Linda Watson murder case: A timeline of events explored

The triple homicide case involving single Tucson mother Linda Watson, soon to be covered in Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered's upcoming episode on March 8, started out as a missing person's case in August 2000, when the 35-year-old disappeared from her house during a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband David Watson.

Linda's case, however, soon went cold, eventually leading to the shooting deaths of her mother Marilyn Cox and the latter's friend Renee Farnsworth. The missing mother's remains were discovered not long after.

However, it took years for the skeletal remains to be correctly identified and authorities to finally make an arrest in the case, which took a twisted turn into a triple homicide over the years, with all killings connecting to one person, David Watson, and one issue, the custody battle.

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Timeline of events explored, starting from Linda Watson's disappearance to the sentencing to David Watson

On August 20, 2000, Linda Watson was last seen by her mother Marilyn Cox. She reportedly went to church first and then had lunch with Marilyn before getting dropped off at her home in the 2600 block of West Curtis Road.

The following day, on August 21, a repairman found the backdoor to Linda Watson's house unlocked. Inside, he discovered visible signs of a struggle, including a broken cup and drops of blood.

Reports state that on the same day, the single mother missed an appointment with her attorney to file a restraining order against her ex-husband David Watson, who served as the captain of the fire department at the time. Two days later, on August 23, Linda failed to show up at David's house to pick up their daughter Jordynn, who was only four years old at the time. The following day, he missed a custody hearing.

In the years that followed until 2003, her mother Marilyn attempted to investigate the 35-year-old's disappearance and also made multiple media appearances, pleading with people to assist her in solving her daughter's missing case to no avail. She also became embroiled in a two-year legal dispute with David Watson and his then-wife, Rosemary, concerning her grand-daughter's visitation rights.

However, on May 7, 2003, Cox, 63, and her good friend and neighbor Renee Farnsworth, 53, were gunned down in the former's driveway after her first unsupervised visit with grand-daughter Jordynn. The shooting occurred after the two women had dropped the girl off.

In October of that year, Linda Watson's remains were found in the desert west of Tucson, along with the bodies of illegal immigrants. Reports stated that the body had decomposed beyong recognition. Authorities were only able to identify the remains discovered in the desert as Linda in 2011 using DNA evidence.

Finally, on April 25, 2015, Sheriff's deputies were able to arrest David Watson, who had been the primary suspect since the beginning, in connection with the triple homicide. Prosecutors subsequently charged him with the murders of Linda Watson, Marilyn Cox, and ReNee Farnsworth.

After David's first trial, which took over two months, the jury failed to reach a verdict and declared a hung jury on November 22, 2016. The second trial began the following January and the jury ultimately found him guilty of the triple homicide on March 17. He was convicted of one count of second-degree murder in Linda's case and one count each of first-degree murder in Marilyn and Reene's murders.

David Watson was sentenced on April 17, 2017, receiving a 16-year sentence and 25 years each of the life sentences. He was sentenced to 66 years to life in prison in total.

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Secrets of the Desert airs on Wednesday at 8.00 pm ET on Oxygen.