GA GA - Wayne Williams - Atlanta Child Murders & more - 1979-1981

[Mrs Marple]

I don't remember this but l do remember the mini series in the mid 80s. I must have been 9 or 10 when l watched it. How times have changed! This might have been the beginning of the sleuthing...

 

[ddav]

I will check these out! Again, thank you very much for taking the time to help me out!

no problem!

 

[ddav]

I don't remember this but l do remember the mini series in the mid 80s. I must have been 9 or 10 when l watched it. How times have changed! This might have been the beginning of the sleuthing...

By and large the CBS series was very supportive of Williams, where it stuck to the factual evidence the first episode of the series was not too bad but the second half really went bad. A later documentary Wayne williams at DuckDuckGo was much better, not pro Williams but given time the critics of the case

 

[Mrs Marple]

By and large the CBS series was very supportive of Williams, where it stuck to the factual evidence the first episode of the series was not too bad but the second half really went bad. A later documentary Wayne williams at DuckDuckGo was much better, not pro Williams but given time the critics of the case

I hardly remember it now to be honest; I remember the horror of the crimes and the sadness of many of the victims not having their case heard in court. I think it was presented as them not being worth it.

 

[ddav]

I hardly remember it now to be honest; I remember the horror of the crimes and the sadness of many of the victims not having their case heard in court. I think it was presented as them not being worth it.

I dont think its that. IN most multiple homicides of that magnitude only some of the cases are tried. Ted Bundy for example was only tried for the murders he committed in Florida. The simple fact is if WW had later gotten off on a technicality, the other cases would have enabled him to be recharged. Secondly, there was dispute even by those that strongly believed he was guilty, that he didnt commit every murder he was possibly accused of . (for example, no one thought he really killed the two little girls, and one of the victims bodies was never found. The simple reality was the case was at the time one of the most expensive in GA history and holding a serious of trials for someone already convicted would have represented a serious drain on the courts resources to try other unconvicted criminals, especially since the evidence for his guilt in most of the other crimes was presented in the pattern evidence presented during the trial.

 

[sleuther0192837465]

Hope I am posting this in the proper thread:

Police to re-test evidence in Atlanta child murder cases
From the article:
“Police announced Thursday a plan to re-test evidence from decades-old child murder cases that rocked Atlanta in the late '70s and early '80s.“
Very short article, but happy to see this!!!
MOO

 

[Proud Country Gal]

Police to re-test evidence in Atlanta child murder cases | Atlanta: News, Weather and Traffic

ATLANTA - Police announced Thursday a plan to re-test evidence from decades-old child murder cases that rocked Atlanta in the late '70s and early '80s........

 

[Richard]

Wayne Williams



Born: May 27, 1958 (age 60) · Atlanta, Ga
Height: 5' 7"

 

[YESorNO]

The Infuriating Reasons The Atlanta Child Murders Aren't Common Knowledge (with clip)
The creators of the "Atlanta Monster" podcast, Payne Lindsey and Donald Albright, claim that the city of Atlanta swept the case under the rug because the children were "forgettable victims in the eyes of law enforcement."

MARCH 26, 2019

"Over the course of two years, nearly 30 people were murdered in the city of Atlanta, very possibly by the same serial killer in what's been dubbed "the Atlanta Child Murders," yet for some reason the average person most likely doesn't know anything about the horrifying case.

Here's the backstory: Between 1979 and 1981, bodies of children, teens, and young adults, many as young as 9 and primarily African American and lower-income, were found murdered all over the city.

To put that into perspective, if it was all the work of one person, that serial killer would have killed four times the amount of people as the Zodiac Killer, another city-based, anonymous serial killer from a similar time period. And while most people know exactly who the Zodiac is, many people, even those from Atlanta, haven’t even heard about the Child Murders. That included one of the creators of a recently created podcast entitled “Atlanta Monster," which took a deep dive into the tragic case....

The second season of Netflix’s hit “Mindhunter” will focus on the case, which has been described as an “investigation steeped in bitter controversy," according to the book "Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit," which the show is based upon...."

The Infuriating Reasons The Atlanta Child Murders Aren't Common Knowledge
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Atlanta murders of 1979–81

"The Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, sometimes called the Atlanta Child Murders (although several of the reported victims were adults), were a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, from the middle of 1979 until May 1981. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed.

Wayne Williams, an Atlanta native who was 23 years old at the time of the last murder, was arrested, tried, and convicted of two of the adult murders and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Police subsequently have attributed a number of the child murders to Williams, although he has not been charged in any of those cases, and Williams himself maintains his innocence. In March 2019, the Atlanta police, under order of the mayor, reopened the cases in hopes that new technology will lead to a conviction...."

Atlanta murders of 1979–81 - Wikipedia

 

[YESorNO]

Atlanta Child Murders Case Reopened After Almost 40 Years; Evidence To Be Re-Tested
Mar 24, 2019

"State and local officials will take a fresh look at the Atlanta Child Murders cases that left more than 20 black children and young adults dead four decades ago, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Thursday."

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The Atlanta Child Murders | A grieving mother's final plea

Feb 27, 2019

 

[YESorNO]

Atlanta Child Murders Full Crime Documentary

Jan 7, 2016

 

[YESorNO]

Atlanta Child Murderer Speaks

Jun 2, 2010

"Wayne Williams still says he innocent."

 

[YESorNO]

Watch: EXCLUSIVE: Man says he fought off Atlanta Child Murders prime suspect

Mar 29, 2019

"ATLANTA - Could there be a new break in the Atlanta Child Murders investigation?

An Atlanta man told Channel 2 Action News that he fought off Wayne Williams -- the prime suspect in the Atlanta Child Murders. He said this is the first time he’s talking about it publicly.

Tim Thomas told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamant that he was walking home from school one night in 1976 when Williams offered him a ride.

Thomas said he got in Williams’ car and almost immediately knew something was wrong...."

ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS: In exclusive interview, man tells Channel 2 that he fought off main suspect Wayne Williams

 

[dotr]

March 30, 2019
CRIME HUNTER: Atlanta Child Murders terrified city

"The suspected victims of the Atlanta Child Killer. Did convicted killer Wayne Williams kill them all?
There were 29 of them.

Almost all of the victims were kids. Mostly poor. Mostly black. The youngest was 9.

They were called the Atlanta Child Murders and for three terrifying years from 1979 to 1981 the southern city lived in the grip of fear."

 

[dotr]

March 30, 2019
CRIME HUNTER: Atlanta Child Murders terrified city

"The suspected victims of the Atlanta Child Killer. Did convicted killer Wayne Williams kill them all?
There were 29 of them.

Almost all of the victims were kids. Mostly poor. Mostly black. The youngest was 9.

They were called the Atlanta Child Murders and for three terrifying years from 1979 to 1981 the southern city lived in the grip of fear."

ETA Meant to include this text with link..
"Williams, now 60 and caged for life, has always maintained his innocence.

But he isn’t innocent, according to cold case crime expert and University of Western Ontario criminology professor Michael Arntfield.
He’s a killer. Just not all of them.

“We’ve always known Williams is good for a few but not all of them,” Arntfield told The Toronto Sun.

He said cops looked at Williams as a quick way to clear the books and defuse a potentially explosive racial situation.

“There have been few things as convenient as Williams being caught red-handed tossing bodies off a bridge,” said Arntfield, a former cop. “It’s the most convenient ending they could have wished for.”

But he has no doubt some Atlanta detective likely raised the red flag that Williams wasn’t the man in most of the murders."
“There are glaring inconsistencies here. The cop who raised the red flag was likely either shouted down or under significant political pressure to shut up,” Arntfield said."

 

[SavageMarkIII]

I too believe Wayne Williams was guilty of some of the murders, but guilty of all.....don’t think so.

Too many variations in how and where the kids were taken, where they were found etc. Everyone assumes all the bodies were found in the Chattahoochie, they weren’t. Some were found in woods, some inside buildings, some behind buildings etc.

Some victims were found not far away from where they lived, some were found all the way across town from where they lived or were taken from.

This is a good map of key places of interests, where victims lived, where they were last seen and where they were found.

Map & People of Interest

 

[YESorNO]

Atlanta Child Murders Case Reopened (with clip)

Apr 02, 2019

"ATLANTA, GA. (WGCL / CBS) - Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had to dry her eyes several times Friday morning while discussing the decades-old Atlanta child murders on with Frank Ski.

Mayor Bottoms was a little girl in the late 1970s and early 1980s and remembers the fear in the black community.

“I remember my grandmother and my aunt calling my mother from Chicago begging her to send me to live with her in Chicago because they were killing black children in Atlanta,” Bottoms said.

The murders will now get a second-look as the mayor's office, Atlanta police, the GBI and the Fulton County District Attorney's office work together to re-examine them...."

Atlanta Child Murders Case Reopened
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Suspect in Atlanta Child Murders case speaks out (with clip)

Apr 01 2019

"ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Wayne Williams and his supporters are speaking for the first time since Atlanta police announced a re-examination of all of the evidence in the historic Atlanta Child Murders case.

Speaking at the steps of Atlanta City Hall Monday morning, the members of the foundation “The Wayne Williams Freedom Project” and their private investigator say they believe this new examination could help exonerate Williams and that they've been working on the case for the last 10 months.

“I just hope that not only will some answers come forth as far as the suspects and other persons that are responsible for these terrible crimes, but I also hope that we can get to the bottom of the social conditions that led to this type of apathy in Atlanta, which continues today," Williams' letter said...."

Suspect in Atlanta Child Murders case speaks out

 

[YESorNO]

Calls for answers in Atlanta Child Murders (with clip)

Apr 11 2019

"SMYRNA, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Community leaders and activists gathered Wednesday night in a renewed push for justice in the Atlanta Child Murders cases.

"Did Wayne Williams do this? 40 years later, if we're still asking those questions, it simply means it's an important conversation to have," said Derrick Boazman of WAOK's "Too Much Truth" radio talk show, who organized the event after hearing from concerned community members and even families of the victims. ..."

Calls for answers in Atlanta Child Murders

 

[YESorNO]

When her teen was killed in 1979 she was heartbroken, but didn't know he would be the first of dozens (with clip)
Alfred Evans was 13 years old and had just graduated the 7th grade in 1979, before his life was cut short.

April 12, 2019

"ATLANTA — For decades, Lois Evans stayed silent. The deep pain of losing her child is palpable, along with questions surrounding his death. It has plagued her for decades.

“I didn’t know then and I still don’t know now. I can’t believe it because I don’t know,” Evans told 11Alive’s Neima Abdulahi in an exclusive interview. “I’m still puzzled now as to why.”

Her son, Alfred Evans, was 13 years old when he disappeared in 1979. He had just graduated the seventh grade. His body was found in July of that year on Niskey Lake Road in southwest Atlanta along with another victim, Edward Hope Smith.

Fast forward decades later, and Alfred’s 81-year-old mother still wonders what happened to her son...."

When her teen was killed in 1979 she was heartbroken, but didn't know he would be the first of dozens

(Alfred Evans was found murdered in July 1979. He is believed to be the first victim in the notorious Atlanta child murders, which took the lives of 29 children from 1979-1981./WXIA)
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Why was Wayne Williams never tried for any of the Atlanta child murders?

Mar 27, 2019

"Fiber evidence linked Williams to some of the child murders"

 

[YESorNO]

Investigators promise evidence review in Atlanta Child Murders (with clip)

Apr 19 2019

"ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Hundreds gathered to call for justice in the Atlanta Child Murders, as investigators promised a review of the evidence in all the cases.

People filled West Hunter Street Baptist Church on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, where searches were held 40 years ago to find the missing and murdered children...."

Investigators promise evidence review in Atlanta Child Murders
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Wayne Williams calls into community forum about the Atlanta Child Murders

April 19, 2019

"ATLANTA — There was an unexpected speaker at a community forum about the Atlanta Child Murders - the man who stands accused in the children's deaths.

Community leaders were holding the forum Thursday night at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta to discus whether Wayne Williams actually killed any of the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders....

Attendees were able to listen in on Williams as he placed the seven-minute call to share his side of the story. During Thursday night's forum, Williams said he just wants justice and answers for the families.

"I just wanted to reach out and just say, God bless, and let's finally get some answers to these questions," Williams said in audio obtained by 11Alive. ..."

Wayne Williams calls into community forum about the Atlanta Child Murders
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'It was just wrong,' retired detective says after Wayne Williams calls into town hall meeting (with clip)

Apr 19, 2019

"ATLANTA - It’s been decades since retired Detective Lou Arcangeli worked on the case of the Atlanta child murders.

But the memories are still vivid.

“I remember seeing one of the little boys in the morgue. Wayne did that,” Arcangeli said.

That’s why Arcangeli said he felt offended this week when Atlanta native Wayne Williams, the man he believes killed the children, called in from prison to a town hall forum about the killings.

Several of the victims' families were present.

“It was just wrong. It was very offensive," Arcangeli said...."

'It was just wrong,' retired detective says after Wayne Williams calls into town hall meeting