Man convicted in Amherst murder faces capital charge in prison death

LYNCHBURG - One man was convicted of a 2007 murder in Amherst County.

The other man pleaded guilty to a 1983 murder in Lynchburg.

Both were serving their sentences in state prison in Wise County.

Now one of them is dead, and the other has been charged with murder.

Robert Charles Gleason Jr., serving a life sentence in Wallens Ridge State Prison for the slaying of a Madison Heights man, was indicted on a capital murder charge on July 20, Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ron Elkins said on Thursday.

Elkins said prison guards discovered Harvey Grey Watson, Gleason’s cellmate, unresponsive in his cell on May 8, in suspicious conditions.

“(They) found him with some sheets tied around his arms and legs. He was tied to his bed, and he was passed away,“ Elkins said.

“The only other person in there with him was Mr. Gleason.“

Elkins said autopsy reports showed Watson died of asphyxiation.

Gleason was sentenced to life in prison for the May 8, 2007, slaying of Michael Kent Jamerson in Amherst County.

Jamerson’s body was discovered down an embankment, within view of a pull-off on Virginia 130 in Amherst County, about 1.4 miles from the Rockbridge County line.

Before the sentencing for that murder, Gleason told a judge he had no remorse for killing Jamerson.

“I have no regret for what happened to Mike Jamerson at all,“ he said. “I gave that man what needed to be done.“

Watson was serving his sentence after pleading guilty to killing a Glasgow man and wounding two others in the summer of 1983 in Lynchburg.

Watson admitted to firing a 10-gauge shotgun twice into a neighbor’s home on Bedford Avenue, killing 31-year-old Charles Leslie Fitz.

The blasts also wounded another man and the then-13-year-old niece of the murder victim. Watson received a sentence of 100 years.

Elkins said Virginia State Police investigated Watson’s death, and his office is ready to continue with the case.

“We’re prepared and ready to go forward,“ he said.

Virginia Department of Corrections representatives declined to comment on the case.

Virginia State Police representatives did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Thompson is a staff writer for the News & Advance in Lynchburg, Va.