- 15 minutes ago
World's Most Evil Killers - Season 10 Episode 5 -
Leslie Allen Williams
Leslie Allen Williams
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00On May the 24th, 1992, a grieving man arrived at a quiet cemetery
00:07to place flowers on his father's grave.
00:11But something disturbing caught his eye.
00:16He looks off in the distance and he sees this man
00:19that appears to be assaulting this woman.
00:23And so he realized something was really wrong.
00:26The man rushed out of the cemetery to find help.
00:30After a police chase, the assailant was caught
00:33and the woman was rescued from the back of his car.
00:37She was near death because she was being asphyxiated
00:41by some sort of device around her neck.
00:45The attacker was 38-year-old Leslie Allen Williams,
00:50and police soon discovered that this wasn't his first abduction.
00:54After finding evidence in his home linking him to four missing teenage girls,
01:00Williams confessed to their murders.
01:03I think Williams confessing was for his own benefit
01:07and absolutely nobody else's benefit whatsoever.
01:11When we interviewed him, he expressed no emotion.
01:17It was like he was ordering a cup of coffee.
01:19Left with nowhere to run,
01:22Leslie Allen Williams had been unmasked
01:25as one of the world's most evil killers.
01:28In July 1992, at Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan,
01:57Leslie Allen Williams pleaded guilty to the murders of 18-year-old Cammy Villanueva,
02:0416-year-old Michelle Urban,
02:06and her 14-year-old sister Melissa,
02:09and 15-year-old Cynthia Jones.
02:12The serial killer even led police to the sites where he buried their bodies.
02:17There can be no doubt that Leslie Allen Williams was a truly evil man.
02:24He took the life of four young high school students
02:29who had their whole lives in front of them.
02:32It was an act of grotesque depravity.
02:35The really sad thing about this case
02:39is each one of these four teenage girls he killed,
02:41he told them that he would let them go.
02:46He told them that if they just did what he said,
02:50they'd be okay.
02:51He'd release them.
02:53And I think that makes it way worse.
02:56The families and the jury were horrified to learn
03:00that Williams had previously been let out of prison early
03:03for good behavior.
03:05Leslie Allen Williams had been a career criminal
03:08and was released many times by our parole boards.
03:15And it was shortly after his release
03:19that the first of the four girls that he kidnapped and killed disappeared.
03:26There was a great deal of criticism publicly,
03:31especially in the media.
03:33There were people at the time of the Williams case
03:36who began campaigning for a reform of Michigan's parole system.
03:42If Williams had not been caught in May of 1992,
03:46he would not have stopped.
03:51There would have been other people kidnapped,
03:54violated and killed.
04:01This killer's story begins in the Midwest.
04:06Leslie Allen Williams was born on Independence Day,
04:10July the 4th, 1953,
04:13and he grew up in Detroit, Michigan.
04:16His mother had been married before,
04:19and she had two daughters.
04:21But then she married Leslie's father,
04:25and they had three boys together.
04:29But neither were exactly perfect parents.
04:35He grew up in his earliest years
04:38in a suburb of Detroit called Garden City,
04:40and his mom was known to work prostitution in the home.
04:45His dad was sexually abusing Leslie's sisters.
04:52So it was a troubled upbringing.
04:55When Williams witnessed that sexual violence in his home,
04:59the sexual abuse of his siblings
05:02and the sex work of his mom,
05:05he probably learned quite early on
05:08that relationships are highly transactional
05:11and they're not about emotional connection,
05:14and that is going to have a significant impact
05:18on the way he conducts his own relationships.
05:21After an investigation into the sexual abuse
05:25of his stepdaughters,
05:27Williams' father was committed to a state hospital
05:31for the criminally insane,
05:33but not before alerting police to his wife's sex work.
05:39Leslie's mother took some of the family to California
05:44in an effort, I think,
05:46to escape the reputation that she had in Detroit.
05:52She then fell in love,
05:54and after she was divorced,
05:56she married her third husband.
05:59But that, too, didn't really go well.
06:05In the end, she decided
06:07that she would divorce the third husband.
06:11But then, tragically,
06:14on the night before the divorce hearing,
06:17her third husband went to visit her
06:20and killed her, shot her in the head,
06:23before killing himself.
06:27She has two boys of hers with her,
06:30and anything they might have seen as normal
06:33has gone out of the window.
06:35It's hard to imagine a worse upbringing.
06:38At just nine years old,
06:42Leslie Allen Williams had lost both of his parents.
06:46His mother was murdered.
06:48His father was a sex offender.
06:51He had no stability,
06:54no boundaries in his life at all,
06:57and no child should have to tolerate that.
07:01Now, Leslie was without either parent,
07:07so at that point,
07:08he and a brother of his
07:10were brought back to Michigan
07:11to live with their grandparents in Milford,
07:14which is another Detroit suburb
07:15on the west side of Metro Detroit.
07:20As Williams neared adulthood,
07:22he turned towards a darker criminal path.
07:25He was only 17 years old in 1970.
07:32He was arrested for breaking and entering in a home,
07:35and that began a long criminal career.
07:40Williams' history of offending,
07:42it started when he was really young,
07:44and the younger it starts,
07:46quite often the more longevity it has,
07:49the more it's going to carry on.
07:51Between 1970 and 1983,
07:55he's literally in and out of prison,
07:57in and out of the court.
07:59It's just a litany, including burglary,
08:02more significantly,
08:04sexual assault and attempted kidnapping.
08:09He's either being charged,
08:11waiting on bail, in prison.
08:15For somebody like Williams,
08:16who was relentless in his offending,
08:19he may have felt empowered by the system
08:23not holding him to account.
08:25But also, I think, given his personality traits,
08:29I think he already felt quite entitled and empowered
08:33to behave the way he did,
08:36and probably manipulated and used the system.
08:40In 1983, Williams broke into a woman's home.
08:45But what started as a routine burglary
08:48quickly took a sinister turn
08:50and escalated to attempted kidnap and sexual assault.
08:55He was recognized at that point
08:57as being a habitual offender.
09:00And so he had a couple different sentences in front of him.
09:03For the actual assault,
09:04he had a sentence of 5 to 10 years.
09:06For being a habitual offender,
09:09he had a sentence of 7 to 30 years.
09:12It's the first length he's sentence he's had,
09:15so he's going to be an older or at least an old man
09:18by the time he gets out of jail.
09:22With Williams behind bars,
09:24women in Detroit could finally sleep a little easier.
09:29But not for long.
09:31He's an absolutely model prisoner.
09:33He has a particularly receptive psychiatrist
09:37who says,
09:39well, I think, you know,
09:40you have really made splendid progress
09:43and, you know, we want to rehabilitate you.
09:46And so writes a very glowing report
09:49to the prison authorities
09:50about just how well Leslie Williams had done.
09:54In 1990, 37-year-old Williams was released on parole
09:59after serving just 6 years of his maximum 30-year sentence.
10:05People were probably manipulated by this idea
10:09that because he was polite,
10:11that somehow that meant he wasn't dangerous,
10:15despite all of the evidence
10:17showing that he was a repeat and serial offender.
10:23In my opinion,
10:24he could have been kept in longer,
10:27and he should have been.
10:29I don't know why they were so lenient with him,
10:33given the nature of his offending.
10:36Despite the severity of his crimes,
10:39the parole system was satisfied
10:41that Williams was a changed man.
10:44The following year,
10:46the mysterious disappearance of an 18-year-old woman
10:49from her home would spark fear
10:52across the community.
10:57In the early hours of September the 15th, 1991,
11:09in the quiet village of South Lyon,
11:11Oakland County, Michigan,
11:1318-year-old Cami Villanueva was home alone
11:17whilst her older sister was out on a date.
11:20Cami Villanueva, she's 18,
11:25she's a bright, honest student, cheerful,
11:28the whole world in front of her.
11:31Quite a shy girl.
11:32She wasn't a great party-goer,
11:34and she lived with her sisters.
11:36Cami's older sister came home
11:41and saw that Cami was not home.
11:46She went into her room.
11:47She saw that things were basically undisturbed.
11:51The bedroom is deserted,
11:54but everything that Cami left
11:56is all just exactly as it was.
11:59In fact, she's astounded.
12:02As her inhaler,
12:04the solitaire she was playing,
12:06purse,
12:07denim jacket,
12:08which she never went out without,
12:11it's as if she's disappeared into thin air.
12:13She wondered,
12:15okay, what happened?
12:16Where is she?
12:17The following day,
12:19she reported her missing to police.
12:23There was no signs
12:25of any kind of forced entry
12:26from, you know,
12:29my conversations
12:29with the Oakland County Sheriff's Department
12:32detectives
12:34that worked that part of the case.
12:37It was unknown
12:38why she was no longer home.
12:41Nobody knew
12:42what happened to her.
12:44She was a missing person case.
12:45They don't,
12:46they didn't know
12:46if she had been killed
12:47or if she ran away
12:48or what happened.
12:51Just as police
12:52were getting to grips
12:53with Cami's case,
12:55two weeks later,
12:56they received another call
12:58from the concerned parents
12:59of two teenage girls,
13:0216-year-old Michelle
13:03and 14-year-old Melissa Urban.
13:08Melissa and Michelle Urban
13:10had a perfectly normal
13:11sister's relationship,
13:13partly wonderful friendship,
13:15partly hating each other.
13:16It was a typical
13:18sisterly bond.
13:21They lived in a rural area
13:23of Michigan
13:23near the town of Heartland,
13:25which is about
13:26an hour northwest
13:27of Detroit.
13:30They have nothing particular
13:32to worry about
13:33and it's a perfectly
13:34ordinary day.
13:35on September the 29th,
13:391991,
13:41after a Sunday dinner
13:42with the family,
13:44the two girls set off
13:45on an evening walk.
13:46The morning after
13:50they had gone
13:50for their walk,
13:52when the father noticed
13:53they weren't home,
13:55he said,
13:56we need to call
13:57the police.
14:00A young trooper
14:01was sent
14:02to make contact
14:04with the parents
14:05and it was learned
14:07from them
14:07that they did not
14:09return home
14:09the night before.
14:10The police
14:13retraced the steps
14:14the sisters had taken
14:15on their walks
14:16and found no trace
14:18of them.
14:19They also began
14:19to interview
14:20the local community
14:21to find out
14:22the background,
14:23but nothing led them
14:25to what had happened
14:26to the sisters.
14:29The information we got
14:31in contacting friends
14:32and family members
14:33was that they did not know
14:35anything about it.
14:37They had not seen
14:38the girls,
14:38they had not heard
14:39from them,
14:40they were concerned,
14:43they did not understand
14:45why the girls
14:45would have been,
14:46been gone for so long.
14:50Although these contacts
14:52didn't provide
14:53an explanation
14:54for Michelle
14:55and Melissa's disappearance,
14:57they did reveal
14:58this wasn't the first time
14:59the girls had gone missing.
15:02A young trooper
15:03did a very good background,
15:06finding that they had
15:06at one point
15:08run away for a weekend
15:10before returning home.
15:12With any missing person report,
15:15we always expect the worst,
15:18but because of the past history
15:22where the girls
15:23had been missing voluntarily,
15:26it wasn't until
15:27several days later,
15:30perhaps a week or two,
15:31actually,
15:32before the concern
15:33became greater.
15:34they had never
15:36been gone this long,
15:38they had left behind
15:39items that
15:40they would not have
15:42left behind before.
15:44They were reported
15:46as missing
15:47and then the family
15:48struggled for months
15:50not knowing
15:51what happened
15:52to those girls.
15:54With no leads
15:56and concern mounting
15:57for the whereabouts
15:59of Michelle and Melissa,
16:00police brought in
16:01Michigan State profiler
16:03David Minzey
16:04to help with
16:05their investigation.
16:08First thing I did
16:10was make sure
16:10that I go meet
16:11with detectives.
16:13I wanted to know
16:15the things that weren't
16:15in the report,
16:16what bothered them,
16:17what about that case
16:19was troubling them.
16:21We focus on the victimology.
16:23These are very low-risk victims
16:26who now are missing.
16:28Something terrible
16:29likely happened to them
16:30and to help them
16:32develop media releases
16:33that will hopefully
16:34get the good tips
16:35to look more
16:36into the background.
16:38A closer look
16:40at the Milford area
16:41revealed that cases
16:42of female missing persons
16:44were rather uncommon,
16:46highlighting chilling
16:47similarities between
16:49the Irving sisters
16:50and Cami Villanueva.
16:52It must have begun
16:54to strike the authorities
16:56that the disappearance
16:58of three high school girls
17:01within a period
17:02of literally three weeks
17:05was quite unusual.
17:07They lived in a very rural area,
17:11very sparsely populated.
17:13Crime was almost non-existent up there.
17:19All of a sudden,
17:20we had something pop up here
17:22in Oakland County primarily
17:24and, in fact,
17:25in the Milford area
17:26and I grew up there
17:27so I knew that the area
17:29did not have a whole lot of crime,
17:30particularly involving
17:31missing teenage girls.
17:36Something came into this area
17:38and likely was connected
17:40to all of these victims
17:41and we needed to find out
17:42who that was.
17:46Just one year
17:47before the teenagers
17:48went missing
17:49from Oakland County,
17:5037-year-old Leslie Allen Williams
17:53had been granted
17:55early release from prison
17:56after serving just
17:58six years
17:59of a maximum
18:0030-year sentence
18:01for attempted kidnapping
18:03and sexual assault.
18:06He was released
18:07very quickly
18:08in 1990.
18:10He was surprised
18:11to be paroled
18:12that early.
18:13His first residence
18:16was in Wayne County, Michigan.
18:20The parole officer
18:22that he saw there
18:23said that Williams
18:24complied with everything
18:25that was required of him.
18:27He was checking off the boxes.
18:29He was working a job
18:31and then he was providing
18:32proof that he was working a job.
18:34He was showing them
18:34his check stubs.
18:36He was reporting in regularly.
18:38He was engaged
18:40in counseling.
18:42He moved
18:43to Oakland County.
18:46His parole agent changed.
18:48So once again,
18:50new eyes
18:51looking at him
18:53but he was still
18:54complying with
18:55the requirements
18:56that the parole board
18:57had set for him.
19:00His parole officers
19:01over the years
19:02considered him
19:04what they called
19:04a model parolee.
19:06He seemed to be doing
19:08everything that he was
19:09expected to do.
19:11He caused no trouble.
19:12He attracted no attention.
19:14In fact,
19:15I think one parole officer
19:16said that he was
19:17ideal to deal with.
19:20As Williams
19:21was settling
19:21into a new life
19:23seemingly on the
19:24straight and narrow,
19:25Oakland County police
19:27were still baffled
19:28as to the whereabouts
19:29of 18-year-old
19:30Cammy Villanueva
19:31and teenage sisters
19:33Michelle and Melissa Urban.
19:36But before police
19:38could begin
19:38to connect the dots,
19:40another teenage girl
19:41would vanish
19:43into thin air.
19:44On January 4th, 1992,
19:5815-year-old schoolgirl
20:00Cynthia Jones
20:01was hanging out
20:02with her 16-year-old boyfriend
20:04in his car
20:05at Central Park
20:06in Milford.
20:09Cindy was an archetypal
20:11high school girl.
20:12She was an honor student.
20:14She was a cheerleader.
20:15She was cheerful.
20:16She was very much
20:18happy with her boyfriend.
20:20They were in the car
20:21and while they were
20:23sitting there in the car,
20:24this man ran up to them
20:26in a ski mask
20:27and tells them
20:30he has to have the car.
20:31Get out of the car.
20:32I need the car.
20:34He gives them a story
20:35that he just robbed a place.
20:36And so he forces them
20:38out of the car.
20:38You can imagine
20:41they were very frightened.
20:42And he marches the couple
20:44into a nearby wooded area
20:46where he proceeds
20:48to tie up the boyfriend
20:50to one of the trees.
20:53The boyfriend tries to escape
20:55but the man with the ski mask
20:57ushers Cindy
20:59into a wood
21:01not far away
21:03and it's the last
21:04the boyfriend ever sees of her.
21:05Just minutes later
21:09the boyfriend
21:10freed himself
21:11from his restraints
21:12and called the police.
21:14They searched the entire park
21:17but despite their best efforts
21:19they were unable
21:20to find any clues
21:22to Cynthia's whereabouts
21:23nor the identity
21:25of her abductor.
21:29Her boyfriend
21:30was not able to identify him
21:31because his identity
21:32was obscured
21:33but still
21:34at least
21:35her boyfriend
21:36was able to report this
21:37to police
21:38so they knew
21:39that Cindy
21:40had been abducted.
21:42But the lack of details
21:44on the assailant
21:46meant the police
21:47were struggling
21:47to find the teenage
21:49couple's attacker.
21:51Predators
21:52are really difficult
21:53to identify
21:54and to capture
21:56and there's
21:57quite a few reasons
21:59for that.
21:59The biggest one
22:00obviously being
22:01that they rarely
22:03have any relationship
22:05to the person
22:07that they've assaulted.
22:08Nothing that links
22:10them in any way.
22:12Police have to start
22:14from a position
22:15of there's 30,000 people
22:17that live in this area
22:18it could be any one of them.
22:19They have to go on
22:20other motivations
22:23forms of evidence
22:25identifying suspects.
22:26As a result
22:29police had to consider
22:30one potential suspect.
22:33Because of the
22:34odd circumstances
22:36the boyfriend
22:38he was thought
22:39to be a suspect
22:40for the longest time.
22:44Was he trying
22:45to cover up
22:46the fact
22:47that she'd run away?
22:48Was he trying
22:48to cover up
22:49even worse
22:50that he'd killed her
22:51and hidden her body?
22:52Police could find
22:54absolutely no evidence
22:56to suggest
22:57Cynthia's boyfriend
22:58was involved
22:59in her disappearance
23:00and he was
23:01officially ruled out
23:03as a suspect
23:03six days later.
23:05The 16 year old boyfriend
23:07was traumatized
23:09by this experience.
23:10How could he not have been?
23:11He's watched the girl
23:12he was fallen in love with
23:14being escorted away
23:16by a masked man.
23:17He's left tied to a tree
23:18and then he's suspected
23:19of Cynthia's abduction.
23:20It is something
23:22that would be
23:22very, very difficult
23:23to recover from.
23:26With their only suspect
23:28eliminated
23:29from the inquiry
23:30police were no closer
23:32to finding
23:32Cynthia's true kidnapper.
23:38Four missing girls
23:40that turn up
23:41in the span
23:41of a few months
23:42from September 1991
23:43to January 1992
23:45and you have
23:46three different
23:47police departments
23:48that are investigating
23:50their disappearance.
23:53There were cross-jurisdictional
23:55boundaries
23:56where the communication
23:58wasn't always there.
24:00This was at a time
24:01before there were
24:02yellow alerts
24:03which in the United States
24:06and in Michigan
24:07when there are
24:08missing juveniles
24:10there are alerts
24:12sent out over cell phones
24:13telling people
24:14watch for these people.
24:16They're missing.
24:17they may be
24:18endangered
24:19but there was
24:20no indication
24:21at that time
24:22that they were
24:22connected.
24:25The luck of the police
24:27would soon change.
24:32Over four months later
24:34on May the 24th
24:361992
24:37Oakland County's
24:39deputy sheriff
24:39was taking a traffic
24:41accident report
24:42in Springfield Township
24:44when a panicked man
24:45approached
24:46and told him
24:47about an attack
24:48that was happening
24:49in a nearby cemetery.
24:51He's there to visit
24:52his dad's grave.
24:54He pulls up
24:55in his car
24:56and there's another vehicle
24:57sitting there
24:57in the way
24:58blocking his path
24:59and one of the doors
25:01of the car is open
25:02but the car is empty.
25:04He looks off
25:05in the distance
25:06and he sees this man
25:08that appears to be
25:09assaulting this woman.
25:11And meanwhile
25:13this man looks over
25:15and sees this guy
25:16notice him
25:17and that's when
25:18he says
25:19leave us alone
25:21we're just
25:21having sex.
25:24This witness
25:25was knowing
25:26that was not the case
25:27they were both
25:27fully clothed
25:28for one thing
25:29and this did not
25:30appear to be
25:30a sexual situation
25:32this seemed to be
25:32a violent assault.
25:35The woman
25:36is clearly
25:36being attacked
25:37and the passerby
25:40goes and finds
25:41a traffic policeman
25:42who's not far away.
25:44The policeman
25:45comes back.
25:47He was speeding
25:48out of the cemetery
25:49as the cop
25:50was coming in
25:51and the cop realized
25:51okay that's the guy
25:52and chased him
25:54and this started
25:55a little bit
25:56of a harrowing
25:57car chase
25:58that was also
25:59a foot chase
26:01because at one point
26:02this man
26:03wrecked his car
26:04and got out on foot
26:05and tried to get away.
26:06After an intense chase
26:09police were able
26:10to capture
26:11their assailant
26:12and they were
26:13shocked to learn
26:14that this wasn't
26:15their suspect's
26:16first time
26:17in handcuffs.
26:18He revealed himself
26:19as 38 year old
26:21seasoned criminal
26:22Leslie Allen Williams.
26:25Williams is
26:26slightly shamefaced
26:27but nevertheless
26:28is arrested
26:30on suspicion
26:31of the attack
26:32on the woman
26:33in the cemetery
26:34but then announces
26:35to the officer
26:36that actually
26:38the woman
26:38he was attacking
26:39is in the boot
26:41of his car
26:41and she won't
26:42be able to breathe
26:43for very long
26:43as she's in there.
26:46She was near death
26:49I believe
26:49because she was
26:51being asphyxiated
26:52by some sort
26:53of device
26:54around her neck.
26:56Williams had placed
26:57her in the trunk
26:58reportedly with
26:59one of his
27:00plastic ties
27:01that he liked
27:02to use
27:02around her neck
27:03and so
27:04the police officer
27:05was able
27:06to get
27:07into the trunk
27:08and get to her
27:09right before
27:10anything terrible
27:12happened
27:12and rescue her.
27:17The police officer
27:19reached the woman
27:20just in time
27:21and she was
27:22quickly transported
27:23to hospital
27:23where she made
27:24a full recovery.
27:27With the victim safe
27:29the focus shifted
27:30to questioning
27:31her attacker.
27:34Williams was arrested
27:35taken into
27:36police custody
27:37and as they
27:39were talking
27:39to him
27:40he really wasn't
27:41giving much up.
27:44Because of
27:45looking at his
27:46criminal history
27:47and past
27:49that further
27:52investigation
27:52was done
27:53there was
27:54a search warrant
27:55that was executed
27:57at his home
27:58They found
28:00plastic zip ties
28:01they found
28:02the shovel
28:03in his car too
28:04so they knew
28:05there was
28:05something more
28:06to this guy
28:06than just
28:07trying to attack
28:09somebody in a cemetery
28:10and when they
28:12searched his house
28:14they found
28:15a ring.
28:17That ring
28:18belonged to
28:18none other
28:19than the missing
28:2018 year old
28:21Cami Villanueva
28:22suspecting
28:25Williams may be
28:26involved in
28:27Cami's
28:27disappearance
28:28they made
28:29contact with
28:30his ex-girlfriend
28:31to find out
28:32more about
28:33the man
28:34they had
28:34in custody
28:35and what
28:37she had to
28:37say
28:38filled them
28:39with dread.
28:41She told
28:42police how
28:42she had
28:44during their
28:44relationship
28:45given
28:45Williams
28:46a kitten
28:47to take care
28:48of
28:48and Williams
28:49told her
28:49later that
28:50he killed
28:50the kitten
28:50for whatever
28:52reason
28:52who knows
28:53but he also
28:54buried the kitten
28:55and so police
28:56were very
28:56interested.
28:58Williams'
28:59ex-girlfriend
29:00gave police
29:01the location
29:02of the burial
29:03site
29:03and on a hunch
29:04that Williams
29:05might have
29:06revisited a place
29:07he already knew
29:08they headed
29:09straight for it.
29:11They started
29:12digging and
29:12they realized
29:13that they were
29:14about to discover
29:15Cami Villanueva.
29:17Once presented
29:22with the
29:22overwhelming
29:23evidence
29:24Williams had
29:25no choice
29:26but to confess
29:27to Cami's
29:28murder
29:28and what
29:30he revealed
29:31next
29:31added a
29:32disturbing
29:33twist.
29:35When he was
29:36on parole
29:36from prison
29:37in 1990
29:38he worked
29:39in a gas
29:40station
29:40and another
29:42girl who
29:43worked in
29:43a gas
29:44station
29:44had a
29:45sister
29:46called
29:46Cami Villanueva.
29:50Williams would
29:51actually see
29:52Cami coming
29:53to the gas
29:54station
29:54where he
29:55worked.
29:55He was aware
29:56of where
29:56they lived
29:57and what
29:58their habits
29:58were.
30:00Absolutely
30:00Williams'
30:01cup of tea
30:02and so
30:03when he gets
30:04out of jail
30:04one of the
30:06first people
30:07he targets
30:08is
30:08Cami Villanueva.
30:12Cami was
30:13home alone.
30:15She was in
30:15her bedroom
30:16she was
30:17sitting there
30:17playing solitaire
30:18with a deck
30:19of cards.
30:20Williams told
30:22investigators that
30:23after donning
30:24a ski mask
30:25in a bid
30:25to disguise
30:26himself
30:27he approached
30:28the home
30:28of Cami Villanueva
30:30armed with
30:31a pocket
30:31knife.
30:32He realized
30:34that her door
30:34was unlocked.
30:36He came
30:37inside
30:38he abducted
30:40her
30:40he forced
30:43her into
30:43his car
30:44he took
30:45her to
30:45another
30:45location.
30:48Williams takes
30:48her to a
30:49cemetery
30:49not very far
30:50away
30:51where he
30:52proceeds to
30:53rape her
30:55and to
30:56kill her.
30:57His method
30:57was strangulation
30:58which is very
30:59common among
31:00killers because
31:00it's up close
31:01and personal.
31:03You get an
31:03opportunity to
31:04interact with
31:05your victim
31:06and control
31:07their life.
31:07That's the
31:08ultimate
31:08exercise of
31:09power and
31:11I think that
31:11that's what
31:12he did.
31:14He actually
31:15dug a shallow
31:15grave in a
31:17field and
31:19buried her
31:20only to
31:22revisit her
31:23months later.
31:25There were
31:26reports that
31:28Williams had
31:29dug up and
31:30had sex with
31:31the body.
31:32So there's
31:32some kind of
31:33necrophilia
31:33going on here.
31:35That is not
31:37unheard of
31:38with killers.
31:39They will
31:40if they can
31:41revisit a
31:43body again
31:44to get that
31:46emotional
31:47moment,
31:49relive it,
31:50maybe re-assault
31:52the victim.
31:55How could
31:55somebody come
31:56back and the
31:57smell is
31:57terrible and
31:58the condition
31:59of the body
32:00is bad?
32:00How could
32:00they do
32:01that?
32:02But we're
32:02talking about
32:03people who
32:03are wired
32:04differently
32:04that going
32:06back allows
32:06him to
32:07relive that
32:07whole event
32:08over and
32:09over again?
32:11Leslie Allen
32:12Williams had
32:13confessed to
32:14the murder
32:15of Cammy
32:16Villanueva,
32:17and he
32:17hadn't
32:18finished yet.
32:19As he
32:20continued to
32:21talk, the
32:2238-year-old
32:23would reveal
32:24even more
32:25disturbing
32:25information that
32:27would leave
32:27detectives
32:28horrified.
32:30on the
32:40evening of
32:41May the
32:4227th,
32:431992,
32:44in the
32:45Oakland County
32:46Sheriff's Office,
32:4738-year-old
32:48Leslie Allen
32:49Williams had
32:50confessed to
32:51raping and
32:52killing 18-year-old
32:53Cammy Villanueva
32:54eight months
32:55earlier.
32:56What began as
32:59a single
32:59admission soon
33:01snowballed into
33:02a cascade of
33:03confessions.
33:05When Williams
33:06was interviewed
33:07by the
33:08sheriff's
33:08deputies and
33:10began telling
33:11about Cammy,
33:12he also admitted
33:13to the
33:14kidnapping and
33:15murder of the
33:16Urban sisters.
33:17The two
33:20teenage sisters,
33:2116-year-old
33:22Michelle and
33:2314-year-old
33:24Melissa Urban,
33:25had gone
33:26missing on
33:27September the
33:2729th, 1991,
33:30after going
33:30out for a
33:31walk.
33:32It had been
33:33a cold case
33:34for eight
33:35months,
33:35until now.
33:38At that
33:39point, the
33:39state police
33:40in Brighton
33:41was contacted.
33:42Our detective
33:43bureau was
33:44activated.
33:45We were
33:45able to
33:45take Williams
33:47into our
33:48custody and
33:50interview him.
33:52Williams admitted
33:53he'd been
33:54watching the
33:55Urban sisters
33:55for several
33:56days.
33:58The reason
33:59he was up
33:59in that
34:00area,
34:01stalking
34:02people,
34:02was because
34:03he was
34:03court-ordered
34:04to see a
34:06psychotherapist
34:07who was
34:10just miles
34:11away from
34:12where the
34:12Urban sisters
34:13lived.
34:13They went
34:17out for a
34:18walk near
34:18their home
34:19in that
34:19remote area,
34:20and Williams
34:21realized this.
34:22He saw
34:23them, and
34:24he hid in
34:25some bushes,
34:26and he
34:26waited for
34:27them to
34:27come up
34:28on him,
34:29and he
34:29jumped out.
34:31And with a
34:32small pocket
34:33knife, he
34:35threatened the
34:35girls, grabbing
34:37one of them.
34:39The other
34:39girl submitted
34:40to his
34:41demands, fearing
34:42for her
34:43sister.
34:45And what's
34:46more, had gone
34:47to the lengths
34:47of taking
34:48photographs of
34:49them, which
34:50he'd kept as
34:50souvenirs, which
34:51again, the
34:52police found in
34:53their search of
34:53his house.
34:55Taking a
34:56trophy really
34:58is about a
34:58conquest.
34:59You hear the
35:00term souvenir and
35:00trophy.
35:01A souvenir just
35:02means that we
35:02were at some
35:03place.
35:04A trophy means
35:05that we won,
35:06we conquered
35:07something.
35:08And so taking
35:08those things
35:09allows him to
35:10relive those
35:11events over
35:12and over
35:12again.
35:14He first
35:15tried to
35:16completely
35:17incapacitate
35:18them with
35:18starter fluid,
35:20much like an
35:21ether, to put
35:22them to sleep
35:22and suffocated
35:24them.
35:29After killing
35:30the two girls,
35:31Williams told
35:32detectives that
35:33he drove four
35:34miles to the
35:35outskirts of
35:36Fenton, Michigan,
35:37where he callously
35:38buried the teenage
35:39sisters, once
35:41again digging a
35:42shallow grave in
35:43a nearby cemetery.
35:46He covered the
35:47Urban Sisters with
35:48blankets, and that
35:51quite possibly was to
35:52protect the bodies
35:53from the earth and
35:56everything around
35:57them to perhaps keep
35:58them in a better
36:00state for a longer
36:01time.
36:01He didn't bury them
36:06deep enough that he
36:08couldn't get access
36:09to them.
36:11Williams also
36:12revealed his cruel
36:14final words to the
36:16terrified young
36:17sisters.
36:18He told them that he
36:20would let them go.
36:22He told them that if
36:23they just did what he
36:25said, they'd be okay.
36:27He'd release them.
36:28And I think that
36:29makes it way worse.
36:32In police custody,
36:34Williams had confessed
36:35to three murders,
36:36but he didn't stop
36:38there.
36:39Detectives were about
36:40to discover one
36:41final victim,
36:4315-year-old schoolgirl
36:44Cynthia Jones,
36:46who was abducted
36:47whilst on a date
36:49with her boyfriend
36:49in Central Park
36:51in Milford.
36:52He took Cindy
36:54in his car
36:56and like with
36:57the other victims,
36:58he raped her.
37:00He did change
37:02his MO a little
37:02bit though.
37:04He had strangled
37:05Cammie Villanueva.
37:07He had suffocated
37:09the two girls,
37:10but then with
37:11Cynthia Jones,
37:12he actually stabbed
37:13her in the chest
37:14with his knife
37:16and buried her
37:17in a shallow grave.
37:19Now, there could
37:21be many reasons
37:23for that.
37:23It could be
37:24that she got
37:26out of his control.
37:28It could be
37:29that he needed
37:30to do it
37:31very quickly
37:32and efficiently
37:33and to strangle
37:35someone takes
37:35longer,
37:37potentially,
37:38than stabbing
37:39someone.
37:40After confessing
37:42to the murders
37:43of the four teenagers,
37:45Williams made
37:46one final deal
37:47with police.
37:49When they were
37:50able to obtain
37:51confessions
37:52from Williams,
37:53he agreed
37:54to take them
37:55to where the
37:56other girls,
37:57the three other
37:57girls were buried.
37:58So that was up
37:59to the cemetery
38:00in Fenton
38:00where the urban
38:01girls were buried
38:02and then that was
38:03to the other part
38:04of Buno Road
38:05where Cindy Jones
38:07was buried.
38:09I think Williams
38:10confessing
38:11was for his own
38:12benefit and absolutely
38:14nobody else's
38:15benefit whatsoever.
38:16If he says,
38:17look, I can help
38:18you find more
38:19bodies and see
38:20what a great
38:21guy I am
38:21and see how
38:23sincere I am
38:24because this
38:25might help
38:26with him
38:27making arguments
38:28that he wants
38:29to change
38:30or that he
38:31feels remorse
38:32or guilt
38:33or shame.
38:34With an
38:35overwhelming
38:36amount of
38:37evidence in
38:38front of him,
38:39including photographs
38:40of the Urban
38:41sisters,
38:42Cammy Villanova's
38:43ring and the
38:44bodies,
38:45Williams decided
38:46to plead guilty
38:47to all four
38:48murders at the
38:49Oakland County
38:50Court on June
38:51the 3rd,
38:521992.
38:55He said
38:56something to the
38:56effect that he
38:57just wanted to
38:58save the taxpayers
38:59the expense and
39:01save everybody
39:01the grief,
39:02save the victim
39:03family members
39:03the grief of
39:04going through a
39:05trial.
39:06So it was
39:06pretty quick that
39:08he was sentenced.
39:08He was arrested
39:09in May 1992
39:10and he was
39:11sentenced to
39:12everything in
39:13July 1992
39:14without a
39:15trial.
39:17In Michigan,
39:19the punishment
39:20for first-degree
39:21murder,
39:22capital murder,
39:23is mandatory
39:24life in prison
39:25without parole.
39:28Kidnapping in
39:29Michigan also
39:29carries a life
39:31sentence.
39:32On July 7th,
39:351992,
39:37Williams was
39:38sentenced to
39:38life without
39:39parole for the
39:40murder of
39:41Cynthia Jones.
39:42Later that day,
39:43he was given
39:44four consecutive
39:45life terms for
39:46kidnapping,
39:47attempted murder,
39:48and the attempted
39:49rape of the
39:50woman at the
39:51Springfield Township
39:52Cemetery.
39:54Williams was also
39:56sentenced to life
39:57for Cammie's
39:57murder on
39:58September 24th
40:00and for the
40:00Urban sisters'
40:01murder on
40:02October 5th.
40:05Cindy's mother
40:07was horrified by
40:09the fact that her
40:10daughter had been
40:11killed by a man
40:13who'd been let out
40:14of prison when he
40:15shouldn't have been.
40:17Unfortunately, it's a
40:18plea we hear so
40:19often from the
40:20victims of crime,
40:22particularly violent
40:23murder.
40:25I think Leslie
40:25Allen Williams
40:26represents a
40:27failure of the
40:28entire criminal
40:28justice system,
40:29particularly the
40:30parole system.
40:31Leslie Allen Williams
40:32never should have
40:33been on the street,
40:34and there's four
40:35young ladies that
40:36are dead because
40:37of that.
40:38When he was
40:39serving a 30-year
40:40sentence back in
40:421983 for kidnap
40:43and sexual assault,
40:45Williams' prison
40:46psychiatrist wrote
40:48in her report that
40:49she felt he was
40:50making good progress
40:52and was eligible
40:53for rehabilitation.
40:57The year that
40:58Williams was released
40:59from prison on parole,
41:01there were, I believe,
41:0311,000 people in
41:06Michigan that went
41:07before the parole board.
41:09The parole board
41:10released almost 9,000 of
41:13those people on parole.
41:16Subsequent to Williams'
41:18convictions and sentencing,
41:20the parents of Michelle
41:23and Melissa Urban
41:24were instrumental
41:26in making changes
41:30to the way the parole board
41:32in Michigan reviews people
41:34and releases people.
41:36There was legislation
41:39enacted later in 1992,
41:42as I understand,
41:43to reform Michigan's
41:45parole system.
41:45So I guess you could say
41:47that that's something
41:47that hopefully is good
41:49that has come out
41:50of the case.
41:52And it wasn't just
41:53the families that were
41:54impacted by these
41:56tragic killings.
41:58I'll tell you, you know,
42:00people who work
42:00on a serial killer case
42:02never want to do that again.
42:04It is so physically
42:06and emotionally draining
42:08that, you know,
42:09it affects their family life
42:10because they're spending
42:11more time on the case.
42:13You know, there's a lot
42:14of pressure from the media,
42:15from the public,
42:16from, you know,
42:17your boss to solve
42:18these cases.
42:19And while you do feel good
42:21that we caught the guy,
42:22it's something that they
42:24really don't want to have
42:24to go through again.
42:28My department,
42:29the Michigan State Police,
42:31have counselors
42:32and psychologists on staff
42:34because they know
42:35of the toll
42:36that investigations
42:38can have.
42:41I personally feel
42:42there is no such thing
42:43as justice
42:44in a case like this.
42:46The girls will never
42:47be brought back.
42:49The only thing we have
42:51is the knowledge
42:53that Williams will never
42:54be able to do this again
42:55and so that the other
42:58young women out there
42:59will be safe.
43:01The decision to release
43:08Leslie Allen Williams
43:10early proved to be
43:11catastrophic.
43:13He was a dangerous
43:14seasoned criminal
43:15whose frequent appearances
43:17in and out of prison
43:19didn't deter him
43:20from taking the lives
43:21of Camille Villanueva,
43:23sisters Michelle
43:24and Melissa Urban
43:25and 15-year-old Cynthia Jones
43:28in the space
43:29of just nine months.
43:31This undoubtedly makes
43:32Leslie Allen Williams
43:34one of the world's
43:36most evil killers.
43:37The end of the world's
44:07You
Be the first to comment