Michael Wayne Williams

Serial Killer

Michael Wayne Williams

Overview

Michael Wayne Williams was a convicted Virginia murderer whose crimes stretched across two brutal episodes in late 1992 and early 1993. His known victims included four men killed on Christmas Eve in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and a married couple murdered two months later in Cumberland County. The killings were marked by robbery, gunfire, and arson, with both crime scenes set on fire after the victims were shot. Williams was later convicted in the Cumberland County case and received death sentences for the murders of Morris C. Keller Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Keller. He also later pleaded guilty in connection with the four earlier killings. The crimes attributed to Williams were not random in the sense of a stranger attacking in passing. They unfolded in private homes, where victims were overpowered, robbed, and killed. In both known incidents, the use of fire after the shootings suggested an effort to destroy evidence and delay discovery. The Cumberland County murders in particular became the central case against him, because of the detailed testimony of accomplice Jeffrey Alan Cruse and Williams's own admissions at trial.

The Christmas Eve Quadruple Murder

On December 24, 1992, four men were killed inside the Atkinson home in Prince Edward County, Virginia, near Blackstone. The victims were George Atkinson Sr., his son George Atkinson Jr., Jeffrey Villalobos, and William B. Cutter. All four men were shot in the head, and the residence was set on fire afterward. The killings shocked the community not only because of the number of victims, but because the murders happened on Christmas Eve inside a family home. Williams was later charged in connection with those deaths after being arrested in Georgia in March 1993. His brother, Johnny Williams, was also charged in the Christmas Eve case. Michael Wayne Williams eventually pleaded guilty to one count of capital murder and three counts of first-degree murder for the four Prince Edward County slayings, receiving life sentences for each killing. These murders established the first known episode in the sequence of six deaths attributed to him. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Morris Keller Jr. Age: (45), Date of Death: 1993-02-27