Carrie Cox, the psychic and profiler who had identified a possible burial site at which no body was found, published Alligator Alibi, a lengthy book with documents from the investigation, Cheryl Williams's notes, and her own commentary. He did not want the divorce and felt he had nothing to live for if it went through. Later that year, Williams told his mother, whom he had been consoling, that he would have liked to have $50,000 to take the next year off. Copyright 2021 WCTV. [2], In 1999, Williams's only child, a daughter, was born. "[She] had absolutely nothing to do with Mike Williams's disappearance and had absolutely nothing to do with any of the crimes that Brian Winchester committed." And fortunately, it looks like the tragedy surrounding her family isn't slowing her down. Under the terms of the agreement, Anslee Williams, 20, is prohibited from using any of the money or assets she received to help pay her mothers' legal fees or other costs associated with the murder case or any ongoing appeals. Denise Brown, Realtor at Keller Williams St Pete. They were good friends with Brian Winchester and his wife. Denise Williams stands trial in Leon County, Florida for the December 16, 2000 murder of her husband, who went by Mike. They allegedly chose December 9, 2000, as the day Winchester would take Mike on a duck hunting trip, knock him overboard and stage his death as . Mikes assassination enabled the couple to pay in three life insurance policies totaling roughly $2 million. [3], In June, an angler in the Stump Field area discovered a pair of waders floating in the lake, and divers called to search the area then recovered from the lake bottom a lightweight hunting jacket and a flashlight: in one of the jacket pockets, there was a hunting license with Williams's name and signature. The only person to address the court besides the lawyers was Cheryl Williams, who said that justice had finally been served, and that Denise had taken not only her son but also her granddaughter from her. NurPhoto via Getty Images, FILE. Mike and Denise's daughter, who was 18 months when the murder happened, spoke in court and asked for leniency for her mother At the time of the trial investigators said Denise's motives were to get out of the marriage and collect nearly $2million from life insurance. Just days before Christmas, Michelle Williams is left mourning the loss of her father, Dennis Williams. Her mother was a nurse and her father, a security professional. [13] On the water, he never put his waders on until he had reached the point where he planned to get out and start hunting, following a common safety procedure in order to avoid the type of accident from which he was later believed to have died. If she breaks the conditions of the agreement, the state could order her to pay $150,000 in damages. After subsequent investigations, he was presumed to have drowned in Lake Seminole, a large reservoir located in the southwest corner of Georgia along its border with Florida; investigators later came to suspect he had been the victim of foul play, possibly at another location. [19], Cheryl Williams expressed hope that this development could lead to the resolution of her son's disappearance. He added that that belief was shared by all the investigators at that point. Cadaver dogs were brought to the area and sniffed it out, but found nothing. Five years later, she married Brian Winchester,[15] who had sold Mike some of the policies a few months before he disappeared. Derrick Wester, an investigator with the Jackson County sheriff's office, agreed that they were "trying to make up for" not having considered the possibility that things might not have been what they seemed in 2000. Denise distanced herself from Mike's family, cutting off communication between them and her daughter, according to those close to the Williamses. [9] Cheryl Williams promoted it heavily in the days before it aired. I think something is there. The second-born child of Cliff and Clair Huxtable, Denise is known for her eccentric clothing and free-spirited, rebellious nature, earning her a reputation as . [7][8] The Investigation Discovery channel series Disappeared devoted an episode to the case in 2012. I just did what God put on my heart to do.". [3], The initial search investigation was handled by the FFWCC. The indictment states that Denise Williams and Brian Winchester, her husband's best friend, plotted for nearly nine months to kill the 31-year-old. Denise Eger, Jewel Thais-Williams, Maxine Waters, Irwin Rappaport, Phill Wilson, Sharon Stone and Jeanne White-Ginder are seen at the AIDS Monument. Prosecutors dropped the charges and agreed to not seek financial penalties as part of a settlement agreement blessed by Mike Williams' mother and brother, which shiftedall of Denise Williams' assets to the couple's daughter, Anslee Williams. Williams was 5feet 10inches (1.78m) and 170 pounds (77kg). In 2001, she said, they were planning to go on a cruise in Hawaii that spring; later in the year he expected to travel to Jamaica for work as well. She did not speak or offer any argument on her behalf. She was convicted in December of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the 17-year-old cold case. She went on to marry Brian Winchester, a mutual friend who had helped her take out a large life insurance policy on Williams shortly before his disappearance. She continued to do what she could to publicize the case, taking out ads in the Tallahassee Democrat. It has since been suggested that the search might have been continued had Denise Williams indicated an interest in such. Facebook gives people the power. But instead, he managed to get to a tree stump, so Winchester fired a single shotgun blast to the face. "All they are doing is maintaining their body temperature Fifty-eight degrees is too cold for an alligator to be interested in food at all. [2], Apart from the condition of the waders was the question of why Williams would have been wearing them when he supposedly fell out of the boat. I will honor Mikes memory by fulfilling my purpose.. Normally, under Florida law, the statute of limitations on that crime is five years, meaning it would have expired in 2005. There is no manual to tell a mother what to do when her child goes missing. [33], In the early 2000s, Cheryl Williams had posted flyers, put up signs, and run newspaper ads soliciting information about the case. Two DNA tests matched the remains to his mother's sample. Denise Williams was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for her role in the murder of her husband and Cheryl Willliams' son, Mike Williams. In 1988, Mike and Denise graduated from high school alongside their classmates Brian Winchester and Kathy Aldridge, who would later become Brians wife. The assets given to Anslee Williams include four pieces of Tallahasseereal estate valued at about $877,000, including her home on Centennial Oaks Circle, purchased by her parents when she was a baby. But it can be extended by three years under certain circumstances. "Michael would have wanted her to be taken care of for the rest of her life.". Winchester is serving a20 year prison term. Anslee Williams, Mike Williams' only daughter, was accessible to the media and gave interviews about her father's murder case. Where Are Survivors Brandon Lafferty and Marty Thomas Now? The truth, though, was that Denise had been cheating on Mike with his best friend, Brian Winchester, since 1997. The following year his father died. I was married to a wonderful woman, I was raising a child, and I was also seeing Denise in the meantime. Mike went missing while on a duck hunting trip in Lake Seminole with his best friend Brian. By then, officers had learned that alligators do not, in fact, eat during the winter months, as the water is too cold, and as such, it was suspected that foul play might have occurred. Meanwhile, more information about her life is now unavailable. "They did not protect the crime scene at all," recalled a Williams family friend with law enforcement experience, who had tended the drum fire during the search. Her defense argued that the tape should not have been admitted as evidence since Winchester was not charged with anything despite his admission; the prosecution said it simply asked him to tell the truth about what happened. He distinguished himself as "the hardest-working man I ever saw", according to the company's owner. An FDLE source told the Tallahassee Democrat that 98% of his bones were recovered, all very well preserved, as was some of the clothing he had been wearing, such as winter gloves and booties. That allowed her to claim Mike's insurance policies worth $1.75 million. The story behind this killing is bit convoluted. She spoke in court, asking leniency for her mother, Denise, and insisted that it was her step-father, Brian, and not Denise who plotted the December 2000 murder of her father. Regina Krieger Murder: Where Are Gilberto Rodriguez and Cody Thompson Now? Cheryl Williams, who never believed her son accidentally drownedand long suspected her daughter-in-law was involved in his death, said she was at peace with the agreement. [6], She believed her son might still be alive. Her ex-husband and Mike Williams' best friend, Brian Winchester, was also charged, although he was already in prison at the time. [21] Later it was reported that he had reached an agreement with prosecutors before the sentencing that they would neither seek a life sentence on the kidnapping charge nor introduce certain evidence at the hearing. pic.twitter.com/90OBDmwlw2, Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 6, 2019. Anslees family has been ripped apart since her mother and stepfather were sentenced to life in prison for killing Mike in 2000. County public works employees brought in backhoes for what they were told was a training exercise. [11] She was found guilty that December, after Winchester testified to shooting Michael at Denise's behest when their original plan to stage a boating accident failed, and was sentenced to life in prison in January of 2019. [21] Winchester is now imprisoned in the Wakulla Correctional Institution. [13] According to his mother, Mike was making US$200,000 annually by the time of his disappearance. Judge Kevin J. Carroll said Denise will get credit for time already served in prison. WireImage "Dinner with the TEAM!" she captioned a video of herself posing for paparazzi outside the restaurant, sharing the clip on . Denise Richards Shares Sweet Photo of Her Three 'Beautiful Girls' Captured on Her Wedding Day. Apparently, he was paranoid that she'd go to the police and confess what really happened to Mike Williams. If I had not done what I did for 17 years, Mikes disappearance never would have been solved. [2] In 1999, Williams's only child, a daughter, was born. However, Winchester didn't follow through with killing his ex-wife, Kathy. Brian and Denise got married after the murder but eventually separated. Mikes best friend and an insurance agent was Brian. [22], No mention was made of the Williams case at Brian Winchester's sentencing, although State Attorney Jack Campbell told the media that he hoped the case against Winchester would help authorities solve that disappearance. Denise's estranged husband, Winchester, was serving his sentence at Wakulla Correctional Institution near Tallahassee; his attorney said his client would take the stand at trial if legally compelled to do so. She didnt want to be known as a divorcee or share custody of their daughter, so she got Brian to help her in getting rid of her husband for once and for all. They found his 1994 Ford Bronco near a remote boat launch in Jackson County, on the Florida side. On Wednesday, she received a mandatory life sentence for the murder as well as an additional . Her attorney argued before the Florida First District Court of Appeals that there was no evidence she was involved in the commission of the murder. No other details were provided. "[18], Another possible lead that year proved fruitless as well. Out on the water, he had gotten Mike to put the waders on, then pushed him out of the boat, thinking he would be unable to resurface and thus would drown. Initially, it was said he left his home in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, to go duck hunting. He explained that he was the one who lured Mike Williams to Lake Seminole and attempted to kill him by pushing him off the boat. On Nov. 14, Williams' family and a coalition of birth justice activists will hold their fourth rally for Denise outside Queens Hospital Center. When did Stephanie Grisham resign as Melania Trump's chief of staff? "The mere fact that they can't locate the body isn't necessarily something the insurance industry would care about," he said. In particular, she came to believe the investigation was hampered by the involvement of agent Mike Philips, a friend of both her son and his then-wife. "I'm praying he doesn't commit suicide, I'm praying he'll tell us what actually happened." Her arrest Tuesday coincided with their daughter's birthday. Audio of Brian Winchester's interview with the FDLE was played in court. Denise Williams has been resentenced to 30 years in prison for a conspiracy conviction in her husbands death. The Most Notorious Crime in Every State in the U.S. Who Killed the Eight Louisiana Women in Showtime's 'Murder in the Bayou'? Efforts continued until the search was called off in early February. 12K views, 80 likes, 87 loves, 652 comments, 27 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from WCTV.tv: LIVE: Denise Williams' sentencing hearing continues. She said: "I am a fighter, not a victim. [8], At noon, Denise called her father to tell him that Mike had not returned; Brian Winchester's (Mike's best friend) father drove with Winchester to the areas of the lake where they knew Mike Williams frequently went duck hunting. Five years after Mike's disappearance, Denise married Brian Winchester. Mike married his high school sweetheart Denise in 1994 and welcomed a daughter with her five years later. Denise Williams will have to serve out a full 30-year sentence for her role in conspiring to kill her husband Mike Williams more than two decades ago. The 51-year-old's 2018 first-degree murder conviction was dropped last November by an appeals court, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. After four days of testimony, the jury took eight hours to convict Denise of all the charges. In it, Brian confessed to pulling the trigger but claims the killing was Denise's idea. [3], Two days before his disappearance, Mike and Denise told his mother, as well as his brother Nick, that they were planning to have another child soon. The one-hour special broadcast implicates the true criminal, Mikes high school sweetheart, and shows us who she really is. She testified in court, pleading for leniency for her mother, Denise, and insisting that her stepfather, Brian, and not Denise, was the mastermind behind her father's murder in December 2000. [15], "The circumstances surrounding this case raise many serious and troubling questions," said DIF's lead attorney, Mark Schlein. He helped police recover Brian's body, and testified against his former lover Denise, who had for years escaped justice as a grieving widow. His boat was soon found roughly 225 feet (69m)[16] from the ramp by a helicopter pilot, who initially assumed it was a boat being used in the search. [28], Prosecutors also played a taped phone conversation in which Kathy Thomas, who was working with police at the time, had told Denise she knew the truth about the crime. It was sent to a state forensics laboratory for DNA testing: the results have not been reported. The boat launch where his Bronco was found, which he would presumably have used to put his boat in the lake, was an undeveloped patch of mud. Assistant State Attorney Jon Fuchs had no comment on the total dollar figure, though Cheryl Williams said it was about $1.4 million. Before the judge handed down the sentence, the victim's mother, Cheryl Williams . But Denise's friends said she took great care. He and Denise had bought a home in a small upscale subdivision on the east side of the city. The lake is a large reservoir approximately 50mi (80km) west-northwest of Tallahassee located in the southwest corner of Georgia along its border with Florida, where three other streams merge to form the Apalachicola River. "We didn't have a whole lot to go on except there was an empty boat and the guy didn't show up," one of the agency's officers recalled later, after his retirement. The judge ruled Williams will have credit for the time she has served so far. Early searchers had reported seeing many of them, and some of the officials were willing to accept the possibility. She said later that he claimed this was necessary since she was not taking his calls and was blocking his text messages. Mike Williams disappeared in December 2000 while on a duck hunting trip on Lake Seminole with his friend Brian Winchester. Family members of murder victim Jerry "Mike" Williams repeated a startling allegation against his widow Denise Williams on Wednesday. Her efforts had severely strained her relationship with her former daughter-in-law.[6]. Denise and Mike met and fell in love during their high school years at North Florida Christian School in Tallahassee. Anslee is said to have a strained connection with her grandmother, Cheryl, and her family following her mothers conviction and punishment. Denise Williams said her purpose is to serve incarcerated women and help them lead successful lives. [17] In retrospect, many officers agreed with her that the circumstances surrounding Michael Williams' apparent drowning four years before were unusual, and were strongly at odds with that conclusion: Investigators also learned that Williams didn't usually hunt alone. [16] Denise Williams, who had avoided media attention during the search for her husband, accepted that her husband had died. At the time of the trial investigators said Denise's motives were to get out of the marriage and collect nearly $2million from life insurance. She did not speak to the media about how she reacted to the news. Join Facebook to connect with Denise Williams and others you may know. Sami Sheenthe 18-year-old daughter of exes Charlie Sheen and Denise Richardsdropped several bikini photos on Instagram nearly a year after first launching her OnlyFans account. After she had written over 200 letters without even an acknowledgment that they had been received, she began inquiring personally as to why. Brian and Denise got married after the murder but eventually separated. And by chance, a local Tallahassee TV station, WCTV, was at the hospital: DENISE WILLIAMS : We're just totally. 18h ago . Throughout their time in high school, both of them participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. "There was nothing there that we had from the scene that suggested foul play at all." Suzanne Santo and Husband Nic Pizzolatto Got Married At A Beautiful Wedding At The Backyard, Kritika Khurana (That Boho Girl) Height, Age, Boyfriend, Husband, Family, Biography & More, Diipa Khosla: Age, Height, Education, Biography, Boyfriend, Family and more. Midway through the year, the couple bought a $1 million life insurance policy on him through Brian Winchester,[6] a childhood acquaintance of Merrell who had also become best friends with her husband. [15], The private search team that surmised the alligator theory had been hired near the end of the original search by Williams's mother, Cheryl. "[18] FDLE officials said in 2011 that Cox had not found anything requiring further investigation. One of the policies, for $1 million, was written less than a year before he went missing by his best friend, Brian Winchester, who 17 years later confessed to killing Mike during the hunting trip after conspiring with Denise so they could be together. Before he went to it, he took a tan sheet, a different-colored plastic sheet, a spray bottle of bleach, and a tool from Denise's car. "Everyone knows the lake is full of alligators," said the FFWCC's David Arnette. "I brought her daddy home for her and she's financially independent now. Despite her promise to him not to tell police about the incident, she drove straight to them afterwards. In a shocking twist of events, in 2018 (and on his daughter's 19th birthday), Mike Williams' wife, Denise Williams-Winchester, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder, fraud, conspiracy, and accessory after the fact. [32] In November 2020, the murder conviction was overturned, but the conspiracy to commit murder conviction was upheld including the 30 year sentence that accompanied it. "Some things looked unusual right off the bat," said the FFWCC's Arnette, who had initially thought the situation was a typical case involving a missing hunter and a possible boating accident. He also confessed that he and Williams-Winchester were having an affair since high school. [3] She followed the story through Denise's conviction, making a point of keeping the poster for the case on her cubicle wall. Just before Mother's Day in 1999, Denise gave birth to the couple's daughter. She is said to have attended Florida State University and is well-liked by her classmates. life prison sentence for the murder of her husband, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Mother hopes for break in 16-year-old cold case", "Insurance investigators take new look at Mike Williams' disappearance", "Mike Williams mystery gets national exposure", "Eight years later, still no trace of missing hunter Mike Williams", "Devastated Florida mother suspects wife, not alligators, is behind son's 2000 disappearance", "Brian Winchester sentenced to 20 years in prison", "Read the grand jury's indictment of Denise Williams", "Lawyer: Mike Williams was killed by Brian Winchester; Denise Williams is innocent", "Judge has ordered Denise Williams be held without bond and has set a trial date for September 24", "Denise Williams trial: Brian Winchester testifies affair 'snowballed' into plot to kill", "Secret recordings of Denise Williams reveal conversation about husband's murder", "Denise Williams insurance fraud case dropped, daughter gets all assets", "Denise Williams appeals murder conviction and life sentence", "Murder conviction for Denise Williams reversed by appeals court, conspiracy charge affirmed", Episode 11 Denise Williams Fri, Nov 13, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Mike_Williams&oldid=1138116187, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, First-degree murder conviction overturned; remaining charges upheld (2020). Mike Williams'body was discovered in 2017 after Winchester told investigators in detail how he and Denise, who'd been having a years' long affair,planned to get rid of him, make it look like an accident and collect on his life insurance policies. [6], Several days later, their attorney delivered the gun to the FDLE. "You look for other answers: 'Why hasn't the body appeared? Since it had been reported to them as a missing hunter, the agency handled the case that way, focusing on search and rescue or recovery. They did say that they would seek to have her denied bail. Shawnee Benton Gibson, whose daughter Shamony . The confessed killer of a Florida man contends. Jerry Michael Williams was known as Michael or Mike. "[8], In 2012, Denise and Brian Winchester separated, reportedly due to his sex addiction; she filed for divorce in 2015. Anslees life was flipped upside down when her father, Mike, vanished without a trace, and an inquiry revealed her mother guilty of her fathers death nearly seventeen years later. His coworkers said he was as devoted to her as he was to his work. The immunity deal followed a plea and sentencing agreement with prosecutors after Winchester kidnapped Denise in the final days of their marriage because he was afraid she would pin the murder on him alone. One of the ads drew the attention of Jennifer Portman, a reporter at the Tallahassee Democrat. Denise and Brian were having an affair, and they planned to murder each others husbands so that they could be together. The stipulated agreement was signed by Anslee Williamsin May, just over a year after her mother's arrest on the young woman's birthday. The head of a private search firm that supplemented official efforts near the end of the search offered a possible explanation. He grew up in Bradfordville[6] (north of Tallahassee), the son of a Greyhound bus driver[3] and a day care provider who raised him and his older brother Nick in a double-wide trailer. The case broke open in 2016 when Denise Williams' then husbandBrian Winchesterwas arrested for kidnapping her. A year later, after Brian testified to shooting Mike at Denises behest,she was found guilty of all charges. Her efforts led to the Investigation Discovery cable channel doing a segment on Michael's disappearance and the later investigations in late 2011. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. [15], However, Brian Jones, an expert in insurance law at Florida State University, told the Democrat that any fraud case would have to rest on more than just those facts already known to have aroused investigative interest. [4] Brian opposed it initially and had to be ordered to comply. It was actually Mike Williams' mom, Cheryl, who appealed to the judge for a maximum sentence. His coworkers said he was as devoted to her as he was to his work. Almost Three Decades Since His Last Murder, Lorenzo Gilyard Maintains His Innocence. Cheryl Williams' emotional statement at Denise Williams' sentencing. She now attends Florida State University and she also competes in pageants. All of these assets belonged to her mother, who was being investigated by the insurance company for fraud. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 30 years. "[We're] at a brick wall pounding our heads against it," said Austin. In 2019, Anslee Williams got $877,000 in assets, increasing her net worth.
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