The investigation into the case of artist Victor Friesonb in California has reached a conclusion: Everything is beyond imagination…
Victor Frieson, 30, was convicted of second-degree murder, torture and corporal injury to a spouse with great bodily injury in the death of 25-year-old Zoe Nika Reidy Watts
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Zoe Nika Reidy Watts.Credit : youtube
A California man was found guilty of the murder and torture of his girlfriend, an Oakland-based artist.
Victor Frieson, 30, was convicted of second-degree murder, torture and corporal injury to a spouse with great bodily injury in connection with the death of 25-year-old Zoe Nika Reidy Watts, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday, June 30.
Prosecutors said Frieson “assaulted Zoe inside his Oakland apartment, inflicting catastrophic injuries that resulted in her death.”
The attack occurred around midnight on March 1, 2024 after they returned from a dinner date, according to the East Bay Times.
Video surveillance allegedly showed Reidy Watts attempting to escape the apartment but being pulled back inside by Frieson, the outlet reported, citing court records.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that the two were involved in an on-again, off-again relationship for less than a year. During that time, according to prosecutors, there were two reported incidents of domestic violence.
According to the East Bay Times, Reidy Watts, a ceramicist and poet, met Frieson while she was a student at San Francisco State University in 2023.
Reidy Watts worked as a technician at the clay studio, Clayroom SF, which in a 2024 Instagram post said the artist, who was also known as Nika Killa Watts, “enriched our studio with curiosity, tenderness, and rich enthusiasm for her art and the people around her.”
“Dreaming of worlds that cultivated awareness and playful imagination, the inspiration for her art came from the ethereal and healing energy of nature,” the post continued. “She used her residency to develop large abstract ceramic pieces resembling amoebic structures, inviting the viewer to reflect the resilience of our microscopic world. She was deeply loved by our community members and staff, and she will be remembered for her strength, creativity, and infectiously effervescent nature.”
In a news release, Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said Reidy Watts was “a talented artist, a dedicated student, and a young woman whose future was filled with promise. While no verdict can restore what her family, friends, and the Bay Area artistic community have lost, we hope today’s decision provides a measure of accountability and peace.”
Sentencing for Frieson is scheduled for Sept. 17.
