
ROYERSFORD, Pennsylvania -- A former friend and business partner of slain Pennsylvania mother Jennifer Brown was arrested this week for her slaying, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele announced.
Blair Watts, 33, was taken into custody on Thursday morning and charged with first-degree murder, theft by unlawful taking, and fraudulently accessing a device.

"For 37 days since this devoted mother was reported missing, detectives have been accumulating evidence, piece by piece, bringing into focus what happened to Jennifer and who murdered her," Steele said on Thursday. "That picture shows Blair Watts murdered Jennifer Brown on Jan. 3rd, then moved her body and ultimately buried her in a shallow grave."
Jennifer Brown, 43, was found murdered about two weeks after she went missing last month. Brown was originally reported missing on by Watts, who told police that she had failed to pick up her 8-year-old son from the school bus that afternoon. During a news conference Thursday, District Attorney Kevin Steele said investigators believe Watts killed Brown, 43, and tried to cover his tracks before reporting her missing on Jan. 4.

Her son had spent the night at Watts' residence the night before on Jan. 3 to "give Brown a break,"
"Yet Brown, who was described as an attentive and loving mother, had not sent any clothing or the boy's necessary daily medications with him for the sleepover," Steele said.
According to investigators, Watts picked up Brown's son from the bus stop on Jan. 3, telling the child that his mom was at the grocery store and he was going to sleep over.
Watts and the boy went to Brown's home while the child waited in the vehicle. Detectives say the boy noticed Watts came out with his mom's personal cellphone, which he recognized because his picture is used on the lock screen.

The next morning, police say records show both Watts' and Brown's cellphones traveled out of Brown's home and into the area of North Lewis Road and West Ridge Pike before Brown's cellphone became inactive.
During the investigation, a cadaver dog indicated human remains were in the backseat of both Watts' car and his wife's car.
Watts told investigators. Steele said pieces of a broken hair clip were found in Brown's home and in her shallow grave, leading investigators to believe Brown was killed in her home.
After the two-week search that ensued, Brown's body was eventually found buried in a shallow grave behind a warehouse in Royersford on Jan. 18. A medical examiner determined that she was murdered and had three broken ribs and she appears to have died from asphyxiation. She had no indication of gunshot or stab wounds, Steele said.

Before her death, Brown and Watts had planned to open a restaurant together in late January called "Birdies Kitchen" in Phoenixville.
Detectives say that, on the afternoon of Jan. 3, two cash transfers were made to accounts that Watts controlled. One was for $9,000 and a second was for $8,000. The money was never part of a written agreement between the two, Steele said.
Furthermore, Steele said the owners of the Phoenixville property told detectives that while they met with Watts in August about renting the property they never signed a lease with Watts, received money from him, or gave Watts a key to the property.They did allow Watts to hang a banner on the building and store some equipment there, Steele said. No word had been done on the building to prepare it to open as a restaurant.
On Dec. 28 one of the property owners told Watts they would not be moving forward with the lease, Steele said, and Watts allegedly threatened to sue.
Then, on Jan. 4, Watts showed up at the property unannounced, Steele said, saying he now had the money for the lease.

"For 37 days since this devoted mother was reported missing, detectives have been accumulating evidence, piece by piece, bringing into focus what happened to Jennifer and who murdered her," said Steele. "That picture shows Blair Watts murdered Jennifer Brown on Jan. 3rd, then moved her body and ultimately buried her in a shallow grave."