A forensic sketch artist who sat down with the sole eyewitness to Helen Dutcher's 1979 stabbing death told a Michigan jury she saw similarities between her rendition of the suspect and the man accused of killing her.

From the witness stand in Coral Eugene Watts' trial for first-degree murder, sketch artist Barbara Martin described the pencil composite sketch she did on Dec. 2, 1979, based on Joseph Foy's description of the man he saw stab Dutcher behind his home the night before.

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Donna Pendergast asked her to compare a blown-up version of the sketch with Watts' mug shot from 1982.

"I noted several similarities" in the eyes and noses in both images, Martin told jurors.

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"After Mr. Foy gave his description, did you believe he would be able to identify him again?" Pendergast asked. "Yes," Martins testified.

On his cross-examination of the witness, Watts' lawyer, Ronald Kaplovitz, pointed out that in a report of her conversation with Foy, he could not tell the color of the suspect's eyes.

He also questioned Foy's ability to give an accurate description of the suspect, who was about 75 feet away from Foy and his home when the attack occurred. He also questioned the effect the lighting in the dark area would have on the description Foy gave.

Exhibit comparing Martin's rendering of Dutcher's killer with a 1982 picture of the defendant.

Foy's first wife, Paula, also took the stand Friday to testify that three years after the stabbing incident, her husband would in fact identify Watts on a television news program in 1982 as "the man who stabbed that woman" behind their home.

Foy saw images of Watts entering a Houston courthouse after he was arrested for trying to drown Houston university student Lori Lister.

Watts was already a suspect in several other murders in Michigan and Houston. But since police had insufficient evidence to lay charges with, they offered him immunity for the murders he confessed to.

He confessed to 13 murders and 6 assaults in exchange for a 60-year sentence on aggravated burglary charges.

Victims of the assaults he confessed to will take the stand Monday to testify as to his pattern of violence.

Due to a number of technicalities and credit for time served, Watts was due for release in 2006. Authorities embarked on a campaign to link Watts to other crimes he hadn't received immunity for to keep him behind bars.

That's when Foy saw Watts on television again in 2004, an event his second wife, Laura, testified to.

"He was channel-surfing and when he got to MSNBC, there was a picture of Coral Watts going into a courtroom," Laura Foy testified.

"He was very excited and said, 'That's him. That's the guy I saw slash the girl's throat that night behind the alley when I lived in Ferndale,'" she said.

The phone call the couple made to authorities after the show precipitated the current trial and Watts' first-ever murder charge. He faces a mandatory life sentence without parole if convicted.