NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Like many other high-profile trials, we have broadcast every minute of the Joseph Daniels murder trial on our cable channel, NewsChannel 5+.
During breaks, NewsChannel 5's Nick Beres and legal analyst Nick Leonardo open the phones to take questions and comments from viewers. Some of them are familiar voices to NewsChannel 5 Plus -- loyal viewers who don't miss many details. Ann Watkins is certainly one of them.
The loyal NewsChannel 5+ viewer has followed the case from the day Joe Clyde Daniels went missing on April 4, 2018.
"My instinct as a mother was, something's not right," Ann told NewsChannel 5 as we visited her East Nashville home.
As the days went on and hundreds of volunteer searchers came up empty, Ann says she had a bad feeling.
"And I thought they're not gonna find this little boy alive."
A self-described "crime junkie," Ann says it runs in the family.
"When Channel 5 started this program my mother and her friends were the ones that would call in. And if they didn't want to call in, they'd call me and say we need you to call in and ask this question," she says.
And so began a hobby of sorts, a regular viewer and caller, who makes sure she's always prepared.
Her attention to detail is remarkable. She keeps pages and pages of notes which she uses when calling in to Nick and Nick on their gavel-to-gavel coverage.
"They do a good job. They answer your questions. Nick Leonardo, he's very quick to explain anything that happens in the courtroom. Nick Beres is, he's just a hoot! I mean he's down to earth, he makes you feel comfortable when you call in with your questions," she says.
Her final question, like so many, is what will the jury decide?
"To be able to watch the trials, it's fascinating," she said.
NewsChannel 5’s gavel-to-gavel coverage of this case will continue Friday with closing arguments starting at 8 a.m. Viewers can call the number on the screen to ask any questions or leave a comment during the trial.
