Notorious Criminal Research and Presentation

By: Diana Hansen

Wayne Williams

Summary In 1979, in Atlanta, any young African

American people who left their house on errands were found dead in rivers and roadways. Young people started vanishing.

The first victims were Edward Hope Smith and Alfred evens, both 14, disappeared four days apart, and both their bodies were found on July 28th.Twenty seven to twenty nine missing people were attributed to the Atlanta Child Murderer.

Police could not find a white perpetrator and African Americans were insulted when profilers targeted a black killer. The killings lasted for three years until 1981. They say that the police did not pursue the killer because the killer targets were African American. At this time there was a lot of racial tension.

They profiled the man as not having a girlfriend, driving a police car, owning a dog, and had a thing for young men. They still refused to say it was a black killer though no white man could have walked unnoticed through predominantly black areas of Atlanta.

Wayne Williams was picked up driving on the bridge where the bodies were found Williams was convicted for two of the murders. After this no more killings or abductions were reported.

Trial began December 28,1981. Jury composed of nine woman and three men.

He is being charged for the murders of Jimmy Page and Nathaniel Cater who were found dead in a river.

Prosecution Arguments The first thing the prosecution focused on

was the character and credibility of Wayne Williams. The people who knew him said that he lied about his accomplishments. They had witnesses such as Eustis Blakely who were friends of Williams and testified of his lying behavior.

During trial Wayne’s wife stated that she had asked Williams after he had become a suspect if he would confess and he told her yes. She also said that her husband said “he could knock out black street kids in a few minutes by putting his hand on their necks.” His wife said that she believed that he had killed someone.

The second thing the prosecution focused on was what happened on the Jackson parkway bridge where the bodies had been found.

Williams had told authorities he had been at the San Souci club. Gino Jordan who ran the club said that it was the following night Williams came by to pick up his tape recorder. Williams also claimed he played basket ball the evening of the incident. When they asked the man in charge of the Recreation Center if he had been playing basketball the man said no.

These show he was lying about what he had been doing and then was lacking an alibi. And this played into the prosecution’s theory that Williams was with the victim Carter and threw his body off the bridge. He said that he was at the bridge trying to find Cheryl Johnson who was nonexistent.

The third thing the prosecution did was present eyewitnesses who claimed that Williams had interactions with the victims. A man who knew Carter had seen Williams and him holding hands the evening of the bridge incident. Some youths claimed that Williams tried to make sexual advances on them.

The characteristics that formed the “pattern” amongst the victims were listed by the prosecution as being:

Black male Missing clothing No car Poor families No evidence of forced abduction Broken Home No apparent motive for disappearance Defendant claims no contact Asphyxia by strangulation No valuables Body found near expressway ramp or major artery Street hustlers Body disposed of in unusual manner Transported before or after death Similar fibers

They found fibers on the victims similar to those found in Williams car and home. This was one of the prosecutions strongest arguments.

The prosecution had a strong case against Williams. They had physical evidence of the fibres and blood in his vehicles. There was no alibi. They had witnessed testify that they saw him with the victims and he had a motive because he discriminated against young black males.

Defence Presented They said that since the fibers from

Williams environment transferred to the victims then the fibers from victims should have transferred to Williams environment especially if he had killed someone in his home or transported them in his care. There was no evidence of hair or fibers from victims found in Williams house or car.

Prosecution claimed that Williams hated black youths. It doesn’t explain murder of a man who was older then Williams at 27 years old.

The defense called witnesses. Put hydrologist on stand to determine it was unlikely

that Nathanial’s Caters body had been thrown off because of where his body had been found.

They also presented a witness to testify that there was no indication that either Cater or Payne had been murdered.

One of the victims had an enlarged heart and could of died of natural causes. Both men could have drowned. Cater was a known drug taker and alcoholic.

The police sketch artist testified that the dozens of suspects she was asked to sketch looked nothing like Williams.

A student recruited by Williams for singing job testified that he disliked homosexuals.

They got Williams to testify against charges and eyewitness accounts. They pointed out that he couldn’t have quickly stopped the car, and hoisted Cater who was both larger and heavier then Williams over a shoulder high guard railing on the bridge.

Defense was handicapped because of limited time and lack of funds. It was hard for them to cast doubt to the fibre evidence. Their credibility was killed when they brought in an expert that said Cater had been in the water for at least two weeks when he hadn’t been missing that long.

They said that there was no pattern in the killing. That the pattern brought up by the prosecution was wrong because not all the deaths fit the pattern.

The defence for the victim was not strong. Several of the accounts given by there specialists were proven wrong. They could not come up with an alibi for Williams. They could not buffer the fibre evidence well.

Evidence Summary Fibers found on the victims’

bodies were similar to the carpet fibers found in Williams home and vehicle. A fiber analysis showed that the fibers on victims were likely transferred by having contact with William's environment. The prosecution said there were so many fiber matches that it was statistically impossible for victims not to have been in either his home or his care.

Bloodstains had been found in William's car. Prosecutors claimed blood type matched the blood of the victims William Barrett and John Porter. With this evidence they couldn’t tell the age of the blood so it couldn’t be used. If the blood was within the 8 week period it belonged to victims, but if it was outside it then it couldn’t have belonged to either victim.

This was significant because it helped persuade the jury. Even if the blood hadn't come from the two victims it could have come from other victims.

Jury Decision and Sentence The Jury found Wayne Williams guilty

for the murder of Jimmy Payne and Nathaniel Cater. He is currently serving two life sentences.

Significance I believe this case was significant

because it shows how racial issues effect law. In this case if there had not been racial tensions its very possible he could have been caught earlier.

It also shows the impact of technology on law. Without the fibre samples it is possible Williams may have not been convicted.

Theory Analysis The ecological school theory would

apply to this case, arguing that criminal behaviour was indeed fostered and encouraged in certain environments. This theory says that areas with high rates of poverty and social discrimination were more likely to condone criminal activity.

In Atlanta at the time there were a lot of social tensions. There was also a lot of ghettos and widespread poverty. Williams had lived in a high poverty area. This could potentially explain his criminal behaviour, saying it’s a result of an area that more likely condoned criminal activity.

A second theory that could apply is the Contemporary theory. They say that criminal laws prohibit behaviours that society agrees harmful. Criminals, choose not to accept the view of the majority. In the case, people testified that Williams had lied and over exaggerated his achievements. He wanted to be more then he was, and potentially more than the majority of people which could have been a factor in committing these crimes.

In relation to this is the sociological strain theory. By lying and exaggerating it indicates he wasn’t happy with his way of life and may have thought that he couldn’t achieve his goals through legitimate means and decided to become a criminal.

A third theory that could have accounted for his actions is the biological trait theory. Neruophisological theorists say that certain neurological dysfunctions can be connected with criminal activity. There could be a biological aspect that made Williams want to kill people.

Also it says that poor diet or exposure to alcohol or drugs can cause a person to become criminal. Because he lived in an area of poverty it is possible that he could have had a poor diet. Drugs and alcohol are also very prominent issue in ghettos. It is very possible his mother could have done that in the womb.