The ex-boyfriend of Syracuse student Jenni-Lyn Watson, whose body was found in a remote storage shed near Clay Central Park today, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in connection with her death, WSYR-TV reported.
Steven Pieper, 21, was arrested shortly after 4:00 p.m. and appeared in Clay Town Court just after 7:30 tonight.
Clay Town Justice Brian Lauri read a court document to Pieper which accuses him of intentionally causing the death of Watson by a manner that has yet to be determined.
It went on to say that Pieper removed Watson’s body from the family’s home along Donegal Way in Clay and then transported and dumped her remains in the Clay Central Park.
Pieper was being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center without bail because of the charge and was expected back in Clay Town Court on Friday.
Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said Watson, 20, and Pieper had an intermittent 18-month relationship. Watson decided she wanted to end the relationship in October, but this was not clear to Pieper, Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick said Pieper was a suspect early in the investigation. He visited the Watson home some time between 11:00am and 12:00pm on Nov. 19, the day Watson disappeared.
Investigators believe Watson was killed inside her home and then taken to the area near Clay Central Park where her body was discovered.
Watson’s body showed no visible signs of a struggle, Fitzpatrick said. Her body is at the medical examiner’s office, where an autopsy will be performed Sunday morning.
The area in which Watson’s body was found was well-hidden and not visible until it was discovered by officers of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department at 11:00am.
“It appears whoever put her there attempted to conceal her presence there,” Fitzpatrick was quoted as saying by the Syracuse Post-Standard. “It appears she was laid flat and covered up with vegetation.”
Watson, was a ballerina and dance major in her junior year at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. She practiced ballet for 16 years and had performed with the prestigious Moscow Ballet.