Trial Summary
May – December, 1981
May 22, 1981 Williams first becomes a suspect after early morning encounter with bridge stake-out team.
May 22 – June 3, 1981 Constant FBI / local police surveillance and harassment.
June 3, 1981 Williams taken in for FBI questioning after 3:00 pm. By 10:00 pm, NY Times major news media outlets reporting “Atlanta Monster Seized”. FBI and Atlanta Police execute residential search warrant at the Williams’ family home.
June 4, 1981 Williams released for FBI custody during the early morning hours after nearly fourteen hours of interrogation by federal authorities. Heated argument between federal and local police erupts as local authorities refuse pressure to make an arrest.
June 4, 1981 Williams and his father head home in police escort to find their house and neighborhood besieged by crowds of police and reporters.
Williams enters his home to find his mother and WSB-TV reporter, Marc Pickard, sitting in the house. Pickard had spent the night with Mrs. Williams, while Mr. Williams was at the FBI headquarters. Williams’ past work association with Pickard results in an exclusive interview on the events of the past fourteen hours.
After being concerned about media rumors, Williams decides to call a 7:00am new conference in an attempt to defuse a potentially crisis situation. This decision was made after failed attempts to contact the family attorney.
Contact was established with noted Atlanta attorney, Mary Welcome, about 9:00am. Welcome sends an investigator to transport Williams and his father to her office. Williams remains at Welcome’s office until 6:00 pm.
After arriving back home, Williams, again, encounters huge crowds. A barrage of phone calls came in, including a late-evening call from business associate, Sharon Blakely. Prosecutors later claim that Williams told Blakely, in their conversation, that he would ‘confess’.
June 5 – 19, 1981 Attempts to pursue normal activities by Williams’ family precluded with a constant ‘media circus’. Williams and his parents were followed by a literal convoy of police and reporters everywhere they went. Tension over this relentless harassment escalated between Williams’ family and neighbors - and the police and FBI.
Williams meets with numerous city and state officials, including Atlanta City Council persons, Carolyn Banks and Rob Pitts. Williams meets with SCLC officials, including Joseph Lowrey. Williams also has a meeting with Hosea Williams, Tyrone Brooks and other state officials. Communications with city officials, maintained through Mayor Maynard Jackson, were made with Public Affairs spokesperson, Angela Fustare.
June 20, 1981 Frustration over constant FBI tails results in pull-back by the Atlanta Police to one another to escort Williams, for his own personal security. However, FBI surveillance escalates, resulting in several high-speed pursuits and confrontations. One pursuit results in a widely-publicized chase through Atlanta, ending at Public Safety Commissioner, Lee P. Brown’s house.
June 21, 1981 After morning meeting at Mary Welcome’s home, Williams returns home. District Attorney’s investigators arrive about 3:00 pm, along with Mary Welcome, to serve arrest warrant for Nathaniel Cater’s case. Williams is taken to the Fulton County Jail.
June 23, 1981 Preliminary hearing held and Williams’ case is bound over to the Fulton County Grand Jury. Attorney Tony Axum joins the defense team. First, miscommunication over bridge events surface as police correct claims that Williams never stopped on Jackson Parkway Bridge.
July, 1981 Williams indicted by Fulton County Grand Jury on murder charges for adults, Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy Ray Payne.
Payne indictment raised issues after report by WXIA anchor, Paul Crawley suggested that Payne’s death certificate did not indicate “homicide”. Fulton County Medical Examiner issued another death certificate after the report created further controversy.
Initial October trial date set.
August – October, 1981 Defense Team swamped by barrage of media accounts over rumors and allegations.
Issues develop within Defense Team over the trial date. Axum wanted to proceed with the October date because the state and FBI were still conducting fiber testing and were not ready. Welcome was fixed on pursuing the avalanche of media accounts.
Welcome releases Axum from the Defense Team because of the conflict over the trial date. Attorneys Al Binder and Jim Kitchens join the team.
