The attorney of one of the women who accused Justin Fairfax of sexual assault expressed grief for his children after he killed himself and his wife — but noted there were “signs of his anger” for decades.
“First this is horrific for their children who were home at the time of this event,” said attorney Nancy Erika Smith, who represented Meredith Watson when she accused Fairfax of raping her in 2000.
Meredith Watson (above), who accused former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, expressed grief for his children after he killed himself and his wife. CBS News
In a statement to The Post, Watson said that “there were decades of signs of his anger and mistreatment of women.” Getty Images“There were decades of signs of his anger and mistreatment of women and he used the court system to intimidate his victims and news outlets,” Smith added in a statement to The Post.
“Society must be more responsive when women report these crimes.”
Another acquaintance of Fairfax, who spoke with The Post on the condition of anonymity, said that “he couldn’t find a job really” after the scandal — and that took a toll on his marriage.
“His wife was a dentist and she had grown up very poor, and it was very important to her to have stable financial stability … and a good home for her children,” the source noted.
“When he couldn’t get clients, he couldn’t get work, I think that’s what started the downhill of the marriage itself,” this person added. “That whole scandal, it’s been sort of downhill for Justin Fairfax ever since.”
No charges were brought against Fairfax in the case, in which Watson alleged he had raped her when they were both undergraduate students at Duke University.
Fairfax denied the allegations and responded aggressively, hiring the legal team that represented Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation process and threatening to sue news outlets that reported on the allegation.
“It was a very concerted effort to destroy him,” the acquaintance of the former lieutenant governor claimed.
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“Everybody knew that this was an attempt to drag him through the mud so that Ralph Northam could remain as governor — everybody knew it.”
Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia, killed his wife and then shot himself inside their home early Thursday. The couple were in the midst of a “messy divorce,” according to police.
“A financial spiral, and then a divorce because of the financial spiral, and then more spiral, and then what I’m really curious about is when and how he got a gun,” the person close to Fairfax said.
