The State vs. Wayne Williams

Almost 150 years later, the same can be said of the Wayne Williams case "nothing it seems is ever to be considered as settled". In the late 70’s and early 80’s I was a young attorney just starting my practice. All I knew about the missing and murdered children in Atlanta was what I read in the paper and heard on television. I also followed the trial that was conducted in Atlanta, but again, all I knew was what was reported by the media.

The case has to be one of the most extensively litigated cases in Georgia History. The facts have been recited in many appellate opinions. Primarily, the case involved numerous homicides constituting the Atlanta child murders that took place between July of 1979 and May of 1981. During this time period, a series of 30 murders of black youths occurred in metropolitan Atlanta. Because of the extraordinary public concern and fear resulting from these murders, the Atlanta Metropolitan Task Force on Missing and Murdered Children was formed to investigate these murders.

In May of 1981, Wayne Williams was arrested and indicted for the murders of two of the missing and murdered children, Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy Ray Payne. During the Williams trial, the prosecution introduced evidence from ten additional cases of other missing and murdered children in an attempt to demonstrate a "pattern" among these ten murders and the Cater and Payne murders. Evidence from the investigative files of the remaining murders played no role in the Williams trial. After a nine-week trial, which was concluded on February 27, 1982, Williams was convicted of the Cater and Payne murders. Wayne Williams' conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Georgia on direct appeal in Williams v. State, 251 Ga. 749 (312 SE2d 40) (1983).

Shortly after the conviction of Wayne Williams for the Cater and Payne murders, the Commissioner of Public Safety of the City of Atlanta, who at the time was Mr. Lee Brown, announced at a press conference that 22 "pattern" and "other" cases had been "cleared" as a result of Wayne Williams' conviction for the Cater and Payne murders. Use of the term "cleared" in this context means that the investigations were concluded and that no further investigations would be undertaken. The documents clearing these cases indicate that the Task Force had gathered sufficient evidence to identify the murderer in each case as Wayne Williams. Task Force Commander Willie J. Taylor testified that these cases were "exceptionally cleared" under Task Force regulations, because the District Attorney for Fulton County decided not to prosecute Williams for these crimes in light of his conviction of the Cater and Payne murders [Napper v. Georgia Television Co., 257 Ga. 156 (1987)].

Now, over twenty years later, there is a new "push" by the media regarding the Wayne Williams case. I have read several articles but most, if not all, of the information reported is coming from the defense. The individuals who actually prosecuted the case have not been interviewed. Why not? If "reporting" is supposed to be balanced, where is the other side? Mr. Lewis Slayton was the District Attorney and is now deceased. Jack Mallard, an assistant district attorney in Mr. Slayton’s office, was intimately involved with the trial of the case as one of the prosecutors who had a major role in presenting the witnesses and evidence in the case. If you think Mr. Jack Mallard believes the state prosecuted and convicted the wrong person then You Don’t Know Jack.

Mr. Jim Wooten of the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote in his June 22, 2006 column, regarding Chief Graham's decision to open some of the old murder cases: "Graham had no new evidence to follow, nor any indication of access to new information --- he just had a new position of authority that enabled him to meander down a road that still led, as clearly as an eight-lane superhighway, to Wayne Williams, the man convicted in 1982 of two of the killings and blamed for 22 others." http://www.ajc.com/search/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/opinion_44a9c07a94ed814500a6.html

In August 2001 Mr. Mallard responded to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the murders and Wayne Williams. Here are some of the things Mr. Mallard wrote in that response. This information should also have been included in the more recent articles that have been published by the media.

"Alan Judd and D.L. Bennett
The Atlanta Journal/Constitution
72 Marietta St. NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Dear Sir:

Reference is made to your article on "The Missing and Murdered: 20 Years after" published on 6/21/01. The heading "Will the truth come out? Time and hope fade", assumes that the truth has not come out. I suggest that the proper forum for determining whether and if the truth comes out is in a court of law. That is where the Williams case has been for over 20 years. There was a trial by a jury of his peers and it has progressed through direct appeal to the highest court of this state and then through the habeas corpus process where the defendant has had the opportunity for over 16 years to show he didn’t get a fair trial. This he has been unable to do.

Notwithstanding some views that Williams ‘hasn’t killed anybody’, this was the longest and most detailed investigation (2 years) and trial (9 weeks) in the history of this state, with the trial jury being the benefactor of listening to all the testimony and examining all of the evidence, including the defense offered by Williams. [The jury took one day of deliberation to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They would later affirm they had no questions or doubts of his guilt].

The State obviously presented a strong and compelling case. This is the only means of arriving at the truth. For those who have doubts, they should read the transcript of the trial or the  "Order Denying Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus: by the habeas judge on July 10, 1998, wherein he summarized the evidence in the trial of the case. Otherwise, they should ‘chill it’ since their speculation or ‘conspiracy chasing’ does nothing for anyone, including themselves. For those who were not involved in the case or unless they sat through the trial and heard ALL of the evidence, as did the Judge, prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors, witnesses and those who had some direct role in the investigation, attempting to speculate or give an opinion about the truth of the matter is unjustified and of no value to anyone 

My response to your article is reluctantly done, but the more I thought about it, I decided I should so respond since anyone reading your article would believe justice was not done. Your title would have been more defensible if it read "Has the truth come out" rather than "Will the truth come out". It appears you have decided the truth has not come out and the lengthy article proceeds with that approach. Thus I suggest you too should familiarize yourself with the evidence before drawing such conclusions. I would point out:

• Williams had access to trial counsel (several) of his own choosing:
• Private investigators of his own choosing:
• Expert witnesses: and in fact presented over 50 witnesses in his defense during the trial of the case;
• More than 200 total witnesses testified in the case;
• Hundreds (perhaps thousand) of items of evidence and documents were introduced in the trial;
• A 9 week jury trial by his peers;
• Appeal to the Ga. Supreme Court and review through State and Federal habeas corpus utilizing local counsel Lynn H. Whatley, Jack Martin, as well as nationally known attorneys (Bobby Lee Cook, William M. Kunstler, Ronald Kuby and Alan M. Dershowitz.

The Habeas Judge on appeal in reviewing the trial record of the case, summarized some of the evidence presented in denying the writ.

THE BRIDGE INCIDENT

The investigation did not focus on Williams until 03:00 a.m. May 22, 1981, when four (4) members of the task force were stationed at the James Jackson Bridge over the Chattahoochee River. A splash in the river caused recruit Campbell to look up – "he initially only saw darkness and then saw lights come on on a vehicle and saw the vehicle slowly begin to move in a southerly direction". [T.1140-1141, 1146]. Another recruit, Jacobs, stationed at road level on the opposite end of the bridge, looked out from his position and saw the vehicle which was close to the bridge rail, coming from a stopped position toward him. The vehicle turned around in a parking lot near the end of the bridge and proceeded back across the bridge. [T. 1079-1090]. There were no other vehicles on the bridge at the time ... and had not been ... for ten to twenty minutes. Officer Holden, stationed in a police car nearby, fell in behind the vehicle – joined by FBI Agent McComas – and stopped the vehicle nearby at I-285. [T. 1198 – 1210]. Williams was driving. Nervous, he offered "I know, this is bout those boys, isn’t it? "[T. 1267 – 1270]. Officers noticed a flashlight, a pair of glovers and a piece of white nylon braided cord in the car. [T. 1299 – 1300] Williams denied stopping or slowing on the bridge and denied that he had turned around in the parking lot near the end of the bridge. He claimed he had driven ½ mile past the bridge to a Starvin Marvin store and attempted to call a "Cheryl Johnson" before heading back across the bridge, contradicting these four officers. [T. 1268 – 1274]. Williams would later give varied and contradictory stores of his presence on the bridge at 03:00 a.m., to police, the media and at trial.

A body not having been seen, he was not arrested, but was allowed to depart the area. This was the incident which might have been referred to as the splash that was heard around the world. [Despite all the testimony to the contrary, the media, has over the years, widely reported both Williams' and his attorneys’ claim that Williams never stopped on the bridge].

The importance of this incident is obvious. The body of Jimmy Ray Payne was pulled from the Chattahoochee River 1.2 miles downstream from that same bridge on April 27, 1981, clad only in red shorts. [T. 825 – 837]. Two days after Williams was seen on the bridge, the naked body of Nathaniel Cater was discovered close to where Payne’s body had been discovered a month earlier. [T. 1491]. Cater had died from strangulation. [T. 1513 – 1514]. A hydrologist from the U.S. Army corps of Engineers, after studying the currents of the Chattahoochee river, concluded that the bodies of the two victims (Payne and Cater) had probably entered the river at the point where Williams vehicle was seen on the bridge. [T. 1043 – 1045]. Thus, these two victims were the basis of the two count indictment and prosecution for which Williams is serving two life sentences. [There was other testimony and evidence eliminating other points of ingress or places where a body could have been introduced into the river – leaving only the James Jackson Parkway bridge as the location where Cater’s body entered the river].

Williams made various statements to police and media in an attempt to explain his presence on the bridge at 03:00 a.m., obviously because of his belief of the importance of such event. In statements to FBI agents Gilliland and McComas, he claimed he was looking for two women, Cheryl and Barbara Johnson, with whom he had a meeting scheduled for 9:30 or 10:00 the next morning. [T. 1297 – 1298]. In an interview at his parents’ residence the next day, Williams claimed that Cheryl Johnson called him the afternoon of May 20, 1981, for a possible early morning audition prior to 7:30 a.m. and stated she would contact him at a later time. Ms. Johnson had given a specific address and telephone number to his mother during a later conversation. [T. 1267, 1354 – 1356, 1366]. Williams also told the police that late in the evening of May 21, 1981, he went to a lounge on Peachtree Street and left trying to locate Ms. Johnson’s address at about 1:30 a.m. May 22, 1981; that he proceeded to cross the James Jackson Parkway Bridge and then stopped and made a telephone call to the phone number he had on the note, before returning across the bridge. [T. 1361]. He further said he saw two Purolator trucks while driving on the bridge. The State’s witnesses refuted his story about the visit to the lounge on the prior evening, the existence of a Cheryl Johnson, as well as her address and telephone number, and that Purolator trucks were on the bridge as alleged by Williams. [T. 1421 – 1423; 1448 – 1449; 1452 – 1456; 1458 – 1460]. Williams, in a press conference, told members of the press that he had crossed the bridge and proceeded to the Starvin Marvin Store before returning over the bridge [ in direct opposition to four (4) officers]. [T. 1755 – 1758; 7417 – 7466]. Sharon Blakely, a friend of Williams who testified at trial said she talked with him after the bridge incident and he told her he was on the bridge and he was ‘throwing garbage off the bridge’. [T. 4087 – 4090]. Thus, Williams presence on the bridge at 03:00 a.m. and his impeached explanations concerning the same was an integral part of the case. [Notably, no bodies were being ‘fished’ out of the Chattahoochee River since that time].

The State further supported this evidence by the testimony of witnesses concerning the manufacture, distribution and sale of the fiber in the carpet in Williams’ home. The uniqueness of that particular tri-lobal shaped green fiber along with the limited supply which was manufactured, later made into carpet and distributed in the Atlanta area, and actually installed in the Williams’ home was well proven by witnesses. [T. 1800 – 1806; 1821, 1824, 1831 – 1838]. Also violet and green acetate fibers from victims matched the intermingled fiber in the bedspread on Williams; bed; blue fibers matched fibers found in the debris in his home and yellow fibers matched a yellow blanket found in his room. Dog hairs from victims were consistent with the hair of the Williams’ family dog. Thus, fibers from the bodies of victims Payne and Cater matched fibers from Williams’ environment. Also, Payne had fibers on his body matching fibers from the automobile Williams was driving the night he was stopped on the bridge.

Evidence of ten (10) other murders was admitted by the court for consideration of the jury. These cases were linked by the existence of some of the same distinctive fibers and hairs as found on victims Cater and Payne. There were extensive evidence presented concerning numerous vehicles owned or leased by Williams during the two year investigation which showed as Williams changed automobiles, the fibers found on the bodies changed in a corresponding fashion. As he would cease to use a particular vehicle, fibers from the carpet in such vehicle would no longer be found an new victims and would be replaced by biers from the vehicle he was currently using. Violet acetate fibers were discovered on all of the ten victims [T. 3433]. These fibers were consistent with the fibers contained in Williams’ bedspread. The unusual tri-lobal fiber manufactured by the Welman Company in the Williams’ carpet at home were found on ten (10) of the total twelve (12) victims. [T. 3434]. Six (6) of the victims had yellow rayon fibers on their persons that were consistent with the blanket discovered under Williams’ bed. [T. 3436 – 3467]. Animal hairs were discovered on various victims and deemed to be consistent with Williams’ dog. Further, blood found on the backseat of an automobile Williams had been driving on the night he was stopped at the bridge connected him to two of the similar transactions [Barrett and Porter], both of whom had stab wounds to their bodies and had died within the eight weeks prior to the bridge incident. [T. 3716 – 3725]

Williams denied being in contact with the victims. The association of fiber evidence from his property and surroundings compared to the trace evidence from the victims bodies showed otherwise.

One witness saw Williams with victim Jimmy Ray Payne and two (2) witnesses saw Williams with Nathaniel Cater just prior to their disappearance.

Ten (1) witnesses testified to sightings of Williams in the company of certain of the victims from the ten (10) similar transactions.

Again, Williams always maintained he knew none of them.

Scratch Marks

Four (4) witnesses testified that Williams had scratch marks running down his arms during the period of the murders in Atlanta: Kathy Andrews, Keith Andrews, Anthony Barber and Dennis Bentley. [T. 4017 – 4018; 4024; 4031; 4045 – 4046]

Dr. Burton testified that such marks were consistent with the marks left by a person struggling to free himself from a person choking him from behind. [T. 3255-3256]. Williams gave different explanations to different people as to how he got theses scratch marks, i.e., that he had fallen, had been bitten by a dog [ T. 4018; 4045 – 4046] and that he had grease burns from cooking. [T. 6486]

Williams had attempted to explain to Sharon Blakely ho he could knock out a person by pressing on the person’s neck a certain way. [ T. 4085 – 4086]

Motive

At least five (5) witnesses testified that Williams had contempt for young black males who roamed the streets at night. [Denis Marlin, T. 3936; Nick Marlin, T. 3983; Eustis Blakely, T. 3955; Sharon Blakely, T. 4084, 4085, 4091; and Bobby Toland, T. 3998]. Williams had referred to such youngsters as "dropshots", a derogatory reference.

Opportunity

Numerous witnesses and evidence verified that Williams was cruising the streets at night using a former police detective car equipped with radio scanner, siren and blue light and was later working as a freelance TV reporter filming on the streets and then finally was working as a talent scout recruiting young boys for singing groups. [T. 3355, 3741 - 3746; 3829 - 3830; 3925, 4033, 5437 - 5406; 5435 - 5437; 6194 - 6196; 6237 - 6240; 6686 - 6687]. It was shown that Williams was out on the streets every night until late hours. Some witnesses believed Williams to be a police officer and he impersonated police (thus explaining how he could gain the confidence of victims to get into the car with him, notwithstanding that during the height of the investigation, there were police all over including maintaining road blocs. Parents and people in authority were telling the community to be aware ...; also, a curfew ordinance was passed by the City keeping children off the streets at night, which would account for the victims becoming older as time passed)

It was the State’s position based on the testimony of witnesses, that Williams used his knowledge of police and emergency procedures to gain access to victims, as well as his later "talent scout" venture as bait for young victims. The evidence directly presented as well as the evidence brought out on cross examination of Williams showed that he used his own money to set up auditions for young people who had no musical talent at all. Additionally, Williams never realized any monetary gain from these endeavors.

Williams invited one young man from south Carolina to come to visit with him. Williams took him for a ride and they drove slowly across a bridge over the Chattahoochee River. [James Thompson, T. 3853]. This witness also saw an adult male named Nathaniel, whose hair was styled like victim Nathaniel Cater at the Williams house. [T. 3856 - 3857]. Other young men testified about being picked up by Williams and one said he had been offered money for oral sex [T. 3787 - 3789].

This summary cannot do justice to all the witnesses and evidence, all pointing to one conclusion, that Williams and no one else was responsible for these murders. The record of the case speaks in volumes for itself. The jury reached the same conclusion after its long ordeal; a trial which was well reported daily including the testimony and evidence, the legal evidence, presented each day. Every court of law which has reviewed the record has seen the same. Now, all we hear are a few ‘dissenters’ opinions and speculation being ‘fanned’ by the media.

To those who have said that Williams was a ‘patsy’ who fell into a trap, or that he has killed no one, I would say they should put aside their personal opinions, speculation and whatever else motivates them and take a good hard look at the evidence the jury heard. These persons have not a scintilla of evidence to support their personal belief, but for whatever reason, they continue to beat the drum. These killings continued for two (2) years before Williams appeared on the James Jackson Parkway bridge at 03:00 a.m. with the fantastic tale that he was looking for a woman in Cobb County to interview later that day (a story completely disproved by the state). Had the police wanted to ‘pin’ these murders on anyone who happened along for expediency, they would have had ample opportunity. After all, they had investigated and cleared suspects during this two year span.

Just from an obvious view point of the case, as well as from testimony of medical examiners during the trial - the killings stopped when Williams became a suspect. Consider the fact that victims were being ‘dumped’ into the Chattahoochee River at intervals of every few weeks (during the latter part of the two-year span), long miles from their homes in the inter-city with no vehicle of their own, clothing missing, no obvious motive for their disappearance and murder and in many cases not readily missed. Upon each of these individuals, trace evidence (hair and distinctive fibers) were found. Had these type murders continued, would not the medical examiners and crime laboratory personnel be aware of the continuing backlog of unsolved murders; bodies with the same trace evidence under the same circumstances? And, would not there be a ‘hue and cry’ for those victims to be included on a task force investigation to find the killer? The answer is clear as the light of day; the killer is serving two life sentences.

Jack Mallard, Esq.
Retired Prosecutor after more than 35 years."