The murder of Mike Williams (Jerry Michael Williams)
Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida · 2000
Overview
Mike Williams, 31, left his home in Tallahassee, Florida before dawn on December 16, 2000 to go duck hunting on Lake Seminole in Jackson County, with plans to celebrate his sixth wedding anniversary that evening. His truck, trailer and boat were found, a 14-day search turned up no body, and the case was classified as a drowning, with alligators blamed. His mother kept pressing for an investigation. Years later, while his widow Denise was divorcing Brian Winchester, who had been Mike's best friend and whom she married in 2005, Winchester kidnapped her at gunpoint in 2016. Facing a possible life sentence, he agreed to cooperate, confessed in October 2017 that he had killed Mike, and led investigators to the remains. The state announced a homicide that December. A grand jury indicted Denise Williams in May 2018, and a jury convicted her in December 2018. In 2021 an appeals court reversed her murder conviction but upheld her conviction for conspiracy to commit murder, and she was resentenced to 30 years. Winchester was sentenced to 20 years for the kidnapping and was not convicted of the killing.
How it was solved
The case was solved by a confession, not by evidence from the lake. For sixteen years Mike Williams's disappearance was treated as a drowning, though state investigators took over the case in 2004 and his mother kept pressing for answers. It moved in 2015, when Denise Williams filed for divorce from Brian Winchester. According to the appeals court, police told Winchester during the divorce that she planned to tell them what had really happened to Mike once it was final. In 2016 he waited in her car with a gun and kidnapped her. She persuaded him to let her go and told the authorities. Arrested and facing a possible life sentence, he entered a proffer agreement with prosecutors. The state agreed not to recommend a life sentence on the kidnapping charge and not to use his truthful testimony against him. WFSU described the deal as immunity from prosecution for the murder. In October 2017 Winchester confessed that he had pushed Mike from a boat, shot him, and buried him, and he led investigators to the remains. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it had acted on a tip, searched for days, and announced a homicide on December 20, 2017, the day after Winchester was sentenced to 20 years for the kidnapping. A grand jury indicted Denise Williams in May 2018. Winchester was the only witness who directly tied her to the plan. His former wife, working with police, had recorded calls in which Denise did not deny the accusation. Her lawyers argued that Winchester was lying for revenge. The jury convicted her on December 14, 2018. The First District Court of Appeal later held that the evidence of what she did was too thin to convict her as a principal to murder, but upheld her conviction for conspiracy. Reports differ on the terms of Winchester's agreement: WFSU called it immunity from prosecution for the murder, while the appeals court described a proffer agreement.
Sources
- Williams v. State, No. 1D19-498 (Fla. 1st DCA, March 31, 2021)
“Because we agree that the evidence presented at trial could not support her conviction for first-degree murder as a principal, we reverse that conviction. Finding no merit in her other arguments on appeal, we affirm her conviction for conspiracy to commit murder.”
- Denise Williams Found Guilty Of Conspiracy, 1st Degree Murder & Accessory In Mike Williams' Death (December 14, 2018)
“In October 2017, he struck a plea deal with state prosecutors. In exchange for immunity from prosecution for the murder and a 20-year prison sentence for kidnapping, Winchester confessed he'd pushed Mike Williams out of the boat”
- Love Triangle, Not Alligators, Caused Florida Man's Death, Killer Testifies (December 12, 2018)
“Winchester confessed last year to fatally shooting Mike Williams after prosecutors agreed not to put him on trial.”
- Homicide investigation opened in 17-year-old Tallahassee cold case (December 20, 2017)
“Seventeen years later, FDLE received a tip about new information in the case. The crime scene unit spent days conducting a search at an undisclosed location that led to the discovery of human remains confirmed to be Michael Williams.”
- Widow of Florida man who vanished in 2000 arrested for murder (May 9, 2018)
“The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Denise Williams on Tuesday after a grand jury indicted her for first-degree murder in the death of Mike Williams.”
- Florida woman gets life in prison for plotting with husband's best friend to kill him, blame an alligator (February 7, 2019)
“Denise Williams, 48, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday”
- Florida Supreme Court Denies Motion To Review Denise Williams Murder Conviction Reversal (June 9, 2021)
“Williams is still guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and obligated to finish the rest of her 30-year prison sentence.”
- Denise Williams, Convicted Of Conspiring To Kill Her First Husband, Is Resentenced To 30 Years In Prison (September 9, 2021)
“Denise Williams will remain in prison, after a judge resentenced her to 30 years for conspiring to murder her first husband.”
- Denise Williams resentenced to 30 years in prison for conspiracy in husband's death (September 9, 2021)
“Denise Williams has been resentenced to 30 years in prison for a conspiracy conviction in her husband’s death.”