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Wayne Williams Case Study

Decent Essays

In a 22 month span, starting in July 1979, 30 African American children and young men were murdered or disappeared in Atlanta, Georgia (Nickell 1 of 2). Due to the various motives that each murder presented, it was believed that multiple individuals were responsible for these crimes. However only 1 person was ultimately charged with these homicides. The person that was found responsible for 2 of the many murders is Wayne Williams. He was suspected and subsequently arrested after police heard a splash in the water under a bridge on May 22, 1981, and Williams was the only one on the bridge during the time frame of the body drop (Plummer 1 of 3). This case was splashed all over headlines both nationally and internationally (Nickell 1 of 2). Due …show more content…

The largest piece of evidence against Williams was numerous similar fibers connected to the victims and Williams’s environment (Deadman 2 of 14). The various fiber evidence in this case was deemed essential and “the strongest scientific link in this case” (Nickell 2 of 2). There were over 28 fiber types involved in this case that linked to Williams, and of these 28, 14 were from a rug or carpet (Deadman 13 of 14). These fibers were associated with “a bedroom carpet in Wayne Williams’ home, his bedspread, a yellow blanket found under that bed, a leather jacket hanging in Wayne’s closet, a gray glove in his station wagon…” (Plummer 2 of 3). Dog hairs, which were traced to Williams’s German Shepard Sheba, were also found; as well as scalp hairs that linked Williams to one of the victims, Patrick Baltazar. The scalp hairs were 98% similar to Wayne Williams, and the DNA sequence of the dog hairs could only be found in 1 out of 100 dogs. The combination of the hair, and fibers at the same location strengthened the case against Williams. A multitude of “yellow green nylon fibers and some violet acetate fibers” were located on the bodies and clothing of the victims (Deadman 2 of 14). Fibers from 12 bodies

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