Forty-year-old murder case about to resolve in Lee County

DIXON – Forty years after the murder, and 10 years after he was charged for his role in it, Steven Watts is set to enter a guilty plea Tuesday in Lee County Court.

The question is, to what charge?

Watts, 66, of Berryville, Arkansas, at one time reportedly made a deal in the death of Gary Dawson, 30, of Peoria that would sentence him to an undisclosed term of probation – a term not legally possible if the charge remains first-degree murder.

Dawson was beaten and stabbed 14 times on Aug. 28, 1983. His naked and duct-taped-bound body was found the next day dumped in a pigsty north of Franklin Grove.

Watts will be the last of three men, all former members of the same motorcycle gang, to be sentenced.

Terry Bobell, 76, of Chillicothe, pleaded guilty Aug. 2, 2018, to obstruction of justice and was put on probation for a year and a half.

His brother, Gordon “Kent” Bobell, 73, also of Chillicothe – who initially was suspected of killing Dawson because his bloody fingerprint was found on a roll of duct tape found in the hog pen – pleaded guilty Oct. 18, 2019 to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years’ probation.

Each of the Bobells originally was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, which is common – although there was only one death, each charge came with different possible elements of the crime that the prosecution had to prove, giving jurors more option for murder should they choose to convict.

The lesser charges to which the brothers pleaded came as a result of plea bargains.

According to the prosecution, Watts, then a Peoria marijuana dealer, hired the Bobells to deal with Dawson because Watts’ brother, Bill, owed Dawson more than $90,000 for drugs, and Dawson thought Watts (who was having an affair with Dawson’s wife) should pay it.

Dawson, whose hands, legs and mouth were duct-taped, died of blunt-force trauma to the head and suffocation and was beaten by more than one person, his autopsy showed.

While former Lee County State’s Attorney Matthew Klahn once acknowledged that Watts was offered “leniency for his truthful cooperation and testimony” against the Bobells, new evidence that came to light subsequently indicated that Watts actually killed Dawson.

According to previous court proceedings, Watts told at least one person that he participated in the beating, pummeling Dawson in the head with the butt of a .357 Magnum.

As of Thursday, Watts, who has been free on bond since September 2014 and not generally required to make in-person court appearances, still was charged with one count of fist-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison.

Details of a plea bargain, if one still exists, won’t be made public until the hearing.

Lee County State’s Attorney Charley Boonstra and Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Brim are prosecuting. Watts is represented by Public Defender Robert Thompson. Judge Jacquelyn Ackert is presiding.

Boonstra took over as state’s attorney on Oct., 21, 2019, shortly after Klahn was appointed an associate judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit, which includes Lee County.