How to Catch a Criminal: Cover-Up Unravels in Complex Texas Killing

Every officer with a decent amount of time on the job knows the unexpected turns an investigation can take. Seeing a major case through to completion often involves giving up on a theory and taking your investigation in a different direction as new information becomes available. In How to Catch A Criminal, we look at the many ways not-so-perfect crimes are solved. This month, a killer severely complicates taking the easy way out.

The plea deal is one of the many interesting facets of the American justice system. Perhaps put a bit too simply, a plea deal is an arrangement between the Prosecution and a Defendant to go easy on each other. If the Prosecution is willing to dismiss some charges, reduce a major charge to a lesser one, or promise lenient sentencing, the Defendant will agree to admit guilt, forgoing a trial. The defendant gets off easier than they would have otherwise, and the prosecution does not have to commit resources to preparing for a jury trial. If you have worked in law enforcement for a while, you have likely seen some highly egregious offenses knocked down to petty crimes and wondered why the prosecuting attorney would offer a slap on the wrist in lieu of prison time. This could be for a variety of factors. These sorts of deals are common for first-time offenders, people who have a low likelihood of reoffending, or even defendants who are facing greater charges in another case where there won’t be any leniency. Unfortunately, there are times when a plea deal is offered because the case just isn’t strong enough to guarantee a conviction. If the prosecution takes a chance by going to trial, they risk the defendant walking away scot-free because of a mishandled or otherwise weak case. In that instance it may be better to offer a light sentence and still get the guilty verdict on record. In the end, however, it comes down to a defendant’s willingness to accept the grace being offered to them.

On October 13, 2011, the Keller Police Department, near Fort Worth, Texas, received a 911 call from 42-year-old Michele Williams. Williams reported that her husband, 40-year-old Greg Williams, had been shot dead inside their home. Officers rushed to the scene and found not only Greg Williams, deceased, with a gunshot wound to the head, but also his own 1911 handgun, lying near his body. Next to the handgun was not only the spent bullet casing but also a large wrench. Upon interviewing Michele, investigators learned she was awoken by the sound of the gunshot, and when she made her way downstairs from her bedroom to investigate, she found a man wearing dark clothing holding the gun. Rather than shoot her too, the intruder struck Michele with the wrench, knocking her unconscious. When she awoke, she found Greg dead, and the killer gone. However, before he left, he had quite conveniently placed the wrench, gun, and shell casing on the floor in a neat pile that screamed “Exhibit A." Though this story was far-fetched from the start, Michele Williams did have significant swelling on her face, indicating blunt force trauma. The fact that a substantial life insurance policy had been taken out on Greg Williams just a few months prior could not be overlooked either.

Michele was brought in for further questioning that morning where she was grilled about her version of events. The forensic team had already processed the scene and found that no fingerprints were left on the handgun or the wrench. This means that rather than bring his own weapon, the intruder broke in and armed himself with Greg’s gun, and rather than take it with him to dispose of the evidence, he wiped it clean and left it behind, the same as the wrench. That all seemed highly unlikely, and Michele was beginning to feel the pressure from the interrogation. The only logical conclusion here was that Michele had cleaned up the crime scene, and her only motivation for that would be to cover up her own involvement. When the officer questioning her asserted this theory, he stated the only way she wasn’t involved in his death is if it was suicide and she cleaned up the scene. Michele quickly latched onto this idea and changed her story completely. She found Greg dead via self-inflicted gunshot wound, and to save their 4-year-old daughter the shame of losing her father to suicide, Michele whacked herself in the face with a wrench, wiped the weapons down with bleach, and concocted the story about the armed intruder.

This new story was plausible enough for her to avoid criminal charges for the moment, but the case was not yet closed. As investigators waited for the autopsy and coroner’s report to be completed, Michele Williams began grieving the loss of her husband. While everyone grieves in their own way, Michele’s took the form of skipping Greg’s funeral, liquidating his sizeable assets, opening a gym, and finding a new, much younger boyfriend. Michele also attempted to collect Greg’s life insurance payout, but she was stymied by a pesky “no suicide” clause in the policy. Meanwhile, the analysis of the gunshot wound Greg suffered indicated the pistol was fired from a level trajectory into his right temple from a distance greater than 6 inches away from his head. This shot would be extremely bizarre for a person taking their own life. This information pokes major holes in Michele’s story about Greg’s suicide, but thanks to the admittedly cleaned up crime scene, implicating Michele as the shooter was still going to be a tall order. In the interest of justice, a plea deal to obtain a conviction was in order.

Michele was offered between two and a half and 20 years if she admitted guilt to the crimes of tampering with evidence and deadly conduct resulting in her husband’s death. With good behavior and the possibility of parole, she would most likely be out of prison in just a few short years. She accepted the deal and even managed to get the Judge to delay her sentencing because she was pregnant with twins. The judge postponed sentencing until after their birth, though Michele later claimed to have miscarried and simply forgot to inform the court. There is in fact still some question as to whether she was ever actually pregnant or was simply buying time. This stunt landed Michele in the county jail to await her sentencing hearing. Just a few days prior to the hearing, Michele gave an interview to the news program “48 Hours," in which the host asked Michele plain and simple if she was the person who shot and killed Greg Williams, as the plea deal states. Michele said no and again claimed the murder was the work of an armed intruder, and she added the twist that she just might know who it was that attacked her and her husband. She added that she was only taking the plea deal because, while innocent, she couldn’t count on being found not guilty at trial and might face a sentence of 100 years.

When the judge in her case got wind of this tall tale, he brought her back into court and asked Michele herself if she was guilty of tampering with evidence and deadly conduct. Michele claimed she wasn’t, which meant the judge had no choice but to reject the plea deal. A jury trial was set, and now, armed with the footage from her “48 Hours” interview, prosecutors had more than what they needed to secure a guilty verdict. In September 2014, after seven hours of deliberation, Michele Williams was found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 30 years, when she is 74 years old, a far cry from her hopes of just a few years behind bars.