Court filing claims Amber Waterman's rights were violated during murder investigation
BENTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The attorneys for Amber Waterman, a Missouri woman accused of kidnapping and killing a Benton County woman and her unborn child, claim their defendant's rights were violated during the murder investigation, according to court documents.
Waterman, 45, of Pineville, Mo., is charged with two counts of capital murder in connection with the deaths of Ashley Bush and her unborn child, Valkyrie Grace Willis.
Prosecutors previously told KNWA/FOX24 that they are seeking the death penalty.
On May 21, Jeff Rosenzweig, one of Waterman's attorneys, filed a motion requesting that the court agree to suppress statements and evidence related to alleged violations during her upcoming trial in July.
Rosenzweig claimed that on Nov. 2, 2022, McDonald County Sheriff's Office and Benton County Sheriff's Office investigators entered Waterman's Pineville, Mo., home without a search warrant.
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Waterman was reportedly interviewed twice by Benton County investigators at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and was never advised of her constitutional right to remain silent, according to the filing.
The filing says that on the following day, a BCSO deputy and an FBI agent removed Waterman from her home without a warrant, drove away with her and questioned her without reading her her rights.
Waterman was questioned for nearly two hours before being told that she would be taken to Arkansas and booked into the Benton County Jail, where she was finally informed of her rights, according to the filing.
Other agencies in Missouri are also alleged to have failed to advise Waterman of her rights.
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'On several occasions subsequent to her arrest, Amber Waterman was questioned by employees or contractors of the detention facilities in Greene County and Bates County, Missouri, who were purportedly providing mental health assessments or treatment. These state actors also did not advise Ms. Waterman of her constitutional rights regarding custodial statements,' Rosenzweig wrote.
Rosenzweig also claimed the search of Waterman's home, a truck on her property and a nearby outbuilding violated her rights.
Her attorney's request comes after he filed two other motions on April 30, one for a mental evaluation to determine whether Waterman is fit to stand trial, and the other to prevent prosecutors from referring to her federal convictions, along with any statements Waterman made in federal proceedings.
Waterman has a pretrial hearing in Benton County on July 7.
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