Jasper Frederick "Jack" Watkins Jr. (March 21, 1920 - May 12, 1996) was a man whose body was found in a trunk in the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Loudoun County, Virginia.
He was identified in January 2003. A woman who had been financially exploiting him was convicted of his murder.
Case[]
On May 14, 1996, a patrolling sheriff's deputy found a steamer trunk bound with tape near a trail access point in the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Loudoun County, Virginia, containing a duffel bag, which contained another duffel bag inside. Inside the second bag was a man's body; the man was half-naked and emaciated. The man had died of stragulation and had blunt force trauma to the head, and had died two days prior to discovery. Toxic levels of sleep medication was present in his system.
Identification[]
In January 2003, the Department of Defense allowed the FBI access to their internal fingerprint database. The man's prints were compared to those in the military records, and the man was identified as Jasper "Jack" Watkins Jr.
In November 1994, Watkins, who was recently widowed, came in contact with Nancy Siegel, who had sold him funeral and interment services. As Watkins and Siegel developed a relationship, Siegel had been using Watkins' bank accounts to make extravagant purchases, diverting his social security payments to her address, and persuaded him to take out multiple mortgages which she would later use for herself, resulting in Watkins accumulating extensive debt. She had isolated him from the rest of his family, leading them to lose contact with him. By April 1996, Watkins had liquidated most of his assets, leading to Siegel selling his house. Afterwards, she attempted to have Watkins wrongfully committed to psychiatric care.
In the years following his death, Siegel continued to collect in Watkins' social security and retirement payments, leading to an investigation. In February 2003, Siegel was arrested in a sting operation in Ellicott City, Maryland, where it was discovered that she had a lengthy criminal history relating to theft and fraud. Siegel was indicted in January 2004 for murder, theft of government property, identity theft, and wire, bank, and mail fraud.
Siegel, fearing Watkins would expose her, started plotting his murder, where she began drugging and starving him before ultimately strangling him to death. In March 2009, she was found guilty of second-degree murder, wire, mail, and bank fraud, identity theft, and witness tampering. She was sentenced to just over 33 years in prison.
Media[]
- The case was featured on Unsolved Mysteries on November 26, 2001.
- The case was featured on America's Most Wanted.
Gallery[]
