PACIFIC COUNTY, Wash. — It took nearly nine years, but a Vancouver, Washington, man was charged for a 2015 homicide.
Charles Watts entered not guilty pleas to murder and manslaughter charges in Pacific County Friday afternoon.
A judge ordered Watts to be held on $1 million bail.
Detectives arrested Watts last week, accusing the 43-year-old of the murder of Jeff Beach in 2015.
Investigators said Beach was beaten to death in Long Beach on July 3, 2015. He was in town for a softball tournament that was set to start the next day.
According to court documents, Beach touched a woman inappropriately and got in a fight with friends and family of the woman, including Watts.
The woman Beach is accused of assaulting is Watts’ daughter, said investigators.
Detectives said witnesses told them Watts beat up Beach and left him in the sand dunes.
When Beach’s friends found him, they called paramedics, and Beach was flown to a Portland hospital, where he later died.
“He (Watts) is looking at about 15 years in prison,” said Pacific County Prosecutor Michael Rothman in court Friday.
“It’s been roughly a nine-year cover-up,” said Rothman, arguing for the judge to continue to hold Watts on a $1 million bond.
Detectives said Watts initially told friends and family members not to tell police he had been involved in the fight or even in Long Beach that night.
But when detectives re-interviewed some of those witnesses last year, several changed their stories and said Watts was responsible for Beach’s death.
”It seems that the passing of time worked to our favor to allow individuals who have been sitting with this internally for a long time to be able to let it go,” said Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia.
Garcia said he assigned a detective to the case shortly after he was elected sheriff in 2022.
Laurie Beach, the victim’s mother, said she will always be grateful to the sheriff’s office.
“They cared about us and getting the case solved,” said Beach.
She said her son will be remembered for his infectious smile and his love of softball.
“I am proud to be his mother,” said Beach.