WILLIAMS, WAYNE: Great Crimes & Trials TV - CNN online - The Atlanta Child Murders CNN - Atlanta’s Missing & Murdered: The Lost Children TV - True Crime Recaps 2023 -
In May 1981 the city of Atlanta was in a state of panic. Over the last two years twenty-six black children have been murdered. The police seemed powerless. Great Crimes & Trials s2e23: Wayne Williams, BBC 1996
Twenty-three-year-old Wayne Bertram Williams was an only child whose parents lavished love and attention on him. ibid.
The murders had ceased when Williams was arrested. ibid.
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) – Three decades after serial killings of African-Americans in Georgia shook much of the nation, most respondents to a nonscientific CNN poll say Wayne Williams committed what came to be called the Atlanta Child Murders.
Although Williams was convicted only of murdering two adults, police blamed him in the murders of two dozen African-American boys and young men that lasted from 1979 to 1981.
In Williams’ first TV interview in at least a decade, he insisted to CNN’s Soledad O’Brien that he’s innocent. He’s serving two life sentences. CNN online article 6th September 2010
For two years the bodies of black children had been found in the woods, then the rivers, of Atlanta, Georgia. In all more than two-dozen victims most of them strangled. By May 1981 the police and FBI were hiding in the brush. The Atlanta Child Murders, CNN 2016
Atlanta Monster Seized. ibid. newspaper headline
All the classic serial killers were white. ibid.
He had horrible scratches on his arms, deep and painful, criss-crossing both arms. ibid.
The Atlanta child murders from 40 years ago are back in the headlines as investigators now plan to re-examine the evidence. The man detectives believe is responsible is serving two life sentences, but he has never been tried on any of the child murders. Atlanta’s Missing & Murdered: The Lost Children I
‘They shut the cases down two days after Wayne [Williams] was convicted.’ ibid.
‘When the Task Force was formed to look into these cases – that was a year into these cases, and the first question was, What cases are they looking into?’ Atlanta’s Missing & Murdered: The Lost Children II, lawyer
A stunning turn of events as families of the Atlanta child murders gather to talk about the case. Atlanta’s Missing & Murdered: The Lost Children III, news
He appeared to be learning. This was a killer whose behaviours changed based on experience. ibid. old dude
They [rozzers in wait] looked up on the bridge and they can see headlights moving very slowly. ibid. FBI agent
They released Wayne [Williams] to be hounded by media. ibid. observer
28 December 1981: In Atlanta, Wayne Williams goes on trial today charged with committing 2 of the 28 murders that terrorised that city. ibid. television news
12 Deaths Tied To Williams. Atlanta’s Missing & Murdered: The Lost Children IV, The Atlanta Journal 23 January 1982
Fibres removed from the twelve victims were similar to those taken from the home and car of Wayne Williams. ibid. expert
Williams’ rage erupts in final day on stand. ibid. newspaper article
Williams guilty: All except 2 murder cases will be closed … He insists he’s innocent – gets 2 life sentences. ibid.
It was just junk science. ibid. defense dude
February 18 1981: Secret GBI investigation begins …. ‘of the Ku Klux Klan’s involvement in the killings … That evidence had never been presented to the defense.’ Atlanta’s Missing & Murdered: The Lost Children V, defense dude
We had a pretty all-star team … The hearing was set in the old courtroom and the press were there: October 8 1991. ibid.
Don Saunders has to be the man whose name is blacked out in the FBI files … They’ve been trying to cover this up for forty years. ibid.
We had no idea whether they [fibres] came from crime scenes or whether they came from the crime lab itself. ibid. crime lab worker
In the late 1970s and early ’80s a string of murders terrorised the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Young black children were the targets. True Crime Recaps: The Atlanta Child Murders and the Hunt for Wayne Williams, Youtube 18.48, 2023
WILLINGHAM, CAMERON TODD [viz Miscarriages of Justice: Willingham, Cameron Todd]: Frontline: Death By Fire TV - Cameron Willingham -
A story of a fire. A man accused. An execution. And a question of guilt. That sparked a national debate. Frontline: Death By Fire, PBS 2010
Cameron Todd Willingham was in his house with his three children when the fire started. ibid.
Willingham’s lack of serious injuries and a night of partying after the fire fuelled rumours. ibid.
Witnesses who had been at the fire also told police that Willingham did nothing to rescue his children. ibid.
Investigators came to believe that this was a crime scene ... Twenty indicators of arson. ibid.
The case went to trial in August of 1992. ibid.
Prosecutors called Willingham’s wife Stacy who reluctantly testified about the abuse. ibid.
Jurors heard that Willingham was a violent psychopath ... Psychiatrist Dr James Grigson [Dr Death] testified Willingham was a severe sociopath. ibid.
But during those years there had been a dramatic change in the science of arson investigation. ibid.
[Dr] Hurst reviewed the report line by line ... Hurst concluded the original investigators had not eliminated accidental causes. Hurst had come to believe Todd Willingham was not guilty. ibid.
[Dr Craig] Beyler agreed with other experts that there was no evidence of arson. ibid.
Willingham’s case is now at the heart of the national debate about the death penalty. ibid.
I am an innocent man. Cameron Willingham
Eight years after Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for setting a fire that killed his three children, in a case now widely faulted for its use of flawed arson science, his relatives are seeking a posthumous pardon from state officials.
In 2010, Judge Charlie Baird wrote an order that would have exonerated Todd Willingham. As the Huffington Post reported, ‘Baird’s order clearing Willingham’s name never became official, because a higher court halted the posthumous inquiry while it considered whether the judge had authority to examine the capital case.’
This Court orders the exoneration of Cameron Todd Willingham for murdering his three daughters. In light of the overwhelming, credible, and reliable evidence presented by the Petitioners, this Court holds that the State of Texas wrongfully executed Cameron Todd Willingham. Cameron Willingham online article