By WECT Staff | February 12, 2021 at 9:09 AM EST – Updated February 12 at 12:10 PM
COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – Investigators in Columbus County have arrested a man in an unsolved homicide dating back to 2003.
Watson, who was Williamson’s live-in boyfriend at the time, allegedly found her body in her Chadbourn home on Dec. 24, 2003, and contacted law enforcement.
All leads in the case were exhausted until a Facebook post featuring her murder in 2016, when investigators received new information identifying Watson as a possible suspect.
Authorities found Watson in a homeless shelter in New York, according to the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office. He voluntarily interviewed with police and was later extradited to Columbus County, where he was later booked in jail without bond.
“Many investigators have spent countless hours reviewing this case, searching for Kathy’s killer,” the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Friday morning. “Columbus County Sheriff’s Office is proud to announce that this case is closed. The closure process can finally begin for Kathy’s family and loved ones. Sheriff Greene would like to thank the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, New York Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office, and all Columbus County Sheriff’s Office Investigators and former Investigators for their dedication and persistence to solve this case.”
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