After retrieving the boat, investigators found Williams's shotgun, still in its case, but no sign of Williams himself. Anslee Williams was only 18 months old when her father died in a tragic accident that tormented her for years. [3] The hunting jacket and flashlight were likewise in much better condition than expected, with the latter even working when turned on. However, Winchester didn't follow through with killing his ex-wife, Kathy. Both agreed to get rid of their spouses so that they could be together and collect the insurance money. Also Read:Regina Krieger Murder: Where Are Gilberto Rodriguez and Cody Thompson Now? There Mike excelled, serving as student council president, playing football and being active in the Key Club. 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. Denise Williams has been resentenced to 30 years in prison for a conspiracy conviction in her husbands death. After years of pressure from Williams's mother, Cheryl, the case was reopened in 2004 by the FDLE. The couple had plans to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary that night in Apalachicola. The Crime Junkie podcast featured the case in an episode that was released in early 2019. They remain estranged. They did say that they would seek to have her denied bail. Michael had inherited it after his father's death, and after Michael was declared legally dead it was the only one of his firearms that Denise Williams had not returned to her former in-laws. However, their relationship didnt go as well as they had expected and they separated in 2012. "All I know is I can't stop looking for him until I find him." [11], Denise's attorney declined to comment at that time, saying he had not had time to review the case. [23], On May 8, 2018, Denise Williams was arrested at Florida State University as she left work to celebrate her daughter's 19th birthday, minutes after a grand jury had indicted her on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and accessory after the fact. She ran advertisements in local newspapers, and put up billboards seeking information. But it can be extended by three years under certain circumstances. Defendant Denise Williams listens during her trial for the murder of her husband Mike Williams, in Tallahassee, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. Wendy Williams attended the Daniel's Leather Fashion Show. I just did what God put on my heart to do.". Denise Williams, 49, was sentenced to life in prison in Florida on Wednesday . Brian even tried to kidnap Denise from her car at gunpoint in 2016, after she had filed for divorce. Update, February 7, 2019: Denise Williams was sentenced to life in prison for her husband's murder. 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. [3] She followed the story through Denise's conviction, making a point of keeping the poster for the case on her cubicle wall. 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 fathers murder in December 2000. By 2006, its cold case investigators were no longer returning Cheryl Williams's phone calls. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 30 years. She did not speak to the media about how she reacted to the news. "[28] Assistant state attorney Jon Fuchs said this evasiveness, as well as Denise's dispassionate response when Winchester told her how he had killed Mike, demonstrated how cold-bloodedly she helped plan the crime that happened on her behalf. If she's locked up forever, you can't say you're happy. [34], Near the end of that year, the Investigation Discovery cable channel series Disappeared devoted an episode to the case. For the next several years, she investigated on her own when not operating a day care at her home. But instead, he managed to get to a tree stump, so Winchester fired a single shotgun blast to the face. Apparently, he was paranoid that she'd go to the police and confess what really happened to Mike Williams. They were both married at the time, but while Brian had the guts to divorce his wife, Denise didnt want to. Contact News Director Jennifer Portman at jportman@tallahassee.com. All of these assets belonged to her mother, who was being investigated by the insurance company for fraud. [17], By then, she had become disillusioned with the FDLE, believing that it was either incompetent or uninterested in resolving the case. Cheryl Williams' emotional statement at Denise Williams' sentencing. Denise Williams will now serve 30 years, after previously being sentenced to life in prison on one murder charge plus 30 years for conspiracy to commit murder. [12], The state's star witness was Brian Winchester, who testified at length about how he and Denise had never really ended their high school relationship, even after they both married others. He made it look like Mike was the only one who was ever there. Mike went missing while on a duck hunting trip in Lake Seminole with his best friend Brian. In December, a jury found Denise guilty of all three charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, and accessory after the fact. Where Are Survivors Brandon Lafferty and Marty Thomas Now? Still, he decided to follow Williams-Winchester's new plan to get rid of Mike Williams by the lake. At the age of 15, he began duck hunting as a hobby, and also came to know fellow student Denise Merrell. Wendy Williams films mystery project at power restaurant Denise Williams: The mom at the center of a deadly love triangle with After she had written over 200 letters without even an acknowledgment that they had been received, she began inquiring personally as to why. The case broke open in 2016 when Denise Williams' then husbandBrian Winchesterwas arrested for kidnapping her. Her fate, in which she could have been. [10], Brian told her that he was planning to kill himself with the gun. She added that she is alone among her family in holding out hope that her son is still alive. Prosecutors continued to keep details of the crime to themselves, saying they would share them in court when the time came. 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). Four pieces of Tallahassee real estate are included in the assets, including her parents home on Centennial Oaks Circle. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. "Everyone knows the lake is full of alligators," said the FFWCC's David Arnette. In 1988, Mike and Denise graduated from high school alongside their classmates Brian Winchester and Kathy Aldridge, who would later become Brians wife. She was outraged. [2], In 1999, Williams's only child, a daughter, was born. Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - Why did Denise kill and conspire against Williams was found guilty of murder, conspiracy, and accessory after the fact in the death of her first husband Mike Williams nearly two decades ago. 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. 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. [13] According to his mother, Mike was making US$200,000 annually by the time of his disappearance. Where Is Denise Williams Now? Here's What Happened After - Distractify Denise and Brian have mostly declined to discuss the case publicly. They were good friends with Brian Winchester and his wife. 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. Where Is Denise Williams Today? - The Cinemaholic 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. "[16], The waders, discovered almost six months after Williams's disappearance, further undermined the alligator theory. [25], In late June 2018, Denise Williams was ordered held without bond, with trial date set for September 24. Heres all that we know. It was actually Mike Williams' mom, Cheryl, who appealed to the judge for a maximum sentence. Florida woman Denise Williams gets life in prison for masterminding her Mike was a promising football player and was voted best personality, while Denise Merrell, who would later become Mikes wife but was known by her maiden name at the time, cheered for the North Florida Eagles and won the title of best dressed. Mike won the title of best personality, while Denise won the title of best dressed., According to Mikes former classmates, he was well regarded at the exclusive private school, where he not only excelled academically but also held the position of student council president. "With the wildlife around, I would guess that the alligators have dismembered and have stored the remains in a location that we would not be able to find," he wrote in a report. If I had not done what I did for 17 years, Mikes disappearance never would have been solved. Threesome twist revealed during testimony in Denise Williams' murder If she breaks the conditions of the agreement, the state could order her to pay $150,000 in damages. No body was found, however. Our Privacy Policy Creator includes several compliance verification tools to help you effectively protect your customers privacy. 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. So, months later she petitioned in court to have her husband be declared legally dead and collected the $1.75 million from the three separate life insurance policies that were in Mikes name. Creator of Brooke's Butterfly Bash LLC . [29], Five months later, Mike and Denise's daughter Anslee was awarded all assets of her late father's estate and insurance monies due to Denise, after her mother signed them over to her to avoid prosecution on three counts of insurance fraud. This resulted in a pretty intense murder trial, where Winchester eventually spilled the beans about what really happened. Initially, it was said he left his home in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, to go duck hunting. Mike Williams mother delivered a heartbreaking testimony. It was sent to a state forensics laboratory for DNA testing: the results have not been reported. Winchester later confessed to conspiring with Denise Williams to kill Mike and make it look like an accident, so they could be together and collect on his life insurance policies. [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. He assured her he did not want to kill her. It revealed that prosecutors believed Denise allegedly began conspiring with Winchester in March 2000, nine months before her first husband disappeared. In August 2021, the seventh season premiere of the A&E Network series Cold Case Files featured the case. On Denise's behalf, Way entered a plea of not guilty. "I don't find that [Williams] was a relatively minor participant" Carroll said. He did not want the divorce and felt he had nothing to live for if it went through. Not knowing that just two years later, he'd be the one to crack. Denise Williams, 48, was convicted in December for the murder of her husband, Mike Williams, 18 years after the young father disappeared while on a fishing trip in 2000. Before the judge handed down the sentence, the victim's mother, Cheryl Williams . It has since been suggested that the search might have been continued had Denise Williams indicated an interest in such. [3], A possible new lead emerged in October 2007, when Michael Williams's older brother found a photograph and the serial number of a .22-caliber Ruger pistol that had once belonged to their father. It took its name, Stump Field, from the many remaining stumps that protruded above and below the water level,[3] requiring careful handling of any powerboat in the area. Rumors were circulating around Tallahassee that a grand jury had been hearing evidence and would soon hand down indictments. By the time investigators began to realize that they should have asked some more questions, the opportunity was gone. "[18] FDLE officials said in 2011 that Cox had not found anything requiring further investigation. Meanwhile, Winchester is serving a 20-year prison sentence for kidnapping Williams-Winchester at gunpoint in 2016. Winchester Took Sexual Photos of Denise Williams | Law & Crime After Williams's boat was found abandoned on the lake, the initial theory was that he had fallen out of it after a collision. [10], He took her phone away and began yelling directions at her. [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. Winchester shot and killed Mike Williams in December 2000, according to the indictment, and went on to marry Denise Williams after the murder. Since Mike's death could no longer be passed off as a boating accident, Winchester buried the body where it was later found, then cleaned out his truck and went to a family Christmas party, where he learned that a search was underway. All the subsequent investigations of the case have resulted from her efforts. Mike married his high school sweetheart Denise in 1994 and welcomed a daughter with her five years later. Searchers thus assumed that Williams had hit a stump with his boat, fallen out, sunk into waters 812 feet (2.43.7m) deep when his waders filled, and then drowned when he was unable to extricate himself. [3] His body was found in October 2017 near Tallahassee,[4] and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) officials confirmed Williams was a victim of homicide.[5]. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. She is said to have attended Florida State University and is well-liked by her classmates. Normally, under Florida law, the statute of limitations on that crime is five years, meaning it would have expired in 2005. [17] She supported it with an eponymous Facebook page, where she regularly publishes whatever updates she can and news about other, similar cases. 5 years after that, they even happily welcomed their daughter into the world. 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. All Rights Reserved. The couple went on to live in the same house where Denise and Mike had lived prior. However, the attorney did not think Winchester would be charged in the case as well. "It's a burden lifted," she said. [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. What Is Anslee Williams Net Worth After Receiving The Assets? But if Michael Williams was to be proven dead and the beneficiary were to have shown to have been involved, or if he was still alive (as his mother and many residents of Jackson County believed possible),[3] then an insurance company would strongly consider pursuing a case. "These waders, we don't know where they came from," Austin said. Denise and her then-lover Brian Winchester were both accused of working together to kill her husband Mike Williams, a 31-year-old real estate appraiser. It was first believed he had fallen off his boat and drowned, as reported by the Daily Mail. Winchester is alleged to have killed Michael with a gun. Denise was arrested for the murder of Jerry Michael Williams in May 2018 and was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact. 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 . Her efforts had severely strained her relationship with her former daughter-in-law.[6]. She competed for Miss Florida USA and she actually won Miss Tallahassee Teen USA in 2017. [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. This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 02:55. "I would say this is a suspicious missing person. Denise Richards Shares Sweet Photo of Her Three 'Beautiful Girls' Captured on Her Wedding Day. Her ex-husband and Mike Williams' best friend, Brian Winchester, was also charged, although he was already in prison at the time. [23], On October 18, the team of search dogs and officers finally found Mike Williams's remains in the piles of dirt stacked on plywood sheets. The plan was to make it look like an accidental drowning, but when Williams resurfaced and tried to get out of the water, Winchester shot him in the head and buried his body. 1972) and Kevin (b. Denise married husband Lincoln Townley in 2013 and was previously married to actor Tim Healy between from 1988 until 2012. 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. The stipulated agreement was signed by Anslee Williamsin May, just over a year after her mother's arrest on the young woman's birthday. "[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." He added that that belief was shared by all the investigators at that point. [20], In December 2017, Winchester was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the kidnapping, with credit for 502 days time served, to be followed by 15 years' probation. Denise and Brian were having an affair, and they planned to murder each others husbands so that they could be together. According to an audio clip that The Post was able to obtain, Winchester is heard telling investigators, In my view, I had it pretty good. This line of reasoning is problematic. Judge: Denise Williams to remain in prison on 30 year sentence - WTXL pic.twitter.com/90OBDmwlw2, Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 6, 2019. The child was 18 months old when her father vanished and is now aged 18 He said he. 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. The Williams case has been ongoing since Mike Williams disappeared more than 20 years ago. [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. [30] Denise is now imprisoned at the Florida Women's Reception Center. "[We're] at a brick wall pounding our heads against it," said Austin. He helped police recover Brian's body, and testified against his former lover Denise, who had for years escaped justice as a grieving widow. After it ended, and after her son was declared legally dead (proceedings she said in 2008 she would have contested had she been aware of them[15]), she was still not convinced that he had drowned in the lake, but her attempts to bring about a further investigation were unsuccessful. 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. She is the eldest child in a family that includes four children. Want to get an all access pass to the latest tallahassee.com news, analysis, commentary, photos and video?Become a digital subscriber to support our investigative journalism. Her daughter Brooke succumbed to complications of Lupus in 2017 at the age of 18, and the event is . In December 2017, Brian was sentenced to 20 years in prison for Denises kidnapping, but the whole incident led to the focus to be on their relationship and their potential connection to Mikes sudden disappearance and death. Denise Williams, Convicted Of Conspiring To Kill Her First Husband, Is She died from exsanguination, or massive blood loss, due to multiple stab wounds, according to a preliminary autopsy; she also had numerous defensive injuries on her hands, palms, and forearms. Listen to Brian Winchesters account of what happened the day that he killed Mike Williams. A Florida women caught in a deadly love triangle was given a life sentence Wednesday for plotting to kill her husband with his best friend. Both of the couples remained close friends even after they tied the knot in 1994 and started a family. The corporation, on the other hand, reduced its accusations in exchange for Denises property being passed down to Anslee under certain circumstances. Anslee has made up her mind to stay in her hometown and confront her familys awful fate. [31], In January 2020, Denise Williams appealed her conviction and life sentence. [6] It was eventually concluded that his body had been eaten by alligators. [7][8] The Investigation Discovery channel series Disappeared devoted an episode to the case in 2012. Facebook gives people the power. Two DNA tests matched the remains to his mother's sample. [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. He and Denise took it slow after Mike's "accident", both to let the insurance money earn further interest and to allay any suspicion. [15] He and Denise had bought a home in a small upscale subdivision on the east side of the city. 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.
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