said, try to look into windows. No one answered. So at that time, we made a decision to go in. And I kicked in the door. We saw what appeared to be a body wrapped up in a rug and with bags on the feet and head. CSI detected the finner on wrapped the body. His body had swollen up so badly that the necklace that he was wearing was indented into his body. He'd been there for a couple of days. It was hot, no air on. One of the investigators on scene knows the homeowner from around town and confirms the gruesome discovery. Knowing Tommy Kellum on my life, I knew it was Tommy Kellum on the floor deceased. There were a couple of places that appeared to be holes in the chest, one in upper chest and one in the lower chest. So we assumed that those were gunshot wounds. You know, being in June, Florida weather, it was hot. The body started decomposing quicker than if it would have been cooler weather. So we needed to get out there and find out exactly when somebody had heard from Mr. Kellum so we can determine about when the incident occurred and to find out exactly what took place and the reasons why. It is really close to that neighborhood. Everybody knew Tommy Kellum. I never seen him upset or mistreating him one. He was just a good guy. Tommy Kellum was born in 1933 in Hatchbend, Florida. He was the eldest of nine children and a family tragedy forced him into a leadership role at an early age. My grandparents were sharecroppers and they worked in the fields. My father was a teenager when he lost his father and his mother. We do not know the cause of death for my grandfather but they set my grandmother died of a broken heart. Other boys were older so they went to the fields. They were and they took care of the family. They were children taking care of children. My grandfather, he learned, you know, hard work, perseverance. He had to make sure that they had everything that they needed. Once Tommy's siblings were old enough to take care of themselves, he set off on his own and the strong work ethic he developed served him well. My dad moved to Lake City and he bought him some trucks and he started his own park with business. My grandfather's business was very successful. The entrepreneurship is just like in his blood. With success came a newfound sense of style and purpose. My grandfather felt like a appearance was important. You can't just look any kind of way. You have to look like you love yourself. So he always took pride in how he dressed. He was very stylish. In 1954, when he was 21 years old, Tommy fell in love with a young woman named Daisy. They married and started a family together. They got a house together and I came along. Like a few years, maybe two years after, I had a great relationship with my dad. I didn't want for anything. My father made sure of that. He loved racing. He loved his motorcycle and he loved women. He loved women. Unfortunately, Tommy's wandering eye took a toll on his marriage. They got along, but I mean, you cannot say they had the greatest relationship because who wants to be cheated on? Who wants their feelings hurt? Tommy's wife waited until their daughter grew up and moved out of the house to file for divorce. Once their marriage was over, she wanted to basically cut all ties where my father was concerned. He spent the next few decades enjoying his freedom. He was handsome. He had his own business. He always had a pocket full of money. So of course, the women loved that. In his 60s, Tommy retired from the pulp wood business. In 2003, when he met a beautiful, younger woman named Brenda Watson, he finally seemed ready to settle down. The age difference was about 30 years. That really wasn't an issue for me. It was just whatever aura she let off, it just did not match my energies for the woman that should be with my father. She didn't have a car. She didn't have a job. It just, I could not understand why you're with this woman. I welcomed her in regardless of how others may have felt about her. I felt like if my granddad had liked it, I loved it. Despite their 30 year age gap, Tommy and Brenda were perfect for each other. Brenda made him feel just a little spark of use back. She was young and fun. After dating for a few years, Tommy, now in his 70s, decided to ask Brenda to marry him. At that point, he's getting older and I feel like maybe he's getting older. just did not want to grow old by himself. Whatever my grandfather wanted to do, Brenda would do. She would be right beside him. She was just like a part of the family. But there may December romance has come to a disturbing end after Tommy's body was found decomposing in their Florida home. Brenda is not at home to provide any answers, but other friends and family have already started to show up at the house. I got a call early that morning from a friend of mine. And she said, come to Lake City to police at your daddy's house. I received a phone call from my mom. She says, go to Granny's house and see what's going on, as I was walking up. One of the detectives pulled me to the side. And he confirmed that it was my grandfather. I just felt sick to my stomach. It's not even a word to describe it. I just felt like everything was just crashing down. Latwana tells detectives she thought her grandfather had been out of town for the past few days. It was Father's Day weekend. And I had been calling my grandfather trying to talk to him. I was not able to get an answer. So then I called Brenda. And she says, we came down here to a lot of deals to see some of my family. I was like, OK, well, I tell you what, tell him to call me back. To investigators, the timeline doesn't add up. They question if Tommy ever made it to Fort Lauderdale to begin with. Who's kind of confused, you know, what was going on? He's on the floor dead. Brenda's missing. The outstanding question for us was, where was Brenda Watson? Brenda's not there, so you don't know if she's possibly a victim and a situation going bad or a suspect. Coming up, investigators get a crucial lead. I got a finger on his missing and a lens here. And they discover the truth about Tommy and Brenda's marriage. Brenda resided here at the residence, but it was not as husband and wife. After discovering 76-year-old Tommy Kellam shot dead inside his home, detectives in Lake City, Florida fear that his wife, Brenda Watson, could also be in danger. We try to get a hold of some relatives, because that was the last place that we knew that Brenda was. Well, both of them was. They are unable to reach anyone. But credit card records appear to confirm a trip to Fort Lauderdale about 300 miles away. Tommy's wallet was missing, so we did a subpoena on his credit cards. It was established that the card was used multiple times in the Fort Lauderdale area. The time stamps on those withdrawals put the couple in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend. The question for investigators is, what happened to them after that? They hope the crime scene holds the answer. Detective Finner was working to see it inside the residence and advised me that they had found four shell case scenes from a 22. The two of us told us that, you know, Grandpa had guns, but the gun right, it was empty. The detective started asking me, you know, did I know anyone that would want to hurt him? Did he have any enemies, and I'm like, no, like, absolutely not, like, could it be a robbery? She advised us that her grandfather's truck was gone, so we started putting a polo out for it. As additional family members arrive at the scene, investigators learn more about Tommy and Brenda's relationship. Brenda's lifestyle was she wanted a party, had fun, do what she wanted to do, come in all hours of the night, and Tommy didn't want any part of that. He was at the age to where he wanted to be settled down. According to Cassandra, Brenda's behavior drove her father to end their marriage. The neighbors are saying that she's having affairs. She's bringing men into the house, so that's as far as I know. That was the reason for the divorce. They had a roommate situation. At that point, my grandfather was making her pay bills. But it seems Brenda often ignored the boundaries Tommy put in place. According to the family, Brenda was jealous. She had to go everywhere Tommy went. Basically, smothered him, would let him do anything. Brenda had told LaTwana that she was in Broward County, where the tip about Tommy's murder originated. So with the information that we received, and then the family showing off at the scene, we now think that Brenda is possibly a victim or a possible suspect. Columbia County detectives contact the Broward County sheriff's deputy who received that tip and asked him to press his confidential informant for more details. When he went back to the informant and told him, "You need to tell me who give you this information." And the informant told him. The person named Jeffrey Love was involved. The informant said that Jeffrey went and told somebody that he helped his cousin kill somebody in Lake City. We still didn't know who Jeffrey Love or his cousin were. Once we got the information, we then started going into his background, looking into what type of person he was. Found out that he had some prison time so that through a red flag. Jeffrey Love served six years in a South Carolina prison before being released on probation in 1996. It's unclear how he knows Tommy and Brenda or what he was doing in Florida. Most of the people in the Washington Street area were good people. They looked out for each other. If we were looking for someone they usually knew who we were looking for. No one knew a Jeffrey Love. With their attempts to track down Jeffrey Love hitting a dead end, investigators turned their attention back to Tommy's personal life. One source told us that Brenda was misrounded. It's got a new gene. The alleged affair opens up new possibilities and motives. We got a dead body on the floor. Brenda's missing. Now they're saying that Eugene was creeping with Brenda. I'm thinking he ought Tommy Keller to be with Brenda. A public record search easily provides detectives with Eugene's address. We were going to pick them up to come back to Clement County Sheriff's Office in a interrogation room and spoke with him. You just gone on? Yeah, I got a finger on his missing and old man's neck. Well, that's how you talk with him. Oh, I've seen her Saturday morning. Saturday would have been the 20th of June. And according to what Brenda told Tommy's granddaughter, they were in Fort Lauderdale at the time, five hours away. But Eugene says she met him at a restaurant there in Columbia County. Wish all relationships, friends, friends. No friends. I didn't get on a tablet probably years ago with gosh, man. That's good looking down. Well, last time you tapped it. Oh, man. You got to be honest. You have to be honest. This is probably been about two weeks ago. After catching Eugene in a lie, investigators confront him with their suspicions. I say, hey, man, your name is ringing in the streets, man. He was like, what? I say, man. Tommy's dead. Your name came up. And he was like, oh, hell no. Oh, OK, that was right. I know, man. Let's get it. I got white. We need to come resolve this. I'm not getting the bullseye all this. Eugene said that weekend he was with his family. So that was it, I'll buy. I explain to Eugene that if I have to, I'm going and ask his wife, will he home that weekend? And the cat's going to be at the back because I'm going to tell her what was going on. So he assured me he was home. At the end of the interview, I believed him. I kind of figured he wasn't involved in it. Willing to expose himself, investigators no longer believe Eugene is a suspect. Before concluding his interview, they ask him if he's heard of Jeffrey Love and he says no, but according to him, there's someone else they should be considering. She was saying something about he had, he was back to his ex-girlfriend or something and a little bit bad. Tommy was going to see his ex-girlfriend. You don't know Tommy's ex-girlfriend though, but I really don't. Detectives consider this information a new lead. The first time I learned about the girlfriend, don't know if it was more women out there that was upset and one of them came out and murdered him. Tommy Kellham has been found murdered in his home and no one has seen his wife Brenda Watson for three days. Just learned from Brenda's lover that Tommy was having affairs as well and they revisit Tommy's family to see if they can provide a name. Helen was my grandfather's girlfriend at one point in time. They had been dating on and off for years, but with him dealing with Brenda, Helen was dead set against, you know, having any sort of romantic relationship as long as he was still with her. I think after the divorce, him and Helen started to see each other more. But according to them, Helen is the last person who'd commit murder. I call her my aunt. I know that she loved my grandfather tremendously. It was not reason for her to harm him. Tommy's daughter Cassandra tells investigators that the only conflict in his life came from Brenda and her jealousy. Brenda had a problem with Helen. When my dad go play cards, Helen was the bartender there. Brenda was set to that bar if she didn't do number drinks bright all night to make sure that my dad had no interaction with Helen. The more detectives learn about Brenda's relationship with Tommy, the less she looks like a second victim. This feeling further solidifies when Cassandra shares that Brenda's jealousy was sometimes accompanied by violence. Helen called me and told me that daddy had to go to the hospital because he was cleaning his gun and he shot herself in the hand. That's what he told me. She said he's not going to tell the truth, but she said Brenda shot him. The gun didn't sit there happening after the divorce, maybe because she was mad. Maybe they were going through something. Nobody I truly know because nobody was there with them and my dad didn't tell the truth about the situation anyway. So with the information that we received, we now know that Brenda is a possible suspect. Investigators become even more convinced of Brenda's involvement after the coroner determines Tommy died on June 20th. The same day she met with her lover Eugene. The truck's missing, Brenda's gone. She's made contact with the family saying that Tommy was with her. We know that Tommy's not with her, that Tommy's actually the victim of a homicide. Hoping to pinpoint Brenda's location, detectives obtain records of the withdrawal on Tommy's bank cards. We've seen that there was some large ATM withdraws headed to Fort Lauderdale. One of the ATMs obtained that Brenda did in fact use Tommy's card and we got a still photo of her making a withdrawal. Tommy's bank records also reveal a purchase made at a Walmart store near the restaurant where Eugene told detectives he'd met Brenda a Saturday morning. I traveled to the Walmart in Lake City to request the video and a receipt of the items purchased. When I arrived, they pulled up the video. It showed a black female and a black male. They purchased cleaning supplies. The camera is too far away to identify the two individuals, but investigators spot a damning piece of evidence in their shopping cart. It's like purchased a rug. It had a certain pattern to it and I immediately recognized that pattern. As the same as the rug that Tommy killed was wrapped up in. Walmart's security provides additional footage from the register the couple used to check out. The closer angle enables detectives to identify the woman as Brenda. The man with her remains a mystery, but he's clearly not Eugene. So detectives once again reach out to the Broward County Sheriff's Office and request their informant take a look at the video. Coming up, a startling confession and investigators launch a man hunt for their killer. It's becoming clear to detectives that Brenda Watson was involved in the death of her husband. And another piece of the puzzle falls into place when they discover her connection to Jeffrey Love. No one knew her Jeffrey Love because he wasn't from Lake City. We found out that was Brenda's cousin. The only information we had we got from Broward County Sheriff's Office got from their informant saying that it was Brenda Watson, Mr. Love, who were in the residence. It was unclear at the time which one had actually done the shooting. We knew she was running away, she was involved, and we wanted to know why and what happened. To get answers, police need to find their suspects. Fortunately, a clue soon presents itself. I got a phone call from Broward County advising that they had located Tommy's truck down in Fort Lauderdale to Greyhound bus station. The detective feeling went to Broward County to process the truck. Nothing significant was found inside the truck but in the better of the truck was the mop that Brenda purchased from Walmart here in Lake City. The tape just went to the bus terminal and watched the video surveillance. We saw a male get out who we positively identified as Jeffrey Love and then we saw a female get out who we kind of knew it was Brenda. Didn't see a face but the statue looked as a Brenda Watson. Detectives watch Brenda and Jeffrey exit Tommy's truck and enter the bus terminal together. They each purchased tickets but to different destinations. She purchased a ticket back to South Carolina and she purchased a ticket to Canada. She was trying to get out to country. We were already behind. They had purchased the tickets on that Saturday so they had already been on the road three days. Brenda's bus is still in route but Jeffries has already made a stop in his home state of South Carolina. We decided to go ahead and try to apprehend the male suspect which was Jeffrey Love. A arrest warrant was issued for Jeffrey Love or Grand Theft due to the fact we saw him get out the red truck at the bus terminal in Fort Lauderdale. We didn't have enough for an arrest warrant for a murder so that was the easiest way to get him back to Florida. We contacted the law enforcement in South Carolina advising that we had a warrant for Jeffrey's arrest. They went to his residence where he was apprehended and placed in the custody. Jeffrey surprises investigators. by waving his Miranda rights and agreeing to an interview. But that's where his cooperation ends. He wasn't cooperating with us, he didn't want to tell us what his involvement was or what he knew about what happened. The attorney, he was going to be prosecuted in this case. She says ours. Go back and ask him. He can either be a witness to this or he should be a suspect. I'm ready to be a witness. There you go. No, we got him. He indicated that he was out on probation, that he didn't need to get caught up into that. We felt different. We felt that there was more that he knew than he was telling us. So we continue to hammer him. And I said what you did was send your ass off. I'm telling you, hang out. I know they know we're nothing, man. After several hours of interrogation, Jeffrey finally seems to realize his predicament. He thought he was just being arrested on the grand theft until I was like, no, you're about to get charged with. But homicide, I think. Like I said, you thought I told you that, and then I thought, I ain't got nothing to do with that. So if you're going to kill it, if you're going to choose to find me, put that there, I thought I do what I do. We're just going to what I do. So I didn't try to get in no trouble. But here it is, I'm in some trouble. Oh, it's the bull****** folks like I see. Y'all ain't going to let me go home. You know? It's not up to me. Who are you? It's up to you. That's when he saw her talking a little bit. She was trying to get me in there so I could see shit off. No, that's never power. Faced with the possibility of going back to prison, Jeffrey Love finally decides to come clean. Just laid out for Jeffrey, that's all we're asking. He threw up his hands, and that's when he kind of confessed on what happened. Jeffrey tells investigators he was at home on Saturday, June 20th, when Brenda called him out of the blue. She said, cool. She said, come down here. How's it going to work out? What's going on? What you don't got still, man? 15 minutes later, she called him and said that I got you a bus ticket. He called him and Brenda was going to go to some kind of family function that was his understanding. I got on a bus Saturday night. I came down to Lake City, Sunday. I got down here Sunday between 10 and 11. Jeffrey says Brenda picked him up at the bus station in Tommy's red pickup truck, but Tommy wasn't with her. They went to Walmart, purchased clean and supply, some trash bags, a throw rug. She purchased all this stuff. That didn't throw your attention to something. You're not-- you know what, though? Not really, no one said that. Because when she was getting all this stuff, guess what I was doing. I was looking at females. After the shopping spree, Brenda dropped him off at his motel and left for a few hours. When she came back to the motel, they got me down to Walmart over here. They went and got something to eat. After they ate, he went to the house. Jeffrey says that's when he found out the real reason Brenda asked him to come to Florida. When I got that door, she was trying to get me in there. And she said, oh no, I got to that inside. I was asked to get out of the power. But I'm looking out to eat some wrap and sheet. It's a [bleep] [bleep] away from him. It was clear to Jeffrey that Brenda wanted him to help cover up a murder. But he didn't want any part of it. He was adamant that he didn't do anything. He didn't help her do anything. He told her to take him to his cousins in Fort Lauderdale. He said Brenda decided that they needed to clean what they could clean and then head out on the way to Fort Lauderdale. Brenda had to out the weapon that was used to kill Tommy Kelly. Once Jeffrey got Fort Lauderdale, he said he told one of his cousins, his friends, that what happened in Lake City. With this person, I went and told someone else that was an informant. And the informant went and told me to take it. And that's when to take the contact with the sheriff's office. Jeffrey's confession matches the evidence collected, so detectives aren't climbed to believe him. Jeffrey Love's breaking point was when he realized that he was being charged with accessory to homicide. In the condition of, you know, for us not charging him, was if he testified against Brenda. But before Jeffrey can be put on the stand, Brenda has to be found and arrested before reaching her final destination in Canada. On a man hunt now, yeah, we're on a man hunt. They were trying to follow the busses, and it was not going to be a guarantee that they could get her, because she may have gotten off the bus at, you know, an unknown location. Florida police enlisted the help of US marshals and planned to detain Brenda at one of the stops. We missed the first one, which was in Georgia. Then we realized the next one would have been in Ohio, and then to Cleveland, but we were behind on those as well. The next one that we knew for sure, where she was going to be, that would be Erie Pennsylvania. Erie Pennsylvania is only 200 miles from Canada, so if investigators don't catch up with her there, she could get away entirely. We were contacted and advised that the bus had already did the transfer of passengers. We asked if the bus terminal could contact the bus driver and try to get him to say that they're having mechanical problems and would have to come back to the bus station. When the bus driver turned the bus around, the Erie Pennsylvania Police Department was there waiting. She was a homicide suspect, so she is to be considered armed and dangerous. The bus arrives in Erie with Brenda's still on board. She surrenders without a struggle. So myself and the tech of Sergeant Glenn Whitech get on a plane, and we head to Erie Pennsylvania to find out why she killed Tommy Kelly. And Brenda is ready to talk. How do you believe what's in my right mind? I don't know, man, but-- I have to believe what's in my right mind. I don't know, man, but I'm killed to get taken away from Sergeant Tommy Kelly. When investigators arrive in Pennsylvania to question Brenda Watson, she surprises them again. She's wanting to tell us that. She had killed Tommy Kelly and she wanted to read her statement. Her demeanor was calm. It was all spoken. Remorseful for what she done. According to Brenda, the living situation with her ex-husband had reached a breaking point. Tommy was seeing somebody else and not wanting to make a commitment to her. I think that this began to separate the off, get her to more jealous. Brenda says after everything, she still loved Tommy. So on Friday, June 19th, she presented him with a solution to their problem. She wanted to marry him again. Time to say it, though. He was married, then. Then he would marry him, though, before he would do anything. I told him that there was no need for him to talk to me that way. Brenda says she stormed out of the house, but couldn't bring herself to leave for good. So she came back later that night, hoping to make up. When she came in around 1 or 2, I believe, she said she was going to cook something evening. He wouldn't allow her to cook anything. She said that I was not cooking anything that night. Went to his room, locked the door, and pulled the breaker box, which I let it in three candles. Beated with him to turn their lights and eat new oil. Brenda says she sat in the dark the rest of the night, replaying their entire relationship in her head. She was tired of Tommy treating her like she was dirt, like she was a nobody. I guess you could say she's now. I went to the gun right and got the first gun I could feel. and I stopped. Still it against the dinner team. She waited for him to come out of his bedroom to go to the bathroom. When he opened the door, I couldn't touch him. She just fired roused until the gum was empty. I'm not a killer. I tried my best to leave tough, but it was time to come and get me. Until I found the piece of the key of me for taking your love. Love must have deeply sorry. Brenda is charged with first degree murder and stands trial in 2012. She decided to wave a jury trial and do a bench trial. No jurors, and judge makes a ruin. Brenda's attorneys attempt to lessen the impact of her confession by mounting a battered woman's defense. The defense lawyer said that it was self-defense. They wanted to paint a picture of my dad being his monster, but my dad won no monster. She never reported the ballast, so it was kind of hard to establish. Despite the lack of evidence, the argument seems to hold some sway with a judge. The judge indicated that he didn't feel that there was enough indication for a first degree murder charge, so she got second degree. She was sentenced to 30 years at little correction facility. When the judge read the verdict, she looked at me. I looked at her. It was very intense. And I just basically told her just for the sake of my own self that I forgive her. I forgive her, but she's going to get what she deserves now. This was a senseless crime that shouldn't happen. Brenda should have found other places to go or other people to stay with. She wasn't under a locking key or being held against her will. We lost my father. Brenda children lost their mother. They grandchildren lost their grandmother. Everybody took a loss here. She may have killed him in the flesh, but the lessons that we were taught, you know, how to love being independent, working hard, that will never leave us.