Speaker 1: Welcome to the new summer series of Atlanta Monster, where
Speaker 1: we will uncover new stories around the Atlanta child murders.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jason Hope, and in our first episode,
Speaker 1: we talked to the men and women that reported on
Speaker 1: the case that gripped Atlanta and the nation nearly forty
Speaker 1: years ago. The time has healed old wounds. One thing
Speaker 1: is clear. The nightmare of that traumatic time sticks with
Speaker 1: many even to this day. You don't want to believe
Speaker 1: that you've given anybody an opportunity to do anything to
Speaker 1: harm anybody, because it means that you could have been
Speaker 1: a part of fueling what may have happened. In other words,
Speaker 1: if he wasn't an overnight photographer, maybe he wouldn't have
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to do this. To think that you
Speaker 1: have come face to face with someone who could potentially
Speaker 1: kill that many people and be that close to where
Speaker 1: you shake their hand, You've hugged them, you have laughed
Speaker 1: with them, that's the hard part. You don't want to
Speaker 1: think that he was so wrong in judging somebody. I
Speaker 1: don't want to believe that he did that because somehow
Speaker 1: I feel that I may have had some role in
Speaker 1: helping in Atlanta. Another body was discovered today there at
Speaker 1: Police Task Force headquarters. There are twenty seven faces on
Speaker 1: the wall, murdered, one missing. We do not know the
Speaker 1: person or persons that are responsible. Therefore, we do not
Speaker 1: have the moody from Tenderfoot TV and how still works
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. Like eleven other recent victims in Atlanta, rogers
Speaker 1: apparently was ASPHIXI victor. Atlanta was unlikely to catch the
Speaker 1: killer unless he keeps on killing. This is Atlanta Monster.
Speaker 1: I'm Joscelyn Dorsey. I'm Director of Editorials and Public Affairs
Speaker 1: at WSBTV, which is now Cox Media Group Atlanta, and
Speaker 1: I've been there for forty five years. I started out
Speaker 1: as a street reporter in nineteen seventy three and worked
Speaker 1: in the newsroom from nineteen seventy three to nineteen eighty three,
Speaker 1: and after that became the director. Jocelyn Dorsey was the
Speaker 1: first African American television news anchor in Atlanta, arriving from
Speaker 1: Ohio in nineteen seventy three. During her career, she has
Speaker 1: reported on numerous happenings in and around Atlanta, including the
Speaker 1: Atlanta child murders, with reporting on the psychics and community
Speaker 1: efforts to help local kids who are highly distressed at
Speaker 1: the time. Through the central character art the Art Institute
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Police hope to teach children about safety in
Speaker 1: a way that can be fun. The four primary messages
Speaker 1: are don't get into a car with strangers, don't take candy, money,
Speaker 1: or gifts from strangers, play in groups, and if you
Speaker 1: need help, go to a police officer, firefighter, or bus driver.
Speaker 1: They're your friends. Art Institute Community Relations director Liz get
Speaker 1: says besides the basic themes, teachers can use the book
Speaker 1: as a teaching tool. The coloring book, produced by students
Speaker 1: of the Art Institute on a volunteer basis, is being
Speaker 1: donated to the Atlanta Police Bureau later this week. The
Speaker 1: printing costs for the fifty copies were donated by Diggler Brothers,
Speaker 1: a local firm, and officials say you'll be seeing a
Speaker 1: lot more of Artie in public service announcements soon. Joscelyn
Speaker 1: Dorsey Action News, but that's not the only part of
Speaker 1: her involvement with this story. Jocelyn was one of the
Speaker 1: first to discover Wayne in his teen years, where he
Speaker 1: was already hard at work at the radio station he
Speaker 1: had built in his house. I first met Wayne Williams
Speaker 1: as a street reporter. We got the story of this
Speaker 1: young whiz kid who had started a radio station in
Speaker 1: his basement, so I covered the store. He was fascinated
Speaker 1: with media, and normally I mentor young people who are
Speaker 1: interested in the business, and he was very interested and
Speaker 1: wanted to come and see the station. From there, we
Speaker 1: maintained a relationship because he asked questions and wanted to
Speaker 1: shadow me and all of that. Paul paula Celli worked
Speaker 1: in the newsroom at WSB. Also he saw firsthand and
Speaker 1: for the first time in his life, a new world
Speaker 1: when he wasn't entirely prepared for. I went to WSB
Speaker 1: is the executive producer and assistant news director. Atlanta was
Speaker 1: a very aggressive news community who was a hot growing
Speaker 1: city at the time. We were calling these kids street kids.
Speaker 1: The Omni is a complex of amusement arcades, theaters, restaurants,
Speaker 1: shops in the heart of Atlanta. It's a meeting place
Speaker 1: for the city. Is Footloose Young Blacks, a place which
Speaker 1: many of the missing and murdered children used to visit.
Speaker 1: Most of them were what the locals called street wise,
Speaker 1: coming often from broken homes. They hustled for money, did
Speaker 1: odd jobs, sometimes had trouble with the law. They were tough.
Speaker 1: I mean, I remembered my father said, what in the
Speaker 1: world is going on down there? And I said to him, Dad,
Speaker 1: I got to tell you something. I would have known
Speaker 1: more about what was on the surface of the moon
Speaker 1: then I knew about how people lived in public housing
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Georgia. I was totally unprepared for the world
Speaker 1: that I walked into. I didn't know that there were
Speaker 1: children who had no one with primary responsibility for those children.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that there were children who would be
Speaker 1: out at two and three o'clock in the morning being
Speaker 1: a mule for a drug dealer or selling homosexual favors.
Speaker 1: It was a world that was totally separate and apart
Speaker 1: from the caudal world that I grew up there. I
Speaker 1: had no concept that people lived like that. I had
Speaker 1: no concept that there was that level of child abuse
Speaker 1: in society. And Atlanta was having an epidemic of child
Speaker 1: abuse at the time, and it was particularly impactful and
Speaker 1: harmful to the minority kids at the time, and that
Speaker 1: was the big subject that never got addressed out of this.
Speaker 1: You know, they wanted to get this problem out of
Speaker 1: the way as fast as they could. And I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that Atlanta ever looked into that talk about a
Speaker 1: child being vulnerable. A nine year old on the street
Speaker 1: at three o'clock in the morning, and then you've got
Speaker 1: people prowling those streets looking for god knows what. Back
Speaker 1: in those days, we had what we called stringers. We
Speaker 1: were shooting sixteen millimeter film and we would give a
Speaker 1: camera to a freelancer, especially on the overnight crew, and
Speaker 1: he decided he wanted to be a photographer. He kept
Speaker 1: shadowing them, would come in all the time volunteer and
Speaker 1: I told him, I said, you know, we can't pay
Speaker 1: people to volunteer here, but if you want to try
Speaker 1: out to be a stringer, you could be a stringer.
Speaker 1: And that's what he did. He was freelancing for us
Speaker 1: as a photographer. Wayne's world, his world was the world
Speaker 1: of the stringer. His world was the world of going
Speaker 1: around looking for trouble with night and taking pictures of it.
Speaker 1: He was a component of that very world. He was
Speaker 1: just a young kid, and I mean he was right
Speaker 1: out of high school. I think when he first started
Speaker 1: working with us, I didn't know much about his home life.
Speaker 1: I knew his parents, and he was a child that
Speaker 1: was born later in their lives because they had had
Speaker 1: problems having a child. And I remember his mom telling
Speaker 1: me that he was a very special child because you know,
Speaker 1: she thought she wouldn't be able to have children. His
Speaker 1: father was in the business. I think he was a freelancer.
Speaker 1: He may have actually worked for a newspaper, but um
Speaker 1: he was a photographer, so I imagine his interest came
Speaker 1: from his dad. Jocelyn got to know Wayne and Wayne's family.
Speaker 1: But what was Wayne really like. He wasn't charming, and
Speaker 1: a lot of people didn't like him. He was kind
Speaker 1: of what people would call a nerd. You know, he's
Speaker 1: very nerdy, very bright. So I never thought that there
Speaker 1: was anything strange because I knew a lot of nerdy
Speaker 1: kids growing up, and you know, I just thought that
Speaker 1: he was different. He did have a way about him
Speaker 1: that rubbed some people the wrong way. We heard this
Speaker 1: over and over again. Wayne was nerdy, pudgy, highly intelligent.
Speaker 1: He is a highly intelligent young man, A good student.
Speaker 1: When he was in school, he was a very intelligent
Speaker 1: young man. I said, you're very intelligent. I said, what's
Speaker 1: your a cue and he said, I don't believe in
Speaker 1: accus and I said, well, you must have done well,
Speaker 1: and they just seem to be educated in articulate or whatever.
Speaker 1: As a student, he was extremely bright. He was a
Speaker 1: pretty intelligent guy too. He had a very high i Q. Brilliant, asshole,
Speaker 1: unassuming and cocky at the same time. He comes across
Speaker 1: as a nerd. He's a nerd. He's a little nerdy.
Speaker 1: He is so mild mannered. He couldn't hurt fly, small,
Speaker 1: not very threatening at all. Old kid with the classes,
Speaker 1: one of those pudgy little guys whose mom made him
Speaker 1: practice of piano. A little fat five seven, Wayne Williams,
Speaker 1: very quick mind mentally, he could just run over the
Speaker 1: average person. Wayne Williams quiet, didn't say much, and he
Speaker 1: got his job done and left. In our newsroom, there
Speaker 1: are quite a few guys who would tease him because
Speaker 1: of the way he looked. And this is back in
Speaker 1: the sevenings too, so the times were very different. But
Speaker 1: we don't know what impact had had on Wayne. You
Speaker 1: really didn't have a lot of involvement with people because
Speaker 1: you were so busy trying to get that story on
Speaker 1: the air. I didn't know him enough to know what
Speaker 1: was inside of his head. I knew it was different
Speaker 1: from most people. I guess. I defended him because I
Speaker 1: have known people like him, and um, I felt sorry
Speaker 1: for them because I know that they've been bullied or
Speaker 1: people have said unkind things to them. So I have
Speaker 1: a a soft spot in my heart for people like that,
Speaker 1: and so I got to be a bit more defensive
Speaker 1: because I felt as if they thought he was nerdy
Speaker 1: or something was wrong with him. He kept to himself
Speaker 1: a lot because of that. But he worked a different
Speaker 1: shift too. That's maybe the other reason he decided to
Speaker 1: work overnight so he wouldn't have to come in contact
Speaker 1: with people all the time. When the time came, Jocelyn
Speaker 1: Dorsey ended up having to fire Wane because he was
Speaker 1: taking footage and selling it to the other stations. On
Speaker 1: the side, you'll recall that Monica Coppan also said that
Speaker 1: strange things were happening. This man was a freelancer for WSBTV,
Speaker 1: and that's not something you hide. So the part of
Speaker 1: the story was, yes, someone has been arrested in connection
Speaker 1: with this case, but this person also has worked here
Speaker 1: as a freelance photographer, so that put us in a
Speaker 1: different vein from the other stations. Then there was still
Speaker 1: the question is he guilty or is he not. I
Speaker 1: can remember Don McClellan, who was the reporter then and
Speaker 1: it since has retired. He had a huge file on
Speaker 1: the Missigan murdered children. Don did that story that night,
Speaker 1: and I can remember him being as a good reporter
Speaker 1: should be. I'm just going to give you the facts,
Speaker 1: but this still is alleged. Wayne's departure from WSB did
Speaker 1: not end well. I distanced myself from him after he
Speaker 1: left the station. Um, we did not leave on great terms.
Speaker 1: So UM, I think he knew that he had done
Speaker 1: something wrong and regretted it, but it was it was
Speaker 1: not something that could be repaired easily. And then he
Speaker 1: left and decided that he was going to go into
Speaker 1: the music business. And he would call me and ask
Speaker 1: me if I knew any young people or if I
Speaker 1: could help him in this music business, and I told
Speaker 1: him I really didn't know anything about it, and so
Speaker 1: I really felt that this was not my place to
Speaker 1: give him any a dies and suggested, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: he talked to somebody else. And after that our relationship
Speaker 1: kind of drifted. The city struggled to find the killer,
Speaker 1: and the body count only grew larger. How would they
Speaker 1: know when they found him. Dr Alvin Passant was an
Speaker 1: African American psychiatrist with the Harvard and he became a
Speaker 1: regular that we touched with because the story had all
Speaker 1: of these racial overtones to it that again puzzled us,
Speaker 1: why is this happening? Why are all these kids minority kids?
Speaker 1: It became this gigantic crossword puzzle that just engrossed all
Speaker 1: of it. I've been doing interviews since nineteen Of all
Speaker 1: of them, that was the most chilling one I ever did.
Speaker 1: We were sitting in the snack room of WSP and
Speaker 1: I was doing an interview with him because his contention
Speaker 1: was is that this perpetrator had to be African American
Speaker 1: because where these crimes were committed and at the times
Speaker 1: that they were committed, a white man would have stood
Speaker 1: out like a sore phone. So the question then became,
Speaker 1: why would an African American male be doing this to
Speaker 1: young African American primarily males. And he had a theory
Speaker 1: on that that he wanted to cleanse the race. He
Speaker 1: was embarrassed by these guys, and while we were doing
Speaker 1: the interview, I looked up at the camera and I
Speaker 1: planted to the lens and I said, whoever is doing
Speaker 1: this might be on the other side of that lens
Speaker 1: right there. What do we say to him? And he
Speaker 1: looked at me and he said, well, not much we
Speaker 1: could say to him directly that I'm going to tell
Speaker 1: you this much. When they arrest him, you're going to
Speaker 1: know him. Hmm, So you're gonna know him. Phrase literally
Speaker 1: was found my spine with the children. I remember getting
Speaker 1: a call Mark Picard too thirty in the morning and
Speaker 1: Mark called me and said, you will never believe what
Speaker 1: has just happened. He said, they just arrested Wayne Williams
Speaker 1: and I dropped the phone. I couldn't believe it. I
Speaker 1: was in such a state of shock. I just could
Speaker 1: not believe what I was hearing. And then, of course
Speaker 1: all the events started to unfold, with him being arrested
Speaker 1: on the fiber evidence and then going to trial. The
Speaker 1: home of the man taken into custody by the FBI
Speaker 1: has from time to time this evening taken on the
Speaker 1: aspect of a reporter's convention. His mother maintains her vigil inside,
Speaker 1: waiting by the phone, waiting to hear from her son
Speaker 1: who was down at FBI headquarters and his father who
Speaker 1: has now joined them, to say that the police actions
Speaker 1: of the past several hours were a shock to the
Speaker 1: family that lives here and the neighborhood is an understatement.
Speaker 1: The neighbors I spoke with say that the family more
Speaker 1: or less kept to themselves, and that the young man
Speaker 1: who was being questioned by the FBI was friendly, but
Speaker 1: only friendly enough to say hi. They really didn't know
Speaker 1: much more about him. This episode began on Thursday May
Speaker 1: when the man was stopped by the Task Force at
Speaker 1: the Chattahoochee River. He was questioned about the possibility of
Speaker 1: dropping something into the river, which he was denied, and
Speaker 1: then he was let go for any lack of reason
Speaker 1: to hold him. But surveillance on him continued until he
Speaker 1: was taken into custody by the FBI around three o'clock Wednesday.
Speaker 1: The man was most recently involved in a company which
Speaker 1: he formed the search out talented local youngsters singing, dancing, acting,
Speaker 1: and so forth. It is reported that he told his
Speaker 1: family that he was trying to set up an audition
Speaker 1: on the night that he was questioned by the Task
Speaker 1: Force at the Chattahoochee River, and that he had a
Speaker 1: friend in his car, supposedly also for an audition when
Speaker 1: he was taken into custody on Wednesday. The FBI apparently
Speaker 1: had a pretty good idea of what they were looking
Speaker 1: for when they executed the search warrant here at the home.
Speaker 1: Among the things that it removed, it took pieces of blankets, robes,
Speaker 1: human hair, and dog hair. We understand that this material
Speaker 1: has been taken to the State crime Lab where it
Speaker 1: is either being processed now or will be processed first
Speaker 1: thing in the morning. That should determine whether the people
Speaker 1: here can finally rest in peace or whether they're nightmare
Speaker 1: and a possible solution to some of the murders is
Speaker 1: at hand. Mark Picard, Action News. Mark Picard was also
Speaker 1: a reporter at w SPTV on the front lines during
Speaker 1: the case. In fact, he was there the night Wayne
Speaker 1: was taken downtown. Much to the surprise of the rest
Speaker 1: of the media. Picard was inside the house with Wayne
Speaker 1: and his parents that night. When he returned from his
Speaker 1: interview with authorities, I got a phone call from a
Speaker 1: police source who said that the task force were searching
Speaker 1: Wayne's house and uh I should get over there with
Speaker 1: the crew. And I got there and for a while
Speaker 1: we were the only crew. They're reporting on what was
Speaker 1: going on. I guess Wayne either saw us outside or
Speaker 1: was watching television, and he did ask me to come inside.
Speaker 1: He put in a cassette in an old cassette recorder
Speaker 1: and recorded our conversation. The rationale behind it, I think
Speaker 1: was to offer a defense for himself. At the end
Speaker 1: of the conversation, he gave me the cassette and said,
Speaker 1: hold on to this. This is going to be valuable.
Speaker 1: It was a crazy night. I went back to the
Speaker 1: station and immediately turned over the cassette to my news
Speaker 1: director and that was the last I ever saw it.
Speaker 1: Early that next morning, Piccard was inside the house again,
Speaker 1: this time at the hastily called press conference thrown together
Speaker 1: by a still unnamed suspect in Wayne Williams. You will
Speaker 1: hear him, but you will see reporters and photographers. Did
Speaker 1: they ever call you a suspect? They ever used words
Speaker 1: they did as strong in a suspect. They openly see it.
Speaker 1: You Kio, Nathan U Cat and you know it, and
Speaker 1: you land to listen. I just remember it was a circus.
Speaker 1: It was the center ring in the three wing circus.
Speaker 1: All of it was surreal. In my reporting career, I
Speaker 1: was relatively young and fresh, and this was crazy to me.
Speaker 1: I was trying to keep perspective and not let the
Speaker 1: events overtake me. At that press conference, Wayne passed out
Speaker 1: as resume to the media. The FPI kept a copy
Speaker 1: of this resume and we found it in their case file.
Speaker 1: Despite Wayne being a mere twenty two years old, the
Speaker 1: resume was already five pages long. FBI records indicated that
Speaker 1: this resume was also one of the items found in
Speaker 1: the white station wagon when they searched the vehicle on
Speaker 1: June three. Though we worked as a stringer and freelancer
Speaker 1: at WSB for approximately three years, Wayne's resume indicated he
Speaker 1: was employed at WSB from January ninety nine to March
Speaker 1: ninety nine. The murders began in June of nineteen seventy nine.
Speaker 1: The resume listed an extensive set of positions and accomplishments,
Speaker 1: and personal and professional references from NBC News, CNN, Arista Records,
Speaker 1: the City of Atlanta Public Safety, and Jocelyn Dorset. His
Speaker 1: resumes list of professional references includes many familiar names in
Speaker 1: the local media Most of those references say they knew
Speaker 1: Williams only briefly and not very well, but it is
Speaker 1: clear Wayne Williams is a bright and ambitious person. He
Speaker 1: started a radio station in his parents home when he
Speaker 1: was only twelve, and his teams you spent time hanging
Speaker 1: around many of the city's radio stations, doing odd jobs,
Speaker 1: mostly as an unpaid volunteer, and talking to the people
Speaker 1: he met about broadcasting. This was a surprise to Jocelyn.
Speaker 1: Why would he list her as a professional reference when
Speaker 1: she had been the one to fire him from WSP. Shockingly,
Speaker 1: the defense team from a Williams even reached out to Dorsey.
Speaker 1: Before the murder trial, his lawyers had called and asked
Speaker 1: if I would testify in his defense, and of course
Speaker 1: our lawyers said, no, we're not. We're not doing that,
Speaker 1: um because there have been some personnel issues that we
Speaker 1: had had with him, and you know, we told them
Speaker 1: that that would not be something that they would want
Speaker 1: us to have to reveal. You know, they wouldn't want
Speaker 1: me to because we had to dismiss him and it
Speaker 1: may not look good. I mean, that's certainly not a
Speaker 1: great character reference to say you got fired. I actually
Speaker 1: had to go down to the courtroom, and it was
Speaker 1: very awkward because our lawyers were arguing right up to
Speaker 1: the point where they thought I might have to testify,
Speaker 1: And so it was really awkward because I was down
Speaker 1: at the courtroom and some of my peers were wondering
Speaker 1: what I was doing there, and I couldn't say anything.
Speaker 1: So they took me off into a room and made
Speaker 1: me sit and just wait until they could figure out
Speaker 1: what the lawyers were going to do. His lawyer decided
Speaker 1: not to call me to the stand. It was pretty
Speaker 1: nerve wracking. You can imagine what I was going through
Speaker 1: during that time period of us wondering, you know, who
Speaker 1: could have done this. I was reporting a lot of
Speaker 1: the homicides at the time, and um, there were so
Speaker 1: many humors that were going on that that was probably
Speaker 1: the worst thing. Newsrooms were hearing rumors and stories constantly.
Speaker 1: Questions arose in many of the reporters heads, including Captain
Speaker 1: Dave Folk, who wondered what was happening at the Williams home.
Speaker 1: Captain Dave and others questioned the role of Homer Williams,
Speaker 1: Wayne's father, a topic that came up over and over
Speaker 1: at the time. Both the news media and officials investigating
Speaker 1: the case. We're also curious as to the role of
Speaker 1: Homer and his wife Faye. I'd like to know more
Speaker 1: from him. He seemed like his mother was a shot caller.
Speaker 1: She was the spokes version for it all when he
Speaker 1: was happening. See he has been tried and me as
Speaker 1: well say his vision had been convicted long before by
Speaker 1: the media. The Williams claimed that police, desperate for a
Speaker 1: break in the case, set up their son's arrest. They
Speaker 1: didn't have and don't have enough evidence. Not on to indicted,
Speaker 1: but to the rest. I'd just like to give them
Speaker 1: a warning that when don't they believe it or not,
Speaker 1: the killer is still at large. He's out there. I'm
Speaker 1: on the parting in Atlanta. Gotta gimen kevinn. Are you
Speaker 1: going to try the owner put at Lama, gott bring
Speaker 1: confid on my phone. My house is not the thing.
Speaker 1: I have faith. I have faith in there and and
Speaker 1: all the homofectual stuff. They're talking about paying from those
Speaker 1: street curing what they called cure stat Williams made the
Speaker 1: call to w g s T news radio last night
Speaker 1: during a live interview with Dr Joseph Lowry, President of
Speaker 1: the Southern Christian Leadership Conference where from But I did
Speaker 1: a lot of cover up and we are going to
Speaker 1: expose a lot of it tomorrow morning. But when tomorrow came,
Speaker 1: a very subdued Homer Williams and his attorney Lynn Whatley
Speaker 1: had little to say. It is our conclusion at this
Speaker 1: time that no statements will be made. I think that's
Speaker 1: a conspiracy. Um. I definitely feel that have the wrong
Speaker 1: place that pl that, and I say a game that's
Speaker 1: weighing his vvus as skate. I don't know about his ties.
Speaker 1: I don't know about who he knew or what he knew.
Speaker 1: He's very quiet, who would not talk. And if so
Speaker 1: many victims were linked to the fiber evidence originated from
Speaker 1: the carpet and blankets in the Williams house, how did
Speaker 1: this all tie together? What happened at the house, And
Speaker 1: if they were killed at that house and loaded in
Speaker 1: the car, who helped kill them? Who helped load him up?
Speaker 1: Is not a logical question, Veenelope wrote him, because that's
Speaker 1: where the carpets were, what the dog was You don't
Speaker 1: take your dog to kill somebody. What was going on
Speaker 1: in the house, fiber or fiber there, It's it's you know,
Speaker 1: not enough questions asked, but enough to honestly send him
Speaker 1: to prison. But who else needs to be in prison?
Speaker 1: Wayne William's parents, who wouldn't talk if somebody was killed
Speaker 1: in your house? Don't you think you'd know? The carpet
Speaker 1: has been messed up, the floor and there was some
Speaker 1: hollering or something. I didn't see it, but I heard
Speaker 1: that the police found some burned film in the backyard
Speaker 1: of the house. I'd like to know what was on
Speaker 1: that film. Maybe it was enough film or pornography. Maybe
Speaker 1: he did take and photographic evidence. It was destroyed. Mrs
Speaker 1: Williams was outspoken in the defense of your son. I
Speaker 1: wanted to hear more from Homer. He was an accomplished photographer.
Speaker 1: But what did you know about that case? The FBI
Speaker 1: noted changes in the house from the time they visited
Speaker 1: one and when they executed a search warrant on June three.
Speaker 1: When they went back to the house, FBI special agents
Speaker 1: observed a number of changes. Furniture from Wayne's bedroom had
Speaker 1: moved to other rooms. Business papers and unidentified documents previously
Speaker 1: observed have been removed. New indoor outdoor carpeting have been
Speaker 1: added to a room since the may visit. What exactly
Speaker 1: was happening in the Williams house as investigators were closing
Speaker 1: in on their suspect. Was Williams family removing items from
Speaker 1: the house? And if so, why I'd like to know
Speaker 1: what they found? It didn't burn. Wouldn't you like to
Speaker 1: go to the evidence locker and just have everybody lay
Speaker 1: these pieces out, lay out the autops report, the crime
Speaker 1: scene information? How were the bodies placed? Why was that
Speaker 1: such a secret? Captain Dave wasn't the only one that
Speaker 1: wanted it no more. I heard from people on the
Speaker 1: task force and my police sources who didn't believe Wayne
Speaker 1: or his dad were responsible. That was one of the
Speaker 1: threads that was out there, a suspicion that he may
Speaker 1: have been involved. But he's not around for anybody to
Speaker 1: pursue that, and I'm not sure anything was done in
Speaker 1: that regard. Many reporters continued to hear from Wayne during
Speaker 1: but also after the trial. I would hear through people
Speaker 1: from him occasionally when he was in jail, and um,
Speaker 1: it was it was just quite shocking. The first time
Speaker 1: he reached out, I was in the radio station and
Speaker 1: he called me. We had this long talk on the
Speaker 1: tape that, of course I don't have anymore we write.
Speaker 1: I haven't written to him in a while, but he
Speaker 1: used to write me. He'd write and criticize stories, tell
Speaker 1: me problems in the prison, that kind of thing. The
Speaker 1: story is headlined on the cover, but it's what is
Speaker 1: inside that is bound to raise a few hackles. And
Speaker 1: the article, Williams again said he is innocent and even
Speaker 1: says he did not know the two he is charged
Speaker 1: with killing, Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy ray Pay. The magazine
Speaker 1: promises a second installment in the interview they say was
Speaker 1: conducted at the jail. But how did that interview happen?
Speaker 1: Fulton County Sheriff Leroy Stinchcomb told me tonight no jail
Speaker 1: personnel let anyone interview Williams, and he wants to know
Speaker 1: how it happened to He told me he isn't pointing fingers,
Speaker 1: but says the only people allowed to see Williams are
Speaker 1: the d a's office, William's parents, Williams attorneys, and people
Speaker 1: working on the defense who were approved by Williams attorneys.
Speaker 1: Stinchcomb says they're about six of them, and he's giving
Speaker 1: those names to Judge Clarence Cooper. This morning, Cooper is
Speaker 1: hearing the case and he told me he'll have no
Speaker 1: comment until later. If then Attorney Mary Welcome would only
Speaker 1: say she knew about the article, which he wouldn't see.
Speaker 1: The impact of this case still sticks with those who
Speaker 1: covered it, triggering a surprising range of emotions then and now.
Speaker 1: There was a certain exhilaration actually to be honest, not
Speaker 1: to in any way see any advantage in the suffering
Speaker 1: of the families who have lost their children. Just as
Speaker 1: a news story. It was probably the biggest that I'd
Speaker 1: ever been involved with, and so I felt an exhilaration
Speaker 1: at that point, but I also felt an obligation to
Speaker 1: be fair and to get it right. Literally wake up
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night. It just flash awake,
Speaker 1: and I remember seeing in my mind, you know, the
Speaker 1: nightmares that I would have. I would be in one
Speaker 1: of those projects and a killer would be stocking me.
Speaker 1: It affected me to that level. I'm Becky Leaf was
Speaker 1: the ABC reporter at the time who would report it
Speaker 1: on Ted Bundy. She had the exact same experience reporting
Speaker 1: on Ted Bundy. She said, I would wake up in
Speaker 1: the middle of the night and I would see Bundy
Speaker 1: in my room, and it was that kind of thing
Speaker 1: with the Atlanta child murders. For me, I'm glad that
Speaker 1: I never had to deal that much with that kind
Speaker 1: of story again, the incarnate evil that can live in then.
Speaker 1: The only thing that I really felt was why he
Speaker 1: was working an overnight shift, and I always wondered why
Speaker 1: he was so interested in covering homicides or breaking news.
Speaker 1: I guess the hard thing for me is to think
Speaker 1: that I would have been such a poor judge of character.
Speaker 1: We've had enough. I mean, it was, it was very tense,
Speaker 1: and I think people breathe the collective sigh of relief
Speaker 1: and buried it. Thank you for joining us. We hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed the first of our special summer series of
Speaker 1: Atlanta Monster. Be on the lookout for more new episodes
Speaker 1: in the coming weeks. Atlanta Monster is a joint production
Speaker 1: between How Stuff Works and Tinderfoot TV. Original music is
Speaker 1: by Makeup and Vanity Set. Audio archives courtesy of WSB
Speaker 1: News Film and Video Tape Collection, Round Media Archives, University
Speaker 1: of Georgia Libraries. For the latest updates, please visit Atlanta
Speaker 1: Monster dot com or follow us on social media.