A Connecticut man heard from the family members of Perrie Mason before he was sentenced to three decades behind bars in her killing.
A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday in the gruesome killing of a Meriden mother whose body was found near a Waterbury recycling center days after she was reported missing in 2019.
Jason Watson, 42, was handed down the sentence during an emotional hearing in New Haven Superior Court where family members of 31-year-old Perrie Mason described the impact her death left on the lives of everyone who was close to her and a void that no prison term could ever possibly fill.
Watson — Mason’s ex-boyfriend — faced sentencing after pleading guilty to murder in November as well as a charge of disorderly conduct.
Watson was initially only charged in a domestic violence incident involving him and Mason, though investigators said he was the prime suspect in her killing as authorities investigated her death.
He was charged in her killing nearly 10 months after her charred body was discovered in August 2019 in the area of Bay State Textiles in Waterbury where Watson had worked, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice. Mason had been reported missing days earlier, which state prosecutor Stacey Miranda said Monday was one of the ways Mason attempted to cover up the killing.
In the hours after Mason first went missing, investigators said Watson was seen on security cameras driving her car at 3 a.m. to the Waterbury recycling center and then at a Walmart buying lighter fluid, two rolls of plastic sheeting and a Minnie Mouse towel, according to Courant archives.
Four days later, police searching the woods behind that recycling center came upon four layers of overlapped plastic garbage bags hiding charred remains, according to Courant archives. In other bags and metallic cans, investigators found more bone fragments, records show.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded it appeared Mason was killed and then crushed before her remains were set ablaze, according to police.
Family members during the sentencing said Mason was trying to get out of the relationship and frequently exchanged text messages with her sister, Vao Horlback, during which Mason disclosed to her that she had found two apps on her cell phone that she believed were being used to track her. The sisters continued exchanging text messages but did so in Samoan because only one of the apps was able to be removed from the phone.
During their communications, Horlback said at the sentencing, Mason described to her an incident in which Watson allegedly choked her until she passed out.
Horlback told the court she and her sister were very close and talked about three times each day. She said she knew something was wrong the moment she did not hear back from Mason right away.
Horlback, who described Watson as a “monster,” pleaded with Superior Court Judge Gerald L. Harmon to sentence Mason’s killer to 31 years in prison to represent each year of her life.
“Thirty years is not enough,” Horlback said. “There is nothing I can say that will have you understand the toll this has taken.
“The kids have to live without their mother,” the sister added. “I have to live without my sister.”
Horlback said her nephew, one of Mason’s two children, has nothing to say to Watson and hopes he rots in jail.
While some family members of Mason had obvious feelings of resentment toward Watson, others during the sentencing seemed to have some sympathy toward him.
Mason’s older son spoke virtually during the hearing and said he’s happy with his life at the moment and hopes Watson will write to him from prison.
“I miss my mom, but I know she’s here, just not physically,” the son said.
Mason’s older sister, Chana Mason, attended the proceedings and acknowledged the difficulties Watson’s family members have also been going through.
“I know it’s hard for them, too,” Chana Mason said.
The older sister said Perrie Mason’s life was “short, but sweet.” She said she believes Watson was “in love, angry and hurt” and that “it went too far.” Chana Mason could be seen embracing Watson’s mother after the proceeding as the two shed tears.
“I didn’t get the chance to meet Jason, but I definitely won’t get to meet him now,” Chana Mason said during the hearing.
Watson spoke only a few words during the proceeding and when asked if he had anything to say before Harmon imposed the 30-year sentence, only answered, “No, your honor.”
In handing down the sentence, Harmon said the prison term will keep Watson locked up until he is well into his 50s or his 60s.
Harmon said he hopes Watson will learn some type of lesson while he’s locked up and spend every day thinking about what he has done and how he’s going to live with it.
