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[3] It does not normally have jurisdiction in missing-persons cases and cannot get involved in investigations purely on the basis of a citizen's request, although it can offer assistance to local agencies, as it did in this case. Normally, under Florida law, the statute of limitations on that crime is five years, meaning it would have expired in 2005. Mike Williams mother delivered a heartbreaking testimony. Brian Winchester confesses to killing Mike Williams. Williams' death was ruled a homicide. [13] According to his mother, Mike was making US$200,000 annually by the time of his disappearance. Williams has been married three times and has four sons. He found it convenient that the indictment came after Winchester had been imprisoned for several months. There Mike excelled, serving as student council president, playing football and being active in the Key Club. Apparently, he was paranoid that she'd go to the police and confess what really happened to Mike Williams. After years of pressure from Williams's mother, Cheryl, the case was reopened in 2004 by the FDLE. She said: "I don't like having to ask the judge to put her in jail for the rest of her life, but what she did to Mike, she deserves, and I think God gave us justice. "We don't know what the smoking gun is, but we hope someone will find it," she said. However, a lengthy and exhaustive search of the lake bed in the area failed to find his body: at that time, it was the only known occasion when no remains or body had been discovered after a drowning death in the lake. Meanwhile, more information about her life is now unavailable. Carrie Cox, the psychic and profiler who had identified a possible burial site at which no body was found, published Alligator Alibi, a lengthy book with documents from the investigation, Cheryl Williams's notes, and her own commentary. His boat was soon found roughly 225 feet (69m)[16] from the ramp by a helicopter pilot, who initially assumed it was a boat being used in the search. Meet Mike Williams surviving daughter, the guy whose cold case enraged Florida. [26] She went on trial in December. She did not speak to the media about how she reacted to the news. "Our job was extremely difficult, and we were simply unable to develop enough evidence to proceed with the investigation," Schlein said. However, Winchester didn't follow through with killing his ex-wife, Kathy. Williams-Winchester has been serving her time at the Florida Womens Reception Center, located in Ocala, Marion County, Fla. [12], Way argued in response that there was no physical evidence linking Denise to the crime and that it had been entirely Winchester's idea; he expressed incredulity that Winchester was not on trial despite having admitted to committing the crime himself. He assured her he did not want to kill her. The following year his father died. Her ex-husband and Mike Williams' best friend, Brian Winchester, was also charged, although he was already in prison at the time. [16], In those conditions, "it [i]s highly unlikely an alligator would have been active" said Matt Aresco, a local herpetologist authorities had consulted. Denise Williams is appealing her conviction and life-prison sentence. "[We're] at a brick wall pounding our heads against it," said Austin. That's all I can do for Anslee is love her, and I do love her.". They claim Denise issued an ultimatum: Stop pushing for an investigation into his disappearance or never see Williams' daughter Anslee again. And by chance, a local Tallahassee TV station, WCTV, was at the hospital: DENISE WILLIAMS : We're just totally. There is no manual to tell a mother what to do when her child goes missing. "They did not protect the crime scene at all," recalled a Williams family friend with law enforcement experience, who had tended the drum fire during the search. However, there were no teeth marks or any other damage on the waders, none of the recovered items showed signs of having been in the water for anything like the period Williams had been missing, and there was no DNA evidence found to link the clothing to him. But instead, he managed to get to a tree stump, so Winchester fired a single shotgun blast to the face. "Mike would have wanted her to have this," said Cheryl Williams, Mike's mom and Anslee's grandmother. Brian had cracked and told them the truth, but, it was in exchange for complete immunity. Had it not been for an intuitive mom who suspected foul play after her son's disappearance in 2000, people would still be convinced that Mike Williams actually drowned and got eaten by alligators. Philips had told her early on in the search that Michael had probably been eaten by alligators, so she had assumed he had been involved in the investigation at that point. "Michael would have wanted her to be taken care of for the rest of her life.". They were good friends with Brian Winchester and his wife. As for Williams' mom, Cheryl, she's understandably heartbroken that she will never get her son back, but it's all because of her efforts that the truth finally came to light. It would be very, very unusual to have the complete disappearance of a full-grown man. However, the attorney did not think Winchester would be charged in the case as well. The storm the night after he was reported missing had westerly winds that should have blown the abandoned, unmoored boat across the lake to the Georgia side. What is the current location of Anslee Williams? People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. No other details were provided. "[3], Doubts that Williams had drowned became much more serious when investigators learned that, in fact, alligators do not generally feed during the winter months due to the colder temperatures. After she had written over 200 letters without even an acknowledgment that they had been received, she began inquiring personally as to why. It has since been suggested that the search might have been continued had Denise Williams indicated an interest in such. In its non-prosecution statement, Fuchs said the primary purpose of the fraud case was to ensure Denise Williams did not and cannot profit from her husband's death. "The mere fact that they can't locate the body isn't necessarily something the insurance industry would care about," he said. 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 . [17], Despite the failure of a third investigation to discern the fate of her son, Cheryl Williams persisted. "Truth is Williams could have stopped this". On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. One of the ads drew the attention of Jennifer Portman, a reporter at the Tallahassee Democrat. [9] In 2016, Winchester was arrested on charges stemming from an incident where he allegedly kidnapped Denise, the missing man's widow, who was now divorcing him;[10] he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the day before the FDLE announced that Williams's body had been found. [19], Cheryl Williams expressed hope that this development could lead to the resolution of her son's disappearance. 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. On November 13, 2020, True Crime Network featured the case in season 1, episode 11, of Meet, Marry, Murder.[35]. Derrick Wester, an investigator with the Jackson County sheriff's office, agreed that they were "trying to make up for" not having considered the possibility that things might not have been what they seemed in 2000. Almost Three Decades Since His Last Murder, Lorenzo Gilyard Maintains His Innocence. No amount of good deeds can bring my husband back Mike back, she said. Her attorney argued before the Florida First District Court of Appeals that there was no evidence she was involved in the commission of the murder. Published June 9, 2021 at 1:39 PM EDT. In August 2021, the seventh season premiere of the A&E Network series Cold Case Files featured the case. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Denise Williams is seen above in court at her resentencing, Denise and her then-lover Brian Winchester were both accused of working together to kill her husband Mike Williams, Denise Williams will now serve 30 years, after previously been sentenced to life in prison, Mike went missing while on a duck hunting trip in Lake Seminole with his best friend Brian, Mike and Denises daughter, who was 18 months when the murder happened, spoke in court and asked for leniency for her mother, Florida woman Denise Williams who plotted her husbands murder with her lover decades ago is re-sentenced, Michael K. Williams' grieving nephew rejects uncle's death was a drug overdose and vows autopsy 'will happen', BMW driver, 24, knocked boy into the air as his sister watched in terror after running through red light, Trump says boxing match against Biden would be his 'easiest fight' & thinks president would go down 'very, very quickly', Aussie health chief sparks new world order conspiracy frenzy by using sinister phrase about draconian Covid lockdown, Perv stabbed woman with syringe filled with his SEMEN in horrifying supermarket attack, Terrifying T-Rex 'cousin' 26 feet long with 'shark teeth' was TOP of food chain 90million years ago. Denise Huxtable Kendall is a fictional character who appears on the American sitcom The Cosby Show (1984-1992), portrayed by actress Lisa Bonet.Denise also stars in the first season of its spin-off sitcom, A Different World (1987). Four pieces of Tallahassee real estate are included in the assets, including her parents home on Centennial Oaks Circle. Two DNA tests matched the remains to his mother's sample. Yet nearby were finished concrete launches that he was known to have used in the past. All rights reserved. Audio of Brian Winchester's interview with the FDLE was played in court. "We didn't have a whole lot to go on except there was an empty boat and the guy didn't show up," one of the agency's officers recalled later, after his retirement. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Mike Williams Daughter Anslee Williams Interview on Fathers Murder Case. Under the terms of the agreement, Anslee Williams, 20, is prohibited from using any of the money or assets she received to help pay her mothers' legal fees or other costs associated with the murder case or any ongoing appeals. 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. Years ago, because of her insistence that Mike's disappearance be investigated, Denise cut ties between Cheryl and Anslee. "[16], And even if an alligator had "defied all known gator behavior," and eaten Williams's body, as another investigator, Ronnie Austin, then with the state's attorney's office, put it, it would likely have left something behind. Meanwhile, Winchester is serving a 20-year prison sentence for kidnapping Williams-Winchester at gunpoint in 2016. Denise met Mike back in North Florida Christian High School when they were both just teenagers. Mike Williams disappeared in December 2000 while on a duck hunting trip on Lake Seminole with his friend Brian Winchester. [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.