African American children still matter. Even though prosecutors introduced evidence to potentially link him to some of the other murders, Mr. Williams, who is serving two life sentences, was never tried or convicted of killing any of the children no one was. The boys features were still recognizable. While white people represent about 58 percent of serial killers, black people also contribute significantly to the American serial killer population at about 30 percent. For the first year, they got no help from the FBI. And two U.S. Justice Department officials were also dispatched to the city to provide support. Fibers found on Middlebrooks would become crucial evidence, according to National Public Radio. This investigation apparently found that Sanders and his white supremacist family members planned to kill more than two dozen Black children to incite a race war in Atlanta. Williams was never tried for any of the Atlanta Child Murders. Mr. Terrell tearfully shared his story on a rainy Saturday at the Ellenwood, Ga., cemetery where his brother is buried in the Garden of Faith. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Child Killer: The True Story of The Atlanta Child Murders at the best online prices at eBay! But one fact was obvious: both boys had been murdered.

"[30] Police dropped the probe into possible Klan involvement when Sanders and two of his brothers passed lie detector tests. Douglas' psychological profile of Williams has never been released, but a copy was obtained last week by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Her body was found months later.). ", According to The New York Times, he resides in a state prison "about three hours south of Atlanta and has steadfastly denied that he is a killer.". In a rare interview in 1991, Williams revealed that he had befriended some of the brothers of the victims as they had ended up in the same prison. But there are some who remain skeptical that Williams was a serial killer, including many of the victims families. Five more victims would be found in the Chattahoochee River, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Some observers called it a classic case of police inexperience and, others accused officers and detectives of racial bias. His remains were found a year later. In March 2019, the cases were reopened and evidence gathered by the Atlanta Police Department will be retested using new DNA technology. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anthony Terrell, 48, has spent the last four decades replaying the day his big brother Earl went missing after leaving a community pool. I dont talk to strangers,' Mathis recalled. He also said that he had been in touch with some of the victims mothers. Police suspected that he was also responsible for most of the child murders, as well as the killings of four young adults. Anthonys body was discovered about a mile from his home the next day. Both lived in housing projects, and both had tremendous promise as athletes. Yusef was described as bright and lively. While crime buffs continue to question who was responsible for the notorious murders, Williams remains in prison, as he has for decades. [10] His trial began on January 6, 1982, in Fulton County. Even though theres a man sitting in prison for the crimes right now, theres a lot of gray area in this case, and a lot of new information to be uncovered, Lindsey says. Williams was abducted from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Why would such a man, who had a normal childhood and outgoing personality, turn to murdering children? And discrepancies in witness testimonies cast more doubt on Williams guilt. African American communities in and around Atlanta were gripped with fear and anxiety, but they were also extremely frustrated since the Atlanta Police had still not drawn a connection between the cases. He was found by the school custodian. Douglas also believed the killer was of average or above average intelligence who presented himself as an authority figure. When stopped and questioned, he told police that he was on his way to check on an address in a neighboring town ahead of an audition the following morning with a young singer named Cheryl Johnson. Though some locals were relieved that the nightmare finally appeared to be over, this pat solution didnt sit well with many of the victims relatives. But Black kids continued disappearing, sometimes after being seen in a car with one or two adult men. [3], Williams first became a suspect in the Atlanta murders on the morning of May 22, 1981, when a police surveillance team, watching the James Jackson Parkway bridge spanning the Chattahoochee River (a site where several victims' bodies had been discovered), heard a "big loud splash", suggesting that something had been thrown from the bridge into the river below. Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesDoris Bell, the mother of another Atlanta murder victim, Joseph Bell, cries during her sons funeral. Its a divided battlefield. The press dubbed Wayne Williams, The Atlanta Child Killer, but several experts believed multiple killers terrorized the city from 1979 to 1981. In 2000, Showtime released a drama film titled Who Killed Atlanta's Children? And all of them were Black. [9], Williams was arrested on June 21, 1981, for the murders of Cater and Payne. The next victim was also male, and also 14. [2], Wayne Williams, son of Homer and Faye Williams, was born on May 27, 1958, and raised in the Dixie Hills neighborhood of southwest Atlanta, Georgia. The autopsy of Evans couldnt pinpoint how he was killed. On May 22, 1981, Williams was stopped by police on a bridge after they heard a loud splash in the river below. Copyright 2023 Empire Media Group, Inc. Front Page Detectives is a registered trademark. Was Serial Killer Wayne Williams Really the Atlanta Monster Who Murdered Dozens of Black Kids? Thirteen-year-old Alfred Evans was found in a vacant lot, his cold body shirtless and barefoot. Three of the victims mothers had begun a campaign, claiming police were doing little to solve the crimes. The series of murders, which became known as the Atlanta Child Murders case, gripped the city of Atlanta with fear and shocked the nation because most of the victims were children. Wayne Williams was arrested when fibers from his carpet, home and dog appeared to match those found on some of the victims. Curtis, 13, left anyway, headed to make extra money by carrying groceries for seniors.

A number of alternative theories have cropped up throughout the years, ranging from a pedophile ring to the government conducting horrific experiments on Black children. [The FBI] are the last guys in, theyre trying to help out something that has its own momentum and politics, he said. The police maintain they always cared but were stymied by the nature of the crimes, especially early on, and the lack of direct evidence. WebThe Atlanta Child Murders: With Jason Robards, James Earl Jones, Rip Torn, Morgan Freeman. WebThe Atlanta Child Murders Have Been Re-Opened. But although he was accused of being the Atlanta child killer, he was never convicted of any other murders. Theyd both been missing for a number of days; one of their bodies bore a gunshot wound. Bell, the fourth victim, had been living in a housing project just four blocks away from where his body was found. [8], Williams was questioned again by police for 12 hours on June 3 and 4 at FBI headquarters and released without arrest or charge, but remained under surveillance. https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/wayne-williams-atlanta-monster-child-murders-black-serial-killer. Yusef lived with his mother, Camille. AJCA 1981 article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after Wayne Williams conviction. The mothers of the four murdered boys compared notes.

In 1982, Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old freelance photographer, talent scout and virtual genius, was convicted for the murders of two men whose deaths appeared to be linked to the others. [15] On November 20, 2019, Williams was again denied parole.

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In March 2019, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms who grew up during the height of the Atlanta Child Murders reopened the case. Here's everything you need to know about the case. Just [to] wait to see what the end will be, before I leave this Earth., She added: I think it will be part of history that Atlanta will never forget.. Unbeknownst to Jackson and police, another killer far stealthier and more deadly was luring child victims off the streets. When 9-year-old Yusef Bell disappeared, even the cops began to take notice. The other victim, 13-year-old Alfred Evans, was reported We opened it up, she said. All Rights Reserved. A few nights later, Evans was supposed to meet friends at the movie theatre, but he never showed up.

Years later, a 2015 report by Spin magazine uncovered shocking details of a high-level secret investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and various other law enforcement agencies. On April 13, 1981, FBI Director William Webster announced that A short time later, Earl, 10, got into trouble at the pool and was asked to leave. But one of the most widely believed theories is that the Ku Klux Klan was behind the Atlanta Child Murders. Williams spent his free time cruising the Atlanta streets, often reaching out to teens looking to get into the music business. The mystery deepened when his bicycle was found miles away. The police closed the case quickly, believing Middlebrooks was killed by someone connected to a robbery hed witnessed. Co-workers told police they had seen Williams with scratches on his face and arms around the time of the murders which, investigators surmised, could have been inflicted by victims during struggles.

In midsummer 1980, a group of three mothers all of whom had lost children to the killer or killers formed STOP, a group dedicated to solving the murders. Although Sanders did not publicly claim responsibility for any of the deaths, he told an informant for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in a 1981 recording that the killer had "wiped out a thousand future generations of niggers". The menacing drumbeat of child abductions, mostly of young African-American boys, shook a city that was emerging at the time as a progressive black mecca. We couldnt do it justice in the background of our nine hours., Fincher also revealed that season 2 will begin at the end of the years long investigation, when the FBI is called in to Georgia. She is an accomplished and compassionate storyteller and editor who excels in obtaining exclusive interviews and unearthing compelling features. In 2010, DNA testing was performed on human hairs found on the body of Patrick Baltazar, the 16th victim. On August 7, 1979, the bodies of two African American boys, Edward Hope Smith, 14, and Alfred Evans, 13, were found in a vacant Atlanta lot. Furthermore, he was found guilty of killing two men in their 20s, not children. Even with heightened vigilance in the community, kids kept disappearing. And other volunteers joined the citywide search to uncover clues that could help solve the case. On a balmy summer day in July 1979, the first body linked to the Atlanta Child Murders case was discovered. The city was turned upside down. They marched on to the mayors office and demanded action, and they finally got it. Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesA student is comforted by his teacher during the funeral of his friend Patrick Baltazar, 11, who was murdered. WebFrom 1979 to 1981, 29 Black children and young adults were identified as victims in the Atlanta Child Murders. WebBy: Beth Braden.

His lawyers have said the conviction was a "profound miscarriage of justice" that has kept an innocent man incarcerated for the majority of his adult life and allowed the real killers to go free. Her body was found not far from her home, but she was so decomposed it was impossible to tell how she was killed or if shed been sexually assaulted. We want to know who killed our children, Ms. Leach said, adding that it felt like her son and the other children had been forgotten. His family knew the death was suspicious. The deaths of Evans and Smith were brutal. In June 1981, Wayne Williams was arrested in connection to the deaths of Payne and Carter. Ms. Jackson was up to the task, and citizens re-elected him in 1978. Color-coded case files from 1981 in the evidence room where detectives are reviewing the Atlanta child murders.CreditAudra Melton for The New York Times. Solving the crimes and finding the man who murdered 29 of Atlantas kids got complicated fast. Wayne Williams is a serial killer, a predator, and he did the bulk of these murders.. In 2019, Williams was featured in season 2 of the Netflix series Mindhunter alongside others such as Charles Manson and David Berkowitz;[41] Williams's character was portrayed by Christopher Livingston.[42]. He next began a business with a loan secured by his parents. Camille Bell, the mother of Yusuf Bell, joined forces with other parents of victims to form the Committee to Stop Childrens Murders. Boys went missing and their grieving mothers would not remain silent. The FBIs involvement began in 1980 following the abduction One reportedly vanished from a skating rink. From the summer of 1979 through the spring of 1981, Atlanta, Georgia was held under siege by a serial killer and dozens of victims started to appear. A white doctor was murdered by two Black robbers, then a few months later, a Black gunman murdered a white legal secretary. Wayne Williams is now 60 years old. Despite the countless theories about what really happened to Atlantas children, its clear that much was left unsettled and unresolved. Police officers, firefighters, and volunteers combed the city in search of evidence in the Atlanta Child Murders. Richardson lived with his mom and grandparents in a safe neighborhood outside the city limits. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announces the reopening of the Atlanta Child Murders investigation in 2019. Sexual assault hasnt been ruled out. Four murdered Black kids in the span of a few months raised suspicion among the victims families that the crimes could be related. "[13] In early 2004, Williams sought a retrial again, with his attorneys arguing that law enforcement officials covered up evidence of involvement by the Ku Klux Klan, and that carpet fibers purportedly linking him to the crimes would not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Harvey had been helping his mom out, delivering a credit card payment, when someone snatched him and his bicycle. The cops looked for leads but stopped pursuing the killer when they heard rumors the boys had attended a pot party, according to The Crime Library. Doris Bell, the mother of another Atlanta murder victim, Joseph Bell, cries during her sons funeral. The first murder associated with the Atlanta Child Murders case occurred in July 1979. Wayne Bertram Williams grew up in a typical middle-class family. Investigators eventually linked hairs and carpet fibers on the bodies of some of the victims to those in his house and car, they said. During that time, at least 20 black boys, two black girls, and six young black men In the late 1970s and early 1980s, children who disappeared were assumed to be runaways, and the cops typically did little to investigate. In the late 1970s, the Atlanta murder rate didnt just climb it skyrocketed. Behind dumpsters. Former DeKalb County Sheriff and convicted murderer Sidney Dorsey, who was an Atlanta homicide detective at the time, also said he believed Williams was wrongly blamed for the murders. In a news conference, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, "It may be there is nothing left to be tested. The deaths became known as the Atlanta Child Murders. But as police were investigating the apparent crime scene in the vacant lot, they couldnt help but notice a strong odor emanating from nearby vines.

The victims of the Atlanta murders were all Black children, adolescents, and young adults. with Cl Bennett playing Williams. They managed, with the help of a local pastor, to get the attention of Jackson as well as white power brokers in Atlanta. Members of his community and several of the victims' parents did not believe that Williams, the son of two professional teachers, could have killed so many. He once said, It isnt a single offender, and the truth isnt pleasant.. Thats the answer we didnt get.. It appeared that the kids were being strategically targeted, as the victims reportedly fell within a small geographical radius. In an emotional interview following the announcement, Bottoms recalled what it was like growing up during this terrifying time: It was like there was a boogeyman out there, and he was snatching Black children., Bottoms added, It could have been any of us I hope that [reexamining the case] says to the public that our children matter. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. However, both the phone number he gave police and Cheryl Johnson turned out to be fictitious. He constructed his own carrier current radio station and began frequenting stations WIGO and WAOK, where he befriended a number of the announcing crew and began dabbling in becoming a pop music producer and manager. The results did not exclude Mr. Williams as the source of the hairs, and the investigation didnt produce any new results. She is not alone. Actors Holt McCallany, Jonathan Groff, and Albert Jones portray the FBI agents involved in the Atlanta Child Murders case in, 11 famous murders that remain bone-chilling to this day.

So when she recently learned about the case of two Alabama teenagers whose killer was arrested 20 years after the crime through the use of DNA, she instantly thought of the Atlanta child murders. The next bodies uncovered were 14-year-old Milton Harvey and 9-year-old Yusuf Bell. Rose is a Senior Editor at ELLE overseeing features and projects about women's issues. The FBI dubbed the case ATKID aka the Atlanta Child Murders. His name was Nathaniel Carter, and unlike most of the other victims, he was a grown man of 27 years. These grisly cases would later become known as the Atlanta Child Murders. Parents lived in constant fear that their kid could be next. The Atlanta Child Murders have been the subject of a recent New York Times investigation and an excellent true-crime podcast from Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Media titled Atlanta Monster. He would later be convicted of the murders of both men, who were among the few adult victims in the Atlanta murders case. Despite the fact that 11 children were murdered, Atlanta police had not connected the cases. Sanders did not directly implicate the KKK or lead his friend to believe that anyone else from the organization was involved. I just keep thinking, what if I had went swimming instead, he said. Psychics arrived to help.

WebMindhunter. One boy, Darron Glass, last seen in September 1980 when he was 10, is still missing. And there is the inescapable fact that Wayne Williams was on that bridge, and two bodies washed up days later, said Danny Agan, a retired Atlanta homicide detective who investigated three of the murders. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed. One of the most intriguing parts of Mindhunter's second season was the search for the serial killer responsible for the Atlanta Child Murders. The children were mostly killed via strangulation and asphyxiation, although several were bludgeoned to death and one child was shot to death. He was found the next morning, his bicycle lying nearby, beaten to death. Williams graduated from Douglass High School and developed a keen interest in radio and journalism. Wayne Bertram Williams (born May 27, 1958) is an American convicted murderer and suspected serial killer who is serving life imprisonment for the 1981 killing of two men in Atlanta, Georgia. It seemed, too, that there was little doubt they died at the hands of the same killer. The abrupt, unsatisfying end led to questions, doubts, anger and rumors. Suspect arrested almost two weeks after victim found fatally shot, police say. They vanished with spine-chilling regularity, only to have their Every day, every night, it seemed like they were finding bodies. [7], Williams is serving his sentence at Telfair State Prison. As another hot, humid summer began, the last victim was found. Several parents or relatives have said they believe the Ku Klux Klan was responsible. [35], Dog hairs found on Baltazar's body were tested in 2007 by the genetics laboratory at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which found a DNA sequence also present in the Williams family's German Shepherd. Forty years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, a serial killer abducted and brutally murdered at least 28 black children between the ages of 7 and 17, in the span of three According to Bell, the murder of 13-year-old Clifford Jones a visitor from Cleveland also helped push Atlantas authorities into action. From the summer of 1979 through the spring of 1981, Atlanta, Georgia was held under siege by a serial killer and dozens of victims started to appear. [35] The FBI report stated that "Wayne Williams cannot be excluded" as a suspect in the case. There was a serial killer out there, yet law enforcement was not really providing any information or comfort to the community., By July 1980, nine children had been murdered. New Questions in Atlanta Murders - Did prosecutors withhold evidence of Klan involvement in children's death? He, too, was doing an errand in his neighborhood but never came home. Black serial killers list. On June 21, Smith spent the evening at a neighborhood skating rink with his girlfriend, and this would be the last place he was seen alive. Families have been searching for answers ever since. At this point, it became increasingly clear to residents that their communities were in serious danger. Both were athletic, although Smith favored football and Evans basketball. They had been missing for several days. To this day, Williams remains in prison and hes been denied parole multiple times. In August, Camille Bell, the mother of Yusuf Bell, joined forces with other parents of victims and formed the Committee to Stop Childrens Murders. He was followed some months later by FBI profiler John Douglas who arrived in Atlanta in early January 1981 to develop a formal profile of the person or persons responsible for the child murders.". For two weeks, Ms. Leach, now 70, waited for news about Curtis, the second oldest of her four boys, the one who had promised to score big in Hollywood, maybe as an illustrator because he drew animals so well. [17] In contrast, Joseph Drolet, who prosecuted Williams at trial, has stood by Williams's convictions. After all, the murder of a tourist had made national news. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Various accounts describe Williams, an only child, as indulged and spoiled. [27], Fulton County authorities have not reopened any of the cases under their jurisdiction.[20]. The reporters even named the man they believed to be the prime suspect: a 30-year-old Klansmen and drug dealer named Charles Sanders, who was tape-recorded telling friends and family about his plans to murder area Black kids. The monster was suspected of murdering 22 people, mostly children and teenagers. I just knew that was him.. Patrick grew up in Atlanta, but he never made his first record. Williams got to know announcers and DJs in Atlanta. Additionally, Wayne Williams conviction relied on a few strands of fiber that the prosecution claimed were found on the bodies of Carter and Payne. In 1985, two years before he died, James Baldwin published The Evidence of Things Not Seen , a short book on the Atlanta child murders. Parents started imposing curfews on their children. [Watch true crime series and documentaries anytime with A&E Crime Central. By the time Williams was arrested, many in the community refused to believe he was the killer. A lot of folks want to hinge his guilt on the carpet fiber alone. But will the citys new investigation truly bring justice to the children? WebThe Atlanta Child Murders: With Dion Graham, Echefulam Madubuike, Jerel Xavier Alston, Ashley S. Evans. They were forced to file bankruptcy shortly thereafter. [6], Two days later, on May 24, the nude body of 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater, who had been missing for four days and was last seen with Williams, was discovered in the river. One by one, Black children and young adults were being kidnapped and turning up dead days or weeks later. WebForty years ago, Atlanta was terrorized by a serial killer who snatched and killed two dozen children, aged 7 to 17. "[18], Other observers have criticized the thoroughness of the investigation and the validity of its conclusions. Carter was last seen four days prior, holding hands with a man outside the Rialto Theatre in downtown Atlanta.