Cairo bank robbery suspect may not have acted alone

CAIRO, Ill. -- The only survivor of a deadly bank robbery attempt told authorities her assailant was communicating with someone via walkie-talkie when he forced her and two other women into an employee lounge and attacked them with a knife, according to federal search warrants unsealed earlier this week.

The warrants seek equipment and data for cellphones involved in the case against James Nathaniel Watts.

Watts, 29, of Cairo is charged with killing Anita Grace, 52, of Olive Branch, Illinois, and Nita Smith, 52, of Wickliffe, Kentucky, during what court documents characterize as a failed attempt to rob First National Bank of Cairo.

A third victim -- a 23-year-old woman who worked with Grace and Smith at the bank -- sustained critical injuries in the May 15 attack, federal court records state.

According to the search warrants unsealed Wednesday, their attacker could be seen on surveillance video, communicating on a walkie-talkie.

The surviving victim reported hearing responses on the radio, the warrants state.

Watts was arrested less than four hours after the attacks, following a high-speed chase and a two-hour standoff with police at a railroad trestle spanning the Ohio River.

The warrants outline a conversation during that standoff in which Watts told law enforcement agents he "made sure" the bank employees were dead.

"In an effort to calm him down, agents falsely told him that the employees were not dead," the warrants state. "Watts responded, 'Yes, they are. I made sure of it.' Also during the standoff, Watts was allowed to call his mother and during that conversation told his mother, 'I killed that woman.'"

The warrants reveal other previously unreported details about the case, including the presence of the walkie-talkie, which suggests the killer may not have been acting alone when he approached the three women as they left the bank about 5:15 p.m. that day.

Warrants state that officers found a cellphone and a large handbag belonging to one victim in the structure of the railroad trestle where Watts tried to conceal himself.

A search of the handbag turned up documents confirming the identity of its owner and three pillowcases stained with what appeared to be blood, one of them containing .380 ammunition and a folding knife covered in what appeared to be "blood, hair and other DNA matter," the warrants state.

During the investigation, authorities learned Watts, accompanied by a woman, had bought a set of walkie-talkies and a cellphone from the Cape Girardeau Walmart the morning of May 15, the warrants state.

The woman gave agents permission to search her iPhone, which contained a series of text messages in which she, Watts and another man discussed the location of a firearm and ammunition and the need for her to bring those items to Watts and the other man, the warrants state.

Watts and the other man also exchanged text messages planning to meet at a specific location after the bank robbery, according to the warrants.

Jim Porter, first assistant federal prosecutor for the Southern Division of Illinois, said no other suspects have been charged in the case.

He declined to comment on whether additional charges are expected in the future.

If convicted, Watts could face the death penalty.

Online court records show Watts has prior offenses ranging from passing bad checks to molesting a child.

He is on the Illinois State Police sex offender registry.

The Southern Illinoisan newspaper reported in May that Watts knew Grace through an Illinois forgery case in which he pleaded guilty to 11 counts of forgery.

Grace, who was the bank branch president, called police in 2009 when 11 checks Watts had cashed were returned to the bank after being found to have been reported stolen, the newspaper reported.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

800 Washington Ave., Cairo, IL

Memorial

The Cairo Public Library is raising money to install a memorial to Anita Grace and Nita Jo Smith at Halliday Park, Ninth Street and Washington Avenue.

A pair of pink marble benches will be placed in the park with Grace and Smith's names inscribed on them, and a tree and marker will be placed in honor of a third victim who survived the May 15 attack.

Donations may be sent to:

Cairo Public Library Memorial Project

P.O. Box 151

Cairo, IL 62914

For more: Call 618-734-1840.