By  Seamus McGraw

(Continued)

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For Foy, Watts' conviction on Nov. 18, 2004, was the end of a battle that had run the course of his entire adult life, a battle to finally win justice for a young woman whose name he didn't even know at the time, but whose last horrible moments of life played out before his eyes.

The details of Coral Watts' bloody rampage are well-known. They are laid out on this Web site in "The Sunday Morning Slasher," Rachael Bell's chilling account of the serial killer's career —  which recounts how Watts, who told police he had killed some 80 women, entered into a plea bargain with Texas prosecutors in which he was convicted only of two counts of aggravated burglary. Though Watts was sentenced to 60 years in prison, the story continues: a quirk in Texas law forced authorities to schedule him for release in 2005.

It was only after Joe Foy, who had for years struggled with authorities and with himself over what he had seen in Michigan years earlier, finally told his story in court that Watts was convicted of one murder — the 1979 knife slaying of Helen Dutcher — and was sentenced to spent the rest of his life in prison.

Helen Mae Dutcher

But in all the coverage of Watts' story, comparatively little attention has been paid to Foy's ordeal. In most accounts, he is a footnote. But last month, Foy agreed to be interviewed by Crime Library, and has also agreed to discuss the case with readers on Crime Library's discussion boards. His story, now told for the first time in all its graphic detail, is a story of courage and commitment, and pain. Even now, half a lifetime since he witnessed Dutcher's brutal slaying, Foy is still haunted by the events of that night.

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