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, the lawyer who represented Meredith Watson when she accused Fairfax of raping her in 2000.
“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.”
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.
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.
