PACIFIC COUNTY, Wash. — A judge sentenced Charles Watts to 61 months for causing the death of Jeffrey Beach in Pacific County in July 2015.
Last month, Watts pleaded guilty to manslaughter and tampering with witness charges.
When Watts was arrested in May, prosecutors charged him with murder, but Pacific County Prosecutor Michael Rothman was not confident a jury would convict Watts on a murder charge and feared a manslaughter conviction might get thrown out in appeal over statute of limitations arguments.
Rothman said his office, with the Beach family’s blessing, agreed to take the guilty pleas in exchange for guaranteed prison time.
→ Continue reading at King 5
