Wayne Williams
By Summer Eshete
Background
- Attended Georgia State University
- Was known in his neighborhood to be a big liar about his accomplishments
- Worked as an announcer for WIGO radio at 15
- Later graduated with honors from Fredrick Douglass High School
Crime & Investigation
He was first a suspect in a child murder case in May 1981. His car was found above the sound of a splash in the river by a stake out team. He was questioned by police and claimed that he was going out of town to audition a young singer. This alibi was a lie after police found that the address and phone number didn't exist.
Three days later, the nude body of 27 year-old Nathaniel Cater, who had been missing for days, turned up in the river.
Police think that he had killed Cater and had thrown him off the bridge the night they had pulled him over. Their suspicions about Williams increased after he failed a polygraph test. Also the hairs and fibers on one of the victims' bodies were found to match with those from Williams' home, car, and dog. People working in Williams' studio told police that they had seen him with scratches on his face and arms around the time of the murders, which the police thought could have been made by victims during a struggle. He was arrested on June 21, 1981, for the murders of Cater and 29-year-old Jimmy Payne.
Trial
Williams trial began on January 6, 1982. During the two-month trial, prosecutors matched 19 different sources of fibers from William's bedspread, bathroom, gloves, clothes, carpets, & dog.
There was also eyewitness testimony placing Williams with different victims, blood stains from victims matching blood in Williams' car, and testimony that he was a pedophile attracted to young black boys. Williams himself took the stand, but got angry with the jury.
His outburst sealed his loss with the jury, which on February 27, after 10 hours of deliberation, they found him guilty of murdering Cater and Payne. He was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment.