CORSICANA, Texas—The murder of Shelley Watkins has been on former Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt’s mind for 23 years.

“This case has never been closed,” Nutt said. “We have probably worked on this case some every year since it happened… When we hear something, it doesn’t always lead to the piece of information we need but it helps keep it alive.”

According to the Henderson County Crimestoppers Facebook page, Shelley was last seen alive on Sept. 6, 1993 at her residence in Corsicana. On Sept. 13, 1993, Shelley’s body was discovered by fishermen in the Trinity River.

She was reported missing by family members but not immediately. Nutt said there were some days between the last time Shelley was seen alive and the actual time her disappearance was reported to the Navarro County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a Sept. 13, 2013, article published by The Athens Review titled ‘So many questions, few answers,’ Shelley’s body was found floating — but her killer or killers never intended for that to happen, as she had been weighted down with cement blocks which were secured by chains.

In December of 1993, Shelley’s husband, Jerry Mack Watkins, was indicted for her murder and pled not guilty at his arraignment the following February. In July of 1994, news surfaced that the Henderson County District Attorney E. Ray Andrews had attempted bribery in the state’s case against Jerry Mack Watkins — offering to make the case disappear for the right price.

Andrews eventually admitted the attempted extortion and resigned from office, according to the article. The charges against Jerry Mack Watkins were dismissed and the file at the Henderson County District Clerk’s office states the case was dismissed due to “insufficient evidence.”

But Nutt says the case is not closed and they are still searching for Shelley’s killer or killers.

“This case can come back to the grand jury. It says there needs to be new testimony or evidence, but doesn’t define what that has to be,” he said.

Major Bryan Tower with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office is currently working the case and fully agrees with Nutt that the case has not gone cold.

“We get calls all the time — ‘Oh we are glad to see you re-opened this case.’ Well, this case never was closed. Even when the indictment came, that didn’t mean the investigation stopped,” Tower said.

In fact, Tower said that after running something in a local newspaper in 2009, they received quite a few Crimestoppers tips that led investigators all over Texas to interview people. Tower said the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department gladly traces any tips received.

“We will take any and every tip. What we are really looking for is first-hand information,” Tower said. “Corsicana is a small town and we get a lot of opinions, which we will track down, but the piece we are looking for is that first-hand information — that somebody saw something, that somebody directly involved said this or that.”

Both Nutt and Tower believe that someone out there holds the key that will unlock this case.

“Someone has been carrying a piece of information around with them for twenty-some-odd years and we are hoping that person will come forward so we can get closure in this case,” Tower said.

Nutt has something specific he would like to say to anyone holding onto information that could finally bring justice to Shelley and her family:

“Come forward. Let justice be served and the truth come out — completely.”

The Daily Sun reached out for comment to the current Henderson County District Attorney R. Scott McKee. He declined to offer any details on the case because it is still under active investigation.

Anyone wishing to report information on the murder of Shelley Watkins may contact Major Bryan Tower at 903-677-6331. 

Miller writes for The Corsicana Daily Sun in Corsicana, Texas.