Wayne Williams biography

Synopsis

Serial killer Wayne Williams killed twenty-seven black youths from 1979 - 1981 in Atlanta. Williams narrowly escaped capture on May 22, 1981, when police heard someone dumping something in the Chattahoochee River. Williams was found climbing into a station wagon, was questioned, and then allowed to go. But when a body turned up later, fibers found on the victim matched those found in William's car, and he was arrested. Williams was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. After the trial, doubts were raised about his guilt, and many consider the case unsolved.

Profile

Serial killer. Born Wayne Bertram Williams on May 27, 1958 in Atlanta, Georgia. From October 1979 to May 1981, Williams killed twenty-seven black youths, mostly boys between the ages of 7 and 14, in Atlanta. The disappearance of the boys from their black neighborhoods launched a full-scale manhunt.

Williams narrowly escaped capture on May 22, 1981, when police heard someone dumping something in the Chattahoochee River. Twenty-two-year-old Williams was found climbing into a station wagon, was questioned, and then allowed to go. But when a body turned up in the river a week later, police talked to Williams again. Fibers found on the victim matched those found in William's car, and he was arrested.

At trial, Williams was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. After the trial, doubts were raised about his guilt, and many consider the case unsolved.