Wayne Williams

The only child of 2 Atlanta school teachers. He dropped out of college and was considering a career in the music industry as a promoter. In his teens he had even constructed a working radio station in the basement of the family home. At the age of 23 he was still living with his parents. He is now remembered for a 2 year reign of terror in Atlanta, Georgia that involved at least 23 homicides and became known as the "Atlanta Child Murders". It began on July 28, 1979 with the discovery of his first victim. All his victims were black and the majority were male children and adolescents. There were only 3 female victims and 6 adult victims. The youngest was 7 and the oldest was 27 years old. Several of the bodies were pulled out of the Chattahoochee River, so the FBI staked it our. On the night of May 22, 1981 a police officer heard a 'splash' near the Chattahoochee River bridge. The police stopped the owner of the car who turned out to be Wayne Williams. He was now the primary suspect in the case. Scientific experts found that fibers from the carpet in the Waynes home were found on some of the victims. They also found fibers from the trunk of their 1979 Ford and 1970 Chevrolet on some of the bodies. On Februrary 27, 1982 Wayne Williams was convicted on 2 counts of murder and sentenced to a double life sentence.