Lost Laurel Ep. 7: Stefanie Watson Cold Case

Richard Friend, creator of local history website, “Lost Laurel,” gives a special presentation on the 1982 brutal murder of Stefanie Watson that shocked Laurel, Maryland. The case remained unsolved—and seemingly forgotten—for 30 years, until he inadvertently helped break it open. Twenty-seven year old Stefanie Watson disappeared July 22, 1982. Her blood-stained car was found on July 26 not far from her apartment. Her partial remains were found six weeks later. The murderer was never caught. Intrigued by the story he remembered from his childhood, Richard Friend found back issues of the Laurel Leader newspaper to be a wealth of detailed information on the events of 1982. His 2012 blog post prompted cold case detectives to take a fresh look at the case. On Friday, June 21, 2014 Prince George's County police charged John Ernest Walsh, 68, with first degree murder in connection with Watson's death after his DNA was matched with DNA taken from Watson's car. Friend had the honor of sitting with Stefanie's family at Walsh's trial in March 2016, where the killer took an Alford plea and was sentenced to 33 years. CREDITS: Hosted + Directed by: Richard Friend Executive Producer: Joyce Jackson Special Guest: Todd McEvers Photos: Baltimore Sun Archives Richard Friend | Lost Laurel HistoricAerials.com John Floyd II Laurel Historical Society Laurel Leader MarylandMissing.com Peter and Martha (Kalbach) Lewnes Prince George’s County Police Stefanie Watson Family Washington Post Archives Music: “Easy Lemon” “Enter the Maze” “Night on the Docks” “On the Ground” “Open Those Bright Eyes” “Simplex” by Kevin MacLeod “Heart of Glass” “Call Me” by Blondie “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John Special Thanks: Donnie Conty Family of Stefanie Watson: Peg Adams Kate Adams Leanne Cashman Christy Torres freesfx.co.uk Laurel Historical Society Laurel Leader Laurel Police Department: Chief Rich McLaughlin Kevin Leonard Pete Lewnes Todd McEvers Mark Nelson Audrey, Rodney, Ronald & Tina Pressley Prince George’s County Police: Sgt. Rick Fulginiti Det. David Morissette Det. Bernard Nelson, Jr. Lt. Shané Waddy Adam Walsh case photos and excerpt from the book “Bringing Adam Home” by Les Standiford Lucas Task Force photos and documents courtesy of VicFeazell.com 1981 Aerial photo courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey Contemporary aerial photos courtesy of Bing.com and Google THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF “FAIR USE” IN TITLE 17, § 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED. This film is not for sale, and is produced pro bono for Laurel TV and the City of Laurel, Maryland. Based on the July 9, 2015 Laurel Historical Society presentation at the Laurel Police Department’s Partnership Activity Center:    • Cold Case Solved: Richard Friend Discusses...   Follow Lost Laurel on Facebook: facebook.com/lostlaurel www.lostlaurel.com www.laurelhistoryboys.com