Atlanta Child Murder Analysis - Case Study Example

Wayne Williams (Atlanta Child Killer) This paper looks into the Atlanta child murder case. It refers to murder crimes committed over a period of two years between 1979 and 1981. The paper will discuss the overview of the case, types of evidence used by the prosecutor, and the methods used in justifying the evidence. The uniqueness of the Atlanta child murder case is that much of the available evidence was microscopic forensic evidence, hence the need to have a thorough discussion of the evidence obtained at the crime scene. Wayne Williams (Atlanta Child Killer) Overview of the Atlanta Child Killer Case In a two-year period (1979-1981), twenty-eight bodies of young black males were discovered in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The deaths were as a result of asphyxiation and strangulation. On each of the recovered victim, there were varying types of microscopic evidence ranging from dog fur, carpet fibers, and blanket fibers. It was noted that once the facts about the killings were publicized by the press, the killings went on, but the victims started appearing nude or partially nude in the Chattahoochee River (Nickell, 2011). The change in the killer’s way of handling the victims was a clear indication that the killer was keen on the media’s reports regarding the killings and was determined to clear any signs of trace evidence (Mallard, 2009). In May of 1981, intelligence officials were in high hopes of getting the killer whereby they launched surveillance along the Chattahoochee River. As they were carrying out surveillance, intelligence officers heard a loud splash and then saw a station wagon in the area along the river. At the time of the splash, there was no immediate discovery of any body. However, the intelligence offers went on to question the 23-year-old male driver who admitted that he had dropped a bag of garbage into the water. On the second day after the questioning of the driver, the body of a young black male was discovered in the Chattahoochee River at a location downstream from where intelligence officers questioned the driver (Lester, 1995). Forensic examination of the identified body revealed that the body had unique man-made yellow and green carpet fibers. This crucial evidence was found on the victim’s hair, and it matched fiber evidence identified on other victims. This piece of evidence made intelligence officers conduct a search in Wayne Williams’ house, where yellow and green carpet material was identified across many areas of the house. Convinced by the discovery of fiber that matched that found on Wayne’s carpeting material, intelligence officers were in no doubts that the killer they had been looking for was Wayne Williams. Wayne was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder. One notable thing after Wayne’s arrest was that the killings came to an end (BACM Research, 2008). The intelligence officers were convinced that Wayne had killed up to twenty-eight young males. Nevertheless, the prosecution paid attention to the last two murder victims discovered in the Chattahoochee River with an aim of getting a guilty verdict. In most instances, microscopic evidence is usually relied on in the reinforcement of other forms of evidence during the criminal investigation. However, the Atlanta child killer case was a unique one since microscopic evidence was the only form of physical evidence that was available. Therefore, all other forms of evidence were applied to support the microscopic evidence. The exclusive adoption of the microscopic evidence turned out to be reliable in Wayne’s case because there were sufficient fibers and hairs to convince the jury beyond doubts. Forensic experts identified 28 different pieces of microscopic evidence from the victims. The identified evidence matched items associated with Wayne Williams. In addition, 19 of the identified fibers were identified on more than one victim. The other notable thing was that one of the fibers (light green cotton fiber) was common while the other fibers were unique. Since microscopic evidence was extremely crucial in Wayne’s case, a lot of information had to be collected by the forensic investigators regarding each of the identified fibers (Nickell, 2011). Applying Statistical Probability The use of statistical probability made the Atlanta child killer case a unique one. This was aimed at proving the significance of the fiber evidence. Through statistical probability, the forensic investigators determined that the yellow and green carpet fibers identified on several victims had been produced and sold to a number of carpet manufacturers in 1970-1971. Over that one-year period, about 16,397 square meters of carpet made of the yellow and green fiber was purchased in the southern United States. Further estimations suggested that only 82 average sized houses in the state of Georgia were likely to have such carpeting material. Statistics revealed that there were 638,995 houses in the region of Atlanta, which implied that the probability of a house having a carpet with yellow and green fiber was 0.01%, or 1 in 7,792 (Nickell & Fischer, 1999). Therefore, the carpet in Wayne’s house was quite uncommon, hence finding such fiber material on a victim meant a lot since the probability was high that the victim had been in contact with Wayne’s carpeting material. Besides the carpet fiber, the recovered victims showed a second form of fiber. Similarly, the statistical probability approach was applied in studying the second form of fiber. Forensic investigators identified the second fiber to be that of carpeting material found in pre-1973 Chevrolets. Statistical analysis revealed that a total of 680 vehicles registered in Alabama had carpet fibers similar to those identified on the recovered victims (Nickell, 2011). Wayne had a 1970 Chevrolet station wagon that had carpeting material matching fibers identified on victims. Considering the carpeting material identified in Wayne’s house and that of his Chevrolet, forensic investigators calculated the probability of the two types of fibers being owned by one person. The obtained probability indicated that the odds against a different individual possessing the two types of carpets were approximately 29 million to one (Weston, 2010). DNA Analysis At the time Wayne Williams was undergoing trials over the Atlanta child murders, the use of DNA test had not yet found its way in solving crimes. In Wayne’s case, there was the presence of dog hairs that needed DNA analysis to determine whether it was that of Wayne’s dog, Shabe. There were seven dog hairs available as part of the evidence, and after conducting DNA tests, the prosecutors gained evidence that tied Wayne to 12 murders at his 1982 trial. The DNA analysis was conducted by the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory following the request of Wayne’s defense team (Hickey, 2006). The DNA analysts compared the dog hairs obtained from five of the recovered victims with that of Wayne’s German shepherd mix. The results indicated that Wayne’s dog could not be ruled out as the source of the fur. The DNA analysis revealed that DNA sequences identified from each of the hairs isolated from five victims were similar to that identified from Wayne’s dog. According to the investigators, the matching sequences were from the mitochondrial DNA, but not from the nuclear DNA isolated from individual cell nuclei (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2008). This variation was of immense significance because mitochondrial DNA occurs at high levels, in biological materials compared to nuclear DNA. The precision of mitochondrial DNA with regard to an exact match is much lower since it only indicates the maternal lineage. On the other hand, nuclear DNA has more of an organism’s genetic material than mitochondria DNA. Therefore, nuclear DNA is the most preferred form of DNA in forensic investigations. DNA analysts further identified 12 additional matches to the Wayne’s hairs in their own mitochondrial DNA database. The DNA was comprised of DNA from 1,219 dogs that were part of 172 established breeds and a fraction of mixed breed dogs. The investigators’ findings revealed that one out of 100 dogs tested had similar mitochondrial DNA profile as that of Wayne’s dog and the evidentiary hairs (Nickell, 2011). However, data obtained from the tests of mitochondrial DNA did not allow the forensic investigators to narrow their investigation to a single animal. Wayne’s defense team had high hopes that the DNA analysis could have cleared Wayne’s dog since the source of hairs identified from victims linked to Wayne’s trial. However, the results served to strengthen the prosecutor’s argument with the jury. The final verdict was that all the seven hairs tested were similar to those of Wayne’s dog despite that the evidence included that of mitochondrial DNA sequencing (Hickey, 2006). The DNA analysis conclusively proved that the hairs isolated from the five victims and five crime scenes belonged to Wayne’s dog. To many, the DNA analysis marked the end of the debate on whether Wayne was the Atlanta child killer. The prosecutor acknowledged that the killings of young black men and boys over a period of two years had captivated Atlanta since Wayne’s arrest in 1981 (Nickell, 2011). For a prolonged period, intelligence officers considered Wayne Williams as the serial killer who ambushed and terrorized people of Atlanta for two years. The cases linked to Wayne were identified as Atlanta’s child murders (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2008). Wayne was finally convicted of the murders of two adults. In addition, he was linked with the slaying of ten black boys and men, and investigations into 24 of the 29 murders came to a close after his conviction. The high volume of forensic evidence obtained from the victims and evidence obtained from Wayne’s home and vehicle provided a basis for linking Wayne to his victims. This forensic evidence included carpeting fibers, dog hairs that were later analyzed for DNA, human scalp hairs, and bloodstains obtained from Wayne’s car. Therefore, the prosecutor had enough evidence to convince the jury beyond reasonable doubts (Keppel & Birnes, 2003). References BMCA Research (2008). Atlanta child murders – Wayne Williams FBI files. New York: BACM Research. Federal Bureau of Investigation (2008). Federal Bureau of Investigation. New York: Government Printing Office. Hickey, E. W. (2006). Serial murderers and their victims. Chicago: Thomson Higher Education. Keppel, J. & Birnes, W. J. (2003). The Psychology of Serial Killer Investigations: The Grisly Business Unit. New York: Academic Press. Lester, D. (1995). Serial killers: The insatiable passion. New York: Charles Press. Mallard, J. (2009). The Atlanta child murders: The night stalker. New York: Booksurge Llc. Nickell, J. (2011). The Atlanta child murders: Evidence vs. psychics. Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/the_atlanta_child_murders_evidence_vs._psychics/. Nickell, J., & Fischer, M. (1999). Crime Science: Methods of forensic detection. Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. Weston, T. (2010). Americas bloodiest serial killers: From jeffrey dahmer to the boston strangler. Chicago: Swordworks. Read More