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[Music] this story has always been one that has fascinated people because it's so bizarre that this
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could even happen 17 and 1 12 years we have always talked about Mike Williams being
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missing not ever finding his body not ever having resolution was very difficult he was going to wake up early
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and go duck hunting he was a big duck hunter and so he went off to the lake and then he never came
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[Music] back Mike Williams was a straight shooter he loved his family he loved his
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wife he put her on a pedestal Mike did everything that she wanted done Denise said jump Mike want to know how high
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they were going to be celebrating their wedding anniversary and so when he did not come home about noon when he was
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supposed to Denise started getting worried and started calling around this search was the most
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intensive I ever seen law enforcement and friends and family combing the lake looking for
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me they found the boat his truck the trailer that was all there I got up in the helicopter flew around around and
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look for his body and one of the things that I noticed there were no less than 15 to 20 very large alligators swimming
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all around this area lake seminol is known for having a lot of alligators we're in North Florida
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there are a lot of alligators when we went back out there you know there was more evidence that
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there was there had been alligator activity around there that's what you believed happened to
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Mike yes I I firmly believe that I guess you're sort of hoping you find something
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and sort of hoping you don't well we was hoping if he was here we would find him and get closure but no
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it didn't happen people are attacked by alligators little dogs are eaten by alligators but you never hear of someone
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who's just vanished eaten by a whole by an alligator it is totally impossible for 185lb man
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to be consumed by an alligator Without a Trace I think that's when we started going oh my gosh this is not what we
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thought it was many people felt like there was Foul Play involved Cheryl Williams Mike's mom
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comes along and I pray every day that Mike will come home Cheryl begins her Crusade if you will trying to get
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answers she'd make TI signs and stand in front of the church there were Billboards you know have you seen my son
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she wrote the governor a letter every day for 9 years until God tells me in my heart that that child is dead I cannot
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give up looking for him she wasn't going to quit until she had a body alive or dead he didn't just fall out of the boat
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this wasn't just a hunting accident [Music] this man was murdered and they blamed it
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on alligators for 17 years [Music] [Music] you've got a really love duck hunting to
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love Lake seol it's shallow it's swampy and it's popular with the local alligators Mike Williams really did love
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duck hunting and people say that's why he came here well Before Dawn on December 16th
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2000 alone his wife said the plan was that Mike would be back home in time to celebrate his wedding
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anniversary but 12 hours later after his wife reported him missing Lake seol would be swarming with Rescuers
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searching for Mike Williams on the land on the water and in the air can you show
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me the area that you guys searched in basically this area from here to there about 5 Acres Alton rainu and David
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Arnett were among the first law enforcement officers to get a call about a missing duck hunter what we thought
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had happened is that he possibly fell out of the boat or capsized is it unus ual for people to fall out of boats
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while they're hunting for ducks It's Not Unusual it it happens um quite often out
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here as far as they might hit a stump and throw them out early the next morning there was a
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break Mike's boat was found on board were some decoys and his shotgun but no sign of Mike himself
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we've done a grid search very slow meticulous grid search back and forth over the search area and what began as a
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search and [Music] rescue soon turned into a search for a body we stayed with that grid until we
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covered this whole area cadaver dogs were brought in while teams scoured the murky bottom of lake seol in a gruesome
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search for Mike's body that was high intensity and low Tech this is the tool of your trade
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right that was that was actually one of the poles and and all you do is put it in the water and see if you feel
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anything if it's a log it's kind of a a a thump kind of a hard thump if it would
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been body you hit it it's kind of like a pillow did you feel something ever on the bottom that felt like a body never
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never Williams vanished one day before his sixth wedding anniversary he met met his wife Denise at North Florida
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Christian High School he was a football player she was a cheerleader he was president of the student council she was
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the secretary had they seem together gray couple Scott dunie met Mike in high school he and his wife Anessa were among
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Mike's best friends if you knew Mike he's the kind of person that uh is going to do anything and everything for you so
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Denise you know found a gem they both graduated from Florida State University Denise became an
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accountant for the state Mike became a real estate appraiser working for clay Ketchum this kid was straight as an era
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he really truly was Clay and his wife Patty got to know Mike well he was an unbelievable worker it was not uncommon
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for him to do 15-hour days I mean he would be in there early work until 1: or 2 in the morning and then be right back
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he had incredible energy before long Mike's career took off and that's when he married
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Denise he loved his wife he even would leave the office and go pump her gas I'm sorry go pump her gas yes she would call
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him and say Mike I need gas and Mike would run over there pump her gas and run back we all said we wanted to be
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married to Mike just before Mother's Day in 19 99 Denise gave birth to the couple's daughter and by chance a local
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Tallahassee TV station was at the hospital we're just totally overwhelmed she was due Tuesday and she would have
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made me wait a whole another year for Mother's Day she tipped the scales it was unbelievable I have a whole new
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respect for my wife and women in general and what they go through to bring a a new child new life into the
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world 19 months after he became a father Mike was Miss missing and the longer the search lasted
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on Lake seol the harder it was on the Searchers afraid of what they might find one of Mike's oldest friends Brian
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Winchester was out there looking for him from the start and it was Brian who discovered Mike's empty
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boat Brian decided that we didn't want to be there when Mike's body was pulled up Brett Ketchum was with Brian during
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the search so we would get in a car and drive to a gas station and go get a Coke
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and it was very emotional trips I mean it was you know crying and it was tough the search was called off after 44
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days Rescuers could find no trace of Mike Williams he was listed officially as still missing and some people
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wondered if he had just run off we knew Mike had not run off I mean he loved his family and he adored his
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daughter adored her so Mike did not run off this was not some elaborate ruse soon there was another explanation
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offered for why Mike's body could not be found that he had been snatched by an alligator alligators they don't eat you
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right then this is morbid to talk about but they go stuff you somewhere for 6 months and and then come back later one
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of the rescue teams agreed writing the alligators have dismembered and have stored the remains in a location that we
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would not be able to find but there was at least one person who had serious doubts about that
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theory Mike's mother Cheryl she pretty early on believed that there was more to this and that he was
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not in likes him at all I think she just thought something something's not right
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[Music] here 6 months after Mike Williams disappeared investigators had no new leads no real hope of finding him and
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then what could be a break bubbled up from the muck of lake seol that is marking a spot where the waiters had
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popped up a local fisherman found a pair of waiters like these which were believed
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to have belonged to Williams did it make sense to you that they popped up here I mean you would you
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would search that area right we had searched it many times Well very well then 2 days after that Mike's
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fishing jacket and his hunting license were found at the same spot along with a flashlight but Williams was still
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missing his wife Denise was raising their 2-year-old daughter alone Denise was a doting mother the
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pride and joy of her life but Scott dunie says now that Denise was a single mom money was
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getting tight I was helping her with some of the items that needed to be sold and to generate some cash and until the
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insurance money came and there was a lot of insurance money involved Williams had three
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policies worth more than $1.75 million Mike wanted to make sure his family was taken care of because Mike
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hunted and fished and did some pretty high-risk activity and Clay really encouraged him to load
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up with her expenses reportedly mounting Denise went after the insurance money quickly while the search itself is still
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going on while he is still actively missing they're still actively searching for him he she is going and filing a
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claim against his life insurance Jennifer Portman covered this case for the Tallahassee Democrat she
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was a consultant for 48 hours she was really ready to accept the fact that he was missing and presumed dead very early
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on but the State of Florida was not according to Florida law since there was no proof Williams had died he would not
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be declared dead for 5 years Denise did not want to wait that long to collect on
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Mike's life insurance how much time did it take in this case it took six months it was very fast abnormally
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fast that's because Denise's attorney argued to a judge that the waiters the vest and the hunting license were proof
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enough that Williams was dead the judge AG greed and issued a death certificate cause of death accidental drowning while
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duck hunting on Lake seol body has not yet been recovered based on that and that alone was what got him declared
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dead pair of waiters and a fishing license and some other stuff yeah exactly the case of the missing Hunter
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seemed closed and was soon forgotten by almost everyone but not by Mike's mother
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Cheryl did did she believe that her son drowned in Lake seol she never ever believed that her son was in the lake
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and she was absolutely committed to finding out what happened to him it's never out of my head where is
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this child Cheryl caught the attention of the local news he may be dead but he's not in that Lake and if somebody
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did hurt my child I want him found and I want him punished Cheryl started keeping
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notes of everything copious notes of all of the you know strange things that were
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going on she eventually filled 27 single spaced pages with lots of unanswered questions like what made the waiters
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float after 6 and 1/2 months underwater her notes ended with a plea to anyone who would listen please help me find my
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son she was trying to basically compile all of these evidence that she could find and trying to get it in front of
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someone who would listen to her well did Denise help her oh no Denise completely
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cut her off Denise was adamant no investigation she threatened to withhold Cheryl's
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granddaughter from her correct she said if you continue to press for this investigation you will never see your
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granddaughter again so what did she do she took the energy she would have spent loveing on that child and tried to find
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her daddy Cheryl pressed on and started poking holes in the official version of what happened to her son for years after
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Mike Williams disappeared there was a theory that the reason his body was never found was that he had been eaten
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by alligators turns out there's a problem with that theory Cheryl contacted Matthew aresco an alligator
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expert Florida has a few of them in his response he explained that alligators do
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not feed in the cold winter months cold weather um causes a water temperature to
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drop so alligators don't feed in the winter time what's more aresco said that when alligators kill there is always
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forensic evidence left behind and he said attributing Mike's disappearance to an alligator attack may be a convenient
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explanation for the authorities but was virtually impossible we're in North Florida there are a lot of alligators I
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will give you that but it is winter alligators do not eat human beings without leaving a trace in the middle of
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December when it's cold it just doesn't happen if not for Cheryl Williams there's no way that we would
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know where Mike Williams was or anything that ever happened to him she was the driving
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force charl Williams knew because an expert told her that her son was not eaten by an
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alligator but she did not know much else about how he vanished one of the things
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that has been so difficult about this case is that there was an absolute lack of physical evidence you didn't have a
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body you didn't have any of these things that maybe could point you towards something but Cheryl had something those
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27 pages of detailed notes in 2004 four years after Mike disappeared Cheryl's campaign finally caught the attention of
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the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators met with her and then launched a multi- agency
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investigation when did you first begin thinking this was a crime the first night we talked to Miss Cheryl at the
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time Derek Wester was with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office he was part of the investigation she had it all broke
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down and then as she's relaying this story all these inconsistencies start adding up do you remember what some of
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those inconsistencies were the insurance it was Mike's three life insurance policies that caught their attention
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particularly the last one he bought not long before he disappeared worth $1 million how did Mike Williams end up
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with that million-dollar life insurance policy who sold it to him Brian Winchester sold him the million-dollar
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life insurance policy about 6 months before he went missing Brian Winchester was an insurance
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agent he'd been Mike's best friend since high school where like Mike he met his future wife Kathy Aldrich and from then
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on the two couples were inseparable you know they did literally everything together they went out to dinner
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together they bought houses at the same same time they got married at the same time babies at the same time you know
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they were they were very close Brian Winchester was in the insurance business so it's not that odd that he would sell
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his friend an insurance policy no it's not I mean just the timing of it in retrospect looks a little
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weird that wasn't the only thing that started to look weird those waiters that popped up in Lake seol surfaced just as
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Denise Williams needed proof that her husband was dead in order to get the insurance
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money how many days before the court hearing these waiters popped up less than a month I mean it was really close
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they had supposedly been submerged in the lake for six months these waiters was in very good shape they were also
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not slimy and what did that mean they had not been in the water very long so you looked at that stuff and you thought
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to yourself what planted it was planted yeah no one could say for sure who planted it
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but as time passed Denise Williams and Brian Winchester started attracting attention and some suspicion because
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years after Mike disappeared Winchester divorced his wife Kathy he began dating Denise and then he married her we went
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to the wedding was she a suspect in your mind at that point I think in mine I was
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yes the minister at some point said I've counseled with this couple and they have
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no secrets I don't know and clay and I both went we kind of nudged each other like well there might be just one little
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secret you don't know all these things start becoming like clear that we now we've got the
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insurance now we've got the waiters got the alligator Theory being busted by the
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experts so as they're building their case you know they talk to people they start getting somewhere one of the first
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people investigators talked to was Denise Williams there's no emotion there's no softening up there
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there's there's nothing I mean she's just matter of fact and cold but Brian Winchester had much more to say he
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offered detectives an alibi for the morning Mike Williams went missing he said he was 60 M away from the lake in
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bed Brian tells us that he was going hunting with his father-in-law and overslept you know for a fact that Brian
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was not telling you the truth then mhm Winchester could not have known it but detectives already had a witness who
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said he saw Winchester that morning at Lake seol I know the the man personally I mean i' I've known him all my life and
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um I composed a lineup and I took it to him Joel says well he wasn't smiling like that but that's him and he pointed
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to Brian Winchester and he had seen that same man he said when that morning there
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was one more thing Winchester didn't know police were talking to his ex-wife and she told them Denise and Brian might
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have been having an affair for years before Mike disappeared there was definitely a suspicion that
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him and her were having a fair well before that December while Denise was still married to Mike yes the plot was
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sure thickening but investigators still weren't sure what the full story was after 2 years the FDLE hit a wall
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but Cheryl Williams who had been fighting since the day her son disappeared was not giving up and it's
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horrible not knowing what happened to him she was very very very frustrated with FDLE and felt that they were not
00:23:19
doing their job they weren't trying so she picked you know she would have signs made and and walk up and down
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in front of the church every year she would have Billboards put up around town showed a picture of Mike
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and missing and if you have any information who's to contact and she went after the governor she wrote the
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governor a letter every day for nine years in fact the governor received 1,472 letters that we know
00:23:53
of her suspicion was always with Brian and Denise more so with Denise the two people who were considered most
00:24:03
likely suspects were together and unless one of them turned on the other you were
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never going to find out what happened here did you think this case would get broken not until I found out that they
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were having marital problems they turned on each other like brats in a sa side [Music]
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until God tells me in my heart that that child is dead I cannot give up looking SL as the years dragged on it looked
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like the mystery of what happened to Mike Williams might never be solved if Brian and Denise knew anything
00:24:58
about Mike's disappearance they weren't talking and no one could make them by Florida law as long as they stayed
00:25:05
married neither could be forced to testify against the other with Brian and deise being married you were how were
00:25:13
you ever going to get the truth because one is not going to turn on the other but behind the scenes Denise and
00:25:25
Brian's marriage was disintegrating and after 7 years in 2012 they decided to separate he is you know
00:25:38
self-described as being a sex addict he's trying to please her by going to therapy by getting counseling like he's
00:25:44
jumping through all these hoops trying to do all these things to get her back and she's not kind of accepting
00:25:51
them after four more years of trying to patch things up Brian snapped one morning Denise gets in her car she's
00:26:02
driving to work and she senses something in the back and Brian Winchester has hidden in the back of her car and is
00:26:08
coming over the seat and has got a gun he's got a gun he's got a gun he had a gun he had a tarp the idea was that he
00:26:16
was going to kill her he's screaming and I'm just like shaking and he's telling me to stop
00:26:22
crying that people are going to notice Denise reported her kidnapping to the leyon county sheriff's office I was like
00:26:28
are you planning on you know ending both of our lives today well mine I'm planning on mine and then he would say I
00:26:35
want to kill M he must have said a million times I want to kill myself Brian Winchester was soon arrested and
00:26:41
charged with the kidnapping and aggravated assault of his wife I was just kind of agreeing with whatever he
00:26:48
was saying and I was like I know that you love me and police quickly realized that the rift in Denise and Brian's
00:26:55
marriage presented an opportunity a tag team of detectives arrived to see what they could get out of Denise to see
00:27:05
if she would Now flip on her estranged husband and talk about his involvement in Mike Williams's
00:27:13
disappearance I know Denise he did and you knew exactly what I'm talking about and he was going to do
00:27:21
it again Tallahassee detective David mccraine tried he wasn't going to kill himself and he was going to kill you so
00:27:27
that you could talk about him later that is the truth mcra turned up the heat 15 years ago he walked in told
00:27:35
you he' done something didn't he no Denise no you have got he this is not going away okay
00:27:47
he's going to kill you he's even to kill himself because he's got no other Avenue
00:27:51
but Denise did not budge is I'm let Flor Department of so special agent Mike dainy came in he'd
00:28:01
been working the Williams case for years do you think it's responsible for my expence I do not and I never have I
00:28:09
would have never married him if I thought that I mean in my mind and in my heart no she wasn't giving up anything
00:28:16
she was giving up absolutely nothing where do you take my experience oh I I have no idea any
00:28:23
speculation on that on where he's Buried buried I mean I believe you don't really
00:28:28
believe he he died at on the lake I do why I just I just always have that's what I believe that was her story and
00:28:39
stick into it that left Brian as the only possible source of information in the Williams
00:28:48
case he was facing a long stretch in prison for the kidnapping but there was no word about what if anything he would
00:28:56
say about Mike disappearance we're here in state of Florida versus Brian Winchester 2000 16
00:29:06
months later Brian pled guilty to kidnapping and assaulting Denise and appeared in court for his sentencing we
00:29:14
had a a plea and we weren't sure what the government was going to ask for he was crying at times he apologized Tim
00:29:22
Johanson is Brian Winchester's lawyer we had indicated we want 15 the state gets
00:29:27
up and for 45 my client would like to address the cour never ever did I have any
00:29:43
intentions of harming Denise nor would I nonetheless I do know that she was hurt by my actions and again I am truly
00:29:57
sorry [Music] start by stating your name please Denise Williams Denise showed up at the
00:30:08
sentencing what was she like there what did she want she wanted him to go to prison for the rest of his life I start
00:30:15
each day with the memory of him jumping out of the back and I end each day feeling the gun shoved in my ribs
00:30:24
when I turn on my right side trying to sleep she was scared sced she was compelling he will finish what he has
00:30:31
started no matter what age he is when he's released most people in the courtroom were pretty stunned by it it
00:30:37
was pretty powerful I'm asking you to sentence him to life in prison for the crimes he has committed it comes down to
00:30:44
my life or his and I'm asking you please to choose mine thank you come on up with your client Mr
00:30:55
Janson for kidnapping Denise Brian was sentenced to 20 years behind bars he was Shackled at the waist and
00:31:05
the ankles and when they shuffled him off to prison we felt so defeated because we said they'll never be an
00:31:15
answer to our friend Mike never an answer we won't know well you were wrong we were
00:31:23
wrong they had found Mike's body [Music] [Music] this was so huge it still is really
00:31:46
pretty stunning just one day after Brian Winchester was sentenced for kidnapping
00:31:52
Denise Williams the Florida Department of Law Enforcement held a news conference and the news really was huge
00:32:00
standing here now I can tell you that we know what happened to Mike Williams he was
00:32:06
murder they know that because sometime before he was sentenced for kidnapping Brian Winchester cracked and confessed
00:32:15
in these audio recordings I went and met Mike at a gas station I followed him to the lake we
00:32:24
launched the boat it was just like a hunting trip was supposed to be Winchester had cut a deal with
00:32:32
prosecutors in exchange for his confession he would not be charged with murder even though he admitted killing
00:32:39
his best friend I got him to stand up and I pushed him into the water and he was in a panic obviously I was in a
00:32:48
panic I didn't know what to do and I ended up shooting him the agreement that we drafted up
00:32:56
said that anything he said that day could not be used against him Winchester gave prosecutors what they wanted most
00:33:04
the location of Mike Williams's body I backed my Suburban down to the edge of the lake and put his body in the back
00:33:14
and pushed his boat back out into the water Brian says he left Mike's truck and trailer at Lake seol to make Mike's
00:33:22
disappearance looked like an accident but actually Mike's body was nowhere near near Lake
00:33:30
seol he was 60 M away at car Lake a remote marshy area just 10 minutes from Winchester's
00:33:41
home Brian LED investigators here to the spot he buried Mike back in 2000 and they commenced what FDLE told
00:33:51
me is the most extensive search they have ever undertaken in the history of the agency the search uncovered Mike's
00:33:57
skeletal remains and his wedding ring among other things and there was horrifying evidence
00:34:07
of what happened to him and what they were able to show very clearly was that he had been shot
00:34:14
basically at Point Blank Range in the face with a shotgun this was up close personal deadly yeah being gruesome
00:34:26
yeah and Winchester provided one final piece of the puzzle he said it was all Denise's
00:34:35
idea she would not get divorced and so she basically said there's only one solution as he tells it she was not
00:34:44
willing to endure the public shame of a divorce so she thought murder was a better answer I guess it was better to
00:34:51
be known as a widow than a divorce wow that is incredibly cold and wouldn't it be great if we also oh by the way
00:34:59
collected you know almost $2 million in insurance we would end up together we would live happily ever after oh and as
00:35:07
a side note we've got all this money to enjoy a wonderful life together the happily
00:35:17
[Music] everaarts after the discovery of Mike's body was announced Denise Williams was
00:35:25
arrested and charged with first-degree murder [Music] conspiracy to commit murder and
00:35:32
accessory after the fact it was a very bizarre moment and she said nothing and she didn't look at
00:35:41
anybody she just looked straight ahead it's a bitter sweet feeling you are so thankful that she has been outed
00:35:51
for the true person she is but it doesn't you still left with the same result even though know you saw her let
00:35:58
away in shackles and an ugly dress and hair that needed a die job I got to tell you that
00:36:05
felt pretty good to me cuz I know how important appearances are to her she didn't do it she had nothing to
00:36:14
do with it she's completely innocent defense attorney Ethan Way is representing Denise did she know about
00:36:20
it no not before not during not after you are very confident I have an innocent client it's the best kind
00:36:27
[Music] on December 11th 2018 prosecutor John fuches gave his opening argument at
00:36:38
Denise Williams's murder trial Denise likes a sound of being a widow much more than a divorce obviously can't be caught
00:36:45
with a murder so they had to make it look like an accident raise your right hand please
00:36:50
sir early on the state called Brian Winchester we had an agreement that she would never say anything about me and I
00:36:58
would never say anything about her because we felt like that as long as neither one of us talked that nobody
00:37:04
would ever find out what happened good morning ladies and gentlemen Ethan Way was in an enviable
00:37:11
position for a defense attorney representing an accused murderer the prosecution star witness admits he is
00:37:20
the killer when you shot Mike Williams with a 12 gauge shotgun was Denise Williams standing there with you no she
00:37:26
wasn't she was in my my head behind me Denise Williams had no idea that you shot her husband in the face with a
00:37:32
shotgun did you correct Mr Winchester You're a murderer isn't it true yes sir Mr Winchester you're a liar isn't it
00:37:40
true yes sir of course Cheryl Williams always suspected her one-time daughter-in-law was involved and Cheryl
00:37:47
was now a witness for the prosecution the initial theory was that he was missing and possibly eaten by alligators
00:37:56
right he never beli that did you no sir how long did it take before Denise called you and said I'm sorry I was
00:38:02
wrong all these years she never did finally Winchester's ex-wife Kathy testified Denise kept quiet as part of a
00:38:13
conspiracy of Silence between Brian and Denise were you aware that Brian Winchester kidnapped Denise Williams yes
00:38:22
about a week after that did Denise ask you to do something Denise asked me to get a message to
00:38:29
Brian that I'm not talking after 3 days of testimony both sides rested Ethan wayy was so confident
00:38:43
the state had no hard evidence that he didn't want the jury to consider any charges less than murder one this is a
00:38:51
strategy decision is you understand it's a little bit out of the ordinary yes I guess for one of better word it's a
00:38:58
little bit of a gamble yes the jury was now facing an All or Nothing decision and the attorneys presented their
00:39:06
closing arguments this is not a case about trying to get quote Justice for Mike this is a murder case there's no
00:39:14
evidence that supports any of the allegations against my client we are counting on you to return a verdict that
00:39:22
speaks the truth and that verdict is not guilty think back three days ago Brian Winchester is
00:39:30
on the stand describing how he shot his best friend everybody in this entire room was moved by the sheer horror of
00:39:42
that situation one person that one person savier absolute Stone Face didn't bat an eye didn't shed a
00:39:53
tear that lady right there Miss Denise Williams the jury took 8 hours to reach a verdict
00:40:01
the defendant is guilty of conspiracy to commit first gr murder Denise Williams was found
00:40:10
guilty as to count too we the jury find the defendant is guilty of first degree murder on all counts the defendant is
00:40:20
guilty of accessory after the fact of first degree murder Mike's family and friends waited
00:40:29
18 years for this day sometimes the wheels of Justice turn slowly but they do still
00:40:36
turn for Cheryl Williams it has been a long heartbreaking fight but now she can finally lay her son to rest it hit her
00:40:47
really hard and and I think she's still coming to terms with it I mean the brutality of it the the finality of it
00:40:55
how anyone could do this to Mike it kind of destroys your your faith in in man to
00:41:01
do this to him and the way it was done and it's just unimaginable you still miss him oh God
00:41:11
he was such a good guy he loved to work he loved his family he put him on a pedestal and he got killed for it that's
00:41:18
the irony of this is the kid did nothing wrong [Music] CBS next a rock star of the snake
00:41:41
breeding world found dead I assumed it was a snake it wasn't a snake but the killer was coldblooded who would want to
00:41:48
kill Ben renck we could have imagined anything like that 48 Hours Crime Time double feature
00:41:56
continues next on CBS [Music]