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
WILSON, ALISTAIR murder: Murder on the Doorstep TV -
November 2004, 7 p.m. in the Scottish town of Nairn: It was a cold-blooded murder that shocked Britain. The brutal murder of father-of-two Alistair Wilson is one of the Britain’s most puzzling unsolved crimes. Murder on the Doorstep, Channel 5 2022
Assassinated on his own front doorstep and was found lying in a pool of blood by his wife Veronica. ibid.
With no evidence of any links to crime, addictions or extra-marital affairs, a case of mistaken identity initially seemed the most likely explanation for his murder. ibid.
WILSON-SPENCER, TIMOTHY: Born to Kill? TV -
In the late 1980s the US state of Virginia was struck by a cruel killer. His violent campaign spreading terror. The murders were slow and sadistic. But what drove these heinous crimes? Was the twisted perpetrator born to kill? Born to Kill? s6e9: Timothy Wilson-Spencer, Really 2017
Investigators also recalled a string of unsolved sexual attacks that had featured similar sadistic traits. ibid.
Arlington & Richmond detectives discovered shocking similarities between the more recent murders in the two districts; the movements of Timothy Spencer were also impossible to ignore. ibid.
WILTROUT, RICKY murder: Crime Stories TV -
A shocking discovery on a US naval base [Norfolk]. And CIS forms a task force to uncover a secret. And the trail leads them half way around the world. Crime Stories: Friendly Fire
The area where Ricky Wiltrout lived and died is a small close knit community just outside the base perimeter. ibid.
A reported fight between him and his brother-in-law Bill Morrison. ibid.
He wasn’t the last person to see Ricky that night. ibid.
WINCHESTER, MIKE: Accused: Murder or Insanity?
There’s a reported homicide of my mum. And my dad he tried to commit suicide. Accused: Murder or Insanity? son’s 999 call, Channel 5 2024
There’s no logic with what I did. ibid. dad/husband
Whether or not he was suffering from a medical condition that caused him to kill his wife. ibid. brief
In 2019 Mike was arrested and spent 4 months in jail. With his mental health disorder in remission and medical condition resolved, he is now out on bond. ibid.
WINGEART, JERALD: World’s Most Evil Killers TV -
In January 1973 a young woman [Dawn Magyar] went missing in a quiet Michigan farming community. Six years later a sixteen-year-old student was murdered in similar circumstances just 40 miles away. Jerald Wingeart followed a pattern: he would patrol rural towns and college campuses for free young women to abduct, to rape, sometimes to kill. World’s Most Evil Killers s8e2: Jerald Wingeart
WINSTON, THOMAS murder: Angus MacQueen: Our Drugs War TV -
Thomas Winston, a stereotype, a black New Yorker who has been in and out of prison all his life for the sale and possession of drugs. Thomas has signed up for a campaign to reform New York’s Rockefeller drug laws. The sale or possession of small amounts of drugs are given a mandatory sentence equivalent to second-degree murder. Angus MacQueen, Our Drugs War: Life and Death of a Dealer