'How It Really Happened with Hill Harper' Season 5: Where is Wayne Williams now and will he ever get parole?
A series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, between July 1979 and May 1981 shook the entire nation. HLN's docuseries 'How It Really Happened with Hill Harper' sheds light on the case where more than two dozen of the city's black children — mostly boys and young men — disappeared without a trace and were later found dead in woods, abandoned buildings and rivers.
The second part of the first episode is called 'The Atlanta Serial Killer, part 2, The KKK Connection?' and it puts focus on how investigators believed Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old black man and part-time music producer, murdered more than two dozen black children and young men in Atlanta. Later, under the orders of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the case was reopened in 2019 and the 40-year-old evidence was reexamined using modern forensics in search of more answers.
His case stirred quite a controversy right from the beginning and his arrest left many families feeling like their children never got justice. So who was Wayne Williams? Was he the real serial killer or just a scapegoat? In the docuseries, several experts believe that at that time, Williams fit what the police considered the profile of a serial killer. When he was first convicted, he was very calm, composed, not too tall, or muscular. Moreover, it is said he had the gift of gab, he was so convincing that it led to a lot of confusion whether he was really behind all those killings.
Born on May 27, 1958, he was raised in the Dixie Hills neighborhood by his father Homer and mother Faye Williams, who were both teachers. He was the only child and is said to have had the perfect life since the beginning. After he graduated from Douglass High School, William was quite passionate about radio and journalism. He constructed his own carrier current radio station and began frequenting stations WIGO and WAOK and then worked towards becoming a pop music producer and manager.
At the time of his arrest, he was 23 years old. He first became a suspect in the Atlanta murders on the morning of May 22, 1981, when a police surveillance team heard a "big loud splash" near the Chattahoochee River. They spotted Williams' car over there at 2.50 am and he said he was on his way to check on an address in a neighboring town ahead of an audition with a young singer named Cheryl Johnson. While he was let go, the contact number and Johnson turned out to be fictitious.
Two days later, the nude body of 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater was discovered in the river. Cops connected Williams to the murder. At first, Williams failed three polygraph tests. Soon, hairs and fibers found near the bodies of the victims, Jimmy Ray Payne, were found to match a green carpet at his home. A few scratches on his face and arms around the time of the murders were also considered suspicious.
However, Williams continuously repeated that he was innocent. He even held a press conference for the media to prove that the cops had the wrong person and handed over his resume to them. Williams was questioned again for 12 hours on June 3 and four at FBI headquarters and released without arrest.
On June 21, 1981, Williams was arrested for the murders of Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy Ray Payne. His trial began on January 6, 1982, in Fulton County where prosecutors reportedly found matches to a number of victims from Williams's home and car: in his bedspread, bathroom, gloves, clothes, carpets and dog. The jury found him guilty on February 27 after 12 hours of deliberation and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He has maintained his innocence even after that and there is no concrete evidence to prove that he actually committed those crimes. However, after Williams became a suspect, the killings stopped. As per reports, Williams is serving his sentence at Telfair State Prison. He was last denied parole on November 20, 2019, and he will be eligible for parole only in November 2027. There are very few chances of him being freed even as the investigation continues.
Catch the second part of the series on HLN as the first part airs from 10 pm to 11 pm.
