Suspect Forced Two Clothing Store Employees To The Basement And Shot Them In The Head. He Hasn't Been Caught.
Aug. 4 2022, Published 2:33 p.m. ET
Two coworkers were closing their big and tall shop in Delaware when someone entered and ended their lives. The workers were forced to the basement and shot them in the head.
Who pulled the trigger remains a mystery — even 17 later.
On Dec. 26, 2004, Jessica Watson and Matthew Marcerato were working at the Casual Male Big and Tall in Wilmington, Delaware. They were finishing up the late shift when someone came into the store.
The suspect forced them to the basement, where they were both shot in the back of the head, according to the Delaware News Journal. The killer fled and hasn’t been seen since. He took some cash before leaving the store.
"It's hard to wrap your brain around who could do such a senseless, heartless thing," Paulette Watson, Jessica’s mom, said.
In the Christmases since, the Watson family has taken to building a memorial outside the store. Last Christmas, they returned with balloons and candles to remember the 22-year-old.
Paulette Watson said they think about Jessica every day and not just during the holiday season.
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"We're a very close-knit family," Paulette Watson told the newspaper. "No one never ever forgets."
While it’s been nearly two decades since the killing, Paulette Watson said they still have hope it can get solved. Until then, they will continue to demand justice for Jessica and Matthew’s murder.
In 2014, Matthew’s friend Tony Castro talked with NBC Philadelphia about how hard it was the day he lost his best bud.
“He was very young and very innocent,” Castro said of friend Matthew Macerato, 18. “It was just really tough for me.”
Like the Watson family, Castro hoped at that time that someone would come forward to give police information. The friends and family of both victims are still waiting for that day.
“I’m pretty much trying to get everyone who would support him and Jessica at one place,” Castro said, according to the NBC affiliate. “I want to remind people about the story. I don’t ever want it to stop.”
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Delaware State Police at (302) 739-5939.
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