Denise Williams' husband's death had been attributed to a boating mishap, alligators, and an accidental drowning for years.
Leon County Detention CenterDenise Williams avoided getting caught for planning her husbands murder for almost 20 years.
When Mike Williams went missing in December 2000, police initially believed that he had drowned during a hunting trip in Florida’s Lake Seminole. His wife, Denise Williams, seemed bereft, and the whole incident was chalked up to a tragic accident.
But 17 years later, police found Mike’s body 60 miles away in Tallahassee. Mike’ death was clearly not an accident. And police began to suspect that Denise Williams had had something to do with her husband’s demise.
She had been the one to petition to declare her husband dead — and she’d taken out a large insurance policy on him before his disappearance. What’s more, Denise had subsequently married Brian Winchester, her husband’s best friend, and police suspected that they’d been engaged in an affair.
In 2018, Denise Williams was convicted of first degree murder, conspiracy, and accessory to murder. But she maintains her innocence to this day.
Denise And Mike Williams’ Seemingly Perfect Marriage
Tallahassee DemocratMike Williams disappeared after going on a duck hunting trip in December 2000.
Mike and Denise Williams were high school sweethearts who married in 1994. By 1999, things seemed good for the couple. They had had their first child, Mike was making good money working for Ketcham Realty Group as a property appraiser, and he had time to indulge his passion for duck hunting.
But what Mike didn’t know was that Denise was having an affair. She and Mike’s best friend, Brian Winchester, who had gone to high school with the couple, had started to quietly see each other in 1997.
As such, no one thought much of the fact that Mike and Denise bought a one million dollar life insurance on Mike — through Winchester — just a few months before Mike disappeared. In fact, Mike and Denise told their families that they were planning to have a second child. To outsiders, the couple seemed just as happy as ever.
Russell GraceMike and Denise Williams seemed to have the perfect marriage until he went missing in 2000.
Then, on Dec. 16, 2000, tragedy seemed to strike. According to Denise Williams, Mike left early that morning to go duck hunting at Lake Seminole. The couple was supposed to meet up later to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. But Mike never returned home.
Denise Williams began to call around looking for her husband. A search party, which included Winchester, soon set out to look for him. Though they found Mike’s boat and car at Lake Seminole, they found no sign of him.
Mounting Suspicion About Mike Williams’ Death
State Attorney’s OfficeMike Williams’ abandoned boat.
Over the next several weeks, search parties continued to look for Mike Williams. Some 44 days after he vanished, they came across Mike’s waders, his fishing jacket, his hunting license, and his flashlight. But there was still no sign of Mike Williams himself. Investigators began to suspect that he had been devoured by alligators.
That said, there was no incontrovertible proof that he had died. Without this proof, according to Florida law, Williams did not need to be declared dead right away. He would not have to be declared dead for five years. But Denise Williams pushed for him to be declared dead much sooner — and he was ultimately declared dead just six months after he vanished. At that point, Denise was able to collect on his life insurance policy.
Then, in 2006, Denise Williams and Brian Winchester got married.
But Mike Williams had not been forgotten. Mike’s mother, Cheryl Williams, was suspicious of Mike’s death from the very start. According to CBS News, she wrote down dozens of questions about Mike’s murder, and even spoke to an alligator expert who told her that alligators don’t feed during the cold winter months. Even if they did, the expert told Cheryl, an alligator attack would leave forensic evidence behind.
State Attorney’s OfficeThe items found along with Mike Williams’ body.
In 2004, Cheryl successfully lobbied the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to re-open the case. Many of the officers agreed with Cheryl that the circumstances surrounding her son’s disappearance warranted a closer look.
But without any strong evidence of foul play, the investigation stalled. Mike’s death seemed to be a cold case.
Until 2016.
The Arrest Of Denise Williams And Brian Winchester
Leon County Clerk of CourtMugshot of Brian Winchester.
In 2012, Denise Williams and Brian Winchester separated. In 2015, they divorced. But Brian, desperate to keep Denise, went to extreme measures and attacked her at gunpoint in 2016. He was subsequently charged with kidnapping, domestic assault, and armed burglary.
According to CBS News, investigators took the rift between the couple as an opportunity to question them about Mike Williams’ disappearance. But while Denise said nothing, Brian ended up cutting a deal. In exchange for telling them what happened to Mike, he would not be charged with murder.
“I went and met Mike at a gas station… I followed him to the lake… We launched the boat. It was just like a hunting trip was supposed to be,” Winchester confessed. “I got him to stand up and I pushed him into the water… and he was in a panic, obviously… I ended up shooting him… [in] the head.”
Winchester also told investigators where they could find Mike Williams’ body. One day after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the attempted kidnapping of Denise, investigators were able to announce that Mike Williams’ body had been discovered — 60 miles way from where he’d first vanished.
What’s more, Winchester said that he killed Mike Williams because of Denise Williams. He claimed that Denise refused to divorce Mike, because it was against her religious beliefs, and that killing Mike was the only way that they could be together. As an added bonus, Winchester said, Denise claimed that they could then collect Mike’s life insurance.
“She would not get divorced and so she basically said there’s only one solution,” Winchester stated. “We would end up together, we would live happily ever after, oh, and as a side note, we’ve got all this money to enjoy a wonderful life together.”
On May 8, 2018, Denise Williams was arrested. She was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and accessory after the fact.
Leon County Sheriff’s DepartmentBrian Winchester and Denise Williams conspired to murder Mike Williams, disguising it as a tragic accident.
During Denise’s trial in June 2018, Winchester testified against her. He claimed that though he had killed Mike Williams alone, Denise Williams “was in my head, behind me… Denise and I were best friends, we were Bonnie and Clyde, we were partners in crime.”
Though Denise Williams’ legal team argued that there was a lack of physical evidence linking her to Mike William’s murder, the jury was not convinced. In 2019, Denise was sentenced to life in prison.
And though Denise Williams appealed her sentence in 2021, Cheryl Williams gave a powerful testimony urging the judge to keep Denise behind bars.
“Mike suffered horribly,” Cheryl Williams stated. “For the rest of my life, when I try to go to sleep, I see my son clinging to a stump in the freezing water. Please don’t show her any mercy. She didn’t show my son any mercy. She took him away from his daughter, family, and friends.”
Denise Williams was ultimately resentenced to 30 years in prison.
After reading about Denise Williams and the murder of her husband, Mike Williams, learn about Nancy Brophy, the romance author who killed her husband — after publishing an essay titled “How to Murder Your Husband.” Or, discover the story of Pamela Smart, the woman who convinced her 16-year-old lover to murder her husband.
