{"id":10396,"date":"2026-02-24T23:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/michigan-jury-convicts-man-in-killing-of-poker-player-as-body-remains-missing\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T23:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:38:20","slug":"michigan-jury-convicts-man-in-killing-of-poker-player-as-body-remains-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/michigan-jury-convicts-man-in-killing-of-poker-player-as-body-remains-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Jury Convicts Man In Killing Of Poker Player As Body Remains Missing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>A Michigan jury convicted Lansing resident Willie James Jr. of second degree murder in the 2021 killing of Andrew Watson II, concluding a two week trial built largely on circumstantial evidence.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Authorities never recovered a body linked to the case.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Prosecutors said the two men planned to meet for a poker game before Watson vanished.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Sentencing is scheduled for April 15.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p>Prosecutors argued that Watson left the home of his girlfriend on January 12, 2021 carrying between $10,000 and $15,000 in cash to attend a poker game with James. Watson, known among local players by the nickname \u201cMoneybags,\u201d was never seen again.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators later examined the vehicle of James and found several suspicious details. Testimony described a missing section of carpet from the floorboard, a large amount of cash inside the vehicle, and blood identified as belonging to Watson. Evidence also included a mark on the front passenger door that investigators believed came from a bullet.<\/p>\n<p>Police learned the car had been detailed twice within days after Watson was reported missing, yet traces of blood remained.<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-items box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"box-100 space-org-3-item relative border-tb mt-1 \">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-logo-title-box box-100 text-left relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-box box-25 relative img-radius\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/7-bit-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t<amp-img alt=\"7Bit Casino\" src=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7BitCasino.png.webp\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" layout=\"fixed\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/amp-img><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-title box-25 relative py-10\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/7-bit-casino\/\" title=\"7Bit Casino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">7Bit Casino<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t<strong>177% up to 5BTC + 77 <strong>\u00a0Free Spins<\/strong>!<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"pt-1\">New players only. Exclusive Welcome Bonus of 177% + 77 Free Spins\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating box-25 relative mb-10\">\n<div class=\"rating-box text-center box-100  relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating-box relative\">\n<div class=\"stars\"><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-rating-notice relative\">Casino<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/7-bit-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\tVisit Site<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>James was already serving prison time for assault and weapons convictions dating to 2013 and was on parole when the killing occurred. He had been scheduled for release in November 2030 but now faces the possibility of life imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>During the trial, James denied responsibility and claimed he had loaned the vehicle to his son. He testified that an associate of his son committed the killing and disposed of the body in a dumpster at a nearby apartment complex. He also blamed another man who is now deceased.<\/p>\n<p>Ingham County Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Bill Crino rejected that account and told jurors James was telling an <em>\u201cabsurd, false story uncorroborated by any evidence.\u201d<\/em> He also told the jury:<em> \u201cDon\u2019t be hustled by the hustler.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jurors ultimately sided with prosecutors and returned a guilty verdict.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/poker-news\/michigan-jury-convicts-man-in-killing-of-poker-player-as-body-remains-missing\/\">Michigan Jury Convicts Man In Killing Of Poker Player As Body Remains Missing<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Michigan jury convicted Lansing resident Willie James Jr. of second degree murder in the 2021 killing of Andrew Watson II, concluding a two week trial built largely on circumstantial evidence. Good to Know Authorities never recovered a body linked to the case. Prosecutors said the two men planned to meet for a poker game [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poker"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}