The Atlanta Child Murders

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The Atlanta Child Murders
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Atlanta 1979 - 1981

• 27 black boys are murdered
• Similar fibers are found on the bodies
• When this is revealed, bodies start being dumped
  in water

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Wayne Williams

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Wayne Williams

• Stopped by police on a bridge
• Said he was at a club, but no one saw him there
• Two days later a body appears downstream

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Serial killers usually are

• White
• Male
• Middle-aged
• Heterosexual

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Wayne Williams was

• A young black mannot a typical serial killer

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BUT This case pioneered the use of fiber
evidence.
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Key Fiber Evidence

• Avocado carpet fibers matching those in Williams
  home
• Purple carpet fibers matching those in Williams
  car

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These two fibers were found on almost all the
bodies.Many also had dog hairs, blanket fibers,
etc. that also matched items in Williams home.
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Because the carpet fibers were unusual colors,
the probability they would be on a body was quite
low.The probability they would appear together
was even lower.
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Probabilities
House carpet 1 in 5000
Car carpet 1 in 1800
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Overall probability 5000 X 1800 9,000,000
about 1 in 9 million
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There are about 2 million people in metro
Atlanta, so it is VERY unlikely the murderer was
someone else.
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Williams was convicted and sentenced to two life
terms in prison.
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Since his conviction there have been numerous
appeals and re-investigations, most recently in
May, 2005.Each time, the evidence was found
convincing.
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After Williams was taken into custody, the
murders stopped.
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Information from