Wayne Williams Case

Labeled as the monstrosity Atlanta Child Murders AKA "The Night Stalker," Wayne Williams was only convicted of only killing two adults due to convincing circumstantial and DNA evidence. Williams was suspected of murdering at least 28 black youths from 1979 to 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a spree of child murders led to Williams’ arrest. Williams’ murder victims were male and female African American ranging from ages 9 and 17. Williams also murdered three adults during his killing saga. Each victim lived within the same geographic parameters of each other. They connected to Memorial Drive and 11 major streets in the area. This finding would mark the start of a string of killings lasting 22 months in Atlanta that

The body belonged to 13-year-old Alfred Evans. He was reported missing three days prior. Evans was murdered by asphyxiation. The other body was of 14-year-old Edward Smith. Smith was reported missing a week prior. He was shot with a .22 caliber weapon in his upper back. Smith and Evans were both black male who lived in the same apartment complex. Fibers found on one victim matched those found in Williams's car and home. Williams’ killing spree would continue in late September. Milton Harvey, age 14, was also found dead on September 4, 1979. He disappeared while running an errand to the bank for his mother. The end of 1979 brought two more child victims into play. On November 8, 1979, 9-year-old Yusef Bell was found strangled to death and hit over the head twice in the abandoned E.P. Johnson Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia. Bell was found by a school janitor. A piece of masking tape was found stuck to both victims. On May 10, 1980, Angel Lenair was found tied to a tree with her hands bound with an electric cord behind her. She died by strangulation. A week after Lenair's disappearances, the body of 11-year-old Jeffery Mathis was found in a brier-covered patch of a wooded area. It was impossible to identify the cause of death due to the time frame. On May 19, 1980, Eric Middlebrooks was found beaten to death on 247 Flat

Due to none of the crime fallen under the federal law, Georgia Senator Sam Nunn pleaded for the Department of Justice to permit FBA to get involved. The police were first faced with the unexpected task of confronting Williams on May 22, 1981, during the surveillance of a bridge over the Chattahoochee River. Several bridges in the area had been staked out due to the killer motive changing from wooded area to river dumping. The police heard a splash in the water beneath and shortly noticed a white Chevrolet fleeing away from the bridge. The police followed and stopped the suspected station wagon discovering Williams driving it. Two days later, the body of 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater was found floating downriver, not far from the bridge where Williams had stopped his car. It was determined that the body had been in the river for no longer than 36-48 hours due to extensive water damage. Williams, based on the examination of the splash, was the only person stopped during the month-long stakeout. Williams resembled a composite sketch of the suspect with a bushy Afro sticking out from the side of a baseball cap. The birthmark or scar on his left cheek matched the distinctive description in the sketch also. Law Officials who stopped Williams observed a 24-inch nylon cord matching the choked marked on Cater and other victims. His presence at the bridge two days