The Atlanta Child Murders

Patterns

Atlanta's Public Safety Commissioner Lee Brown had always maintained throughout the investigation that there was no pattern in the murders. Ironically, it was during Brown's testimony that Jack Mallard introduced the "pattern" that would allow evidence in ten other cases to be introduced in addition to evidence in the Cater and Payne deaths. The "pattern" became the key enabler for evidence to be used by the state against Williams, especially when linking similar fibers. Furthermore, the Cater and Payne cases standing alone were extremely weak and the introduction of evidence from each of the ten "pattern" cases strengthened their case by providing, among many things, eyewitnesses and most importantly, fiber connections amongst some of the victims.

The ten "pattern" cases were:

1. Alfred Evans
2. Eric Middlebrooks
3. Charles Stephens
4. William Barrett
5. Terry Pue
6. John Porter
7. Lubie Geter
8. Joseph Bell
9. Patrick Baltazar
10. Larry Rogers

The characteristics that formed the "pattern" amongst the victims were listed by the prosecution as being:

1. Black male
2. Missing clothing
3. No car
4. Poor families
5. No evidence of forced abduction
6. Broken Home
7. No apparent motive for disappearance
8. Defendant claims no contact
9. Asphyxia by strangulation
10. No valuables
11. Body found near expressway ramp or major artery
12. Street hustlers
13.  Body disposed of in unusual manner
14. Transported before or after death
15. Similar fibers

There was a great deal of controversy concerning the prosecution's "pattern." Furthermore, if one looked closely into each of the cases, it would be noticeable that several of them did not fit the "pattern" invented by the prosecution. For example, not all of the victims were found near expressway ramps or major arteries, it is unknown whether all the victims were transported before of after they were killed based on lack of evidence and only six of the "pattern" cases showed evidence of strangulation. Therefore, the pattern the prosecution describes is inaccurate. But Judge Cooper, former prosecutor, accepted the "pattern" anyway.

The prosecution focused its efforts on four key areas:

1. the character and credibility of Wayne Williams,
2. what happened on the Jackson Parkway bridge,
3. eyewitnesses to Wayne Williams behavior and alleged interaction with the victims, and
4. the physical evidence, which was primarily based on fibers, hairs and bloodstains found on victims that matched elements in Wayne Williams environment.

• Print version
• Email this
• Share

1. Setting the Stage
2. The Looming Crisis
3. Ominous Beginning
4. Two More Boys
5. End to the Lull
6. Jefferey
7. A Murderous Rampage
8. STOP
9. Ransom
10. Witnesses to Murder
11. The List
12. Making Sense of the Crisis
13. No End In Sight
14. Links
15. A Murderous Change of Pace
16. The Jo-Jo Connection
17. Chaos
18. A Deadly April
19. The Last to Make the List
20. Dettlinger and His Map
21. A Splash From the Bridge
22. Wayne Bertram Williams
23. Up to No Good
24. Building the Case
25. Pulling it Together
26. Gearing Up
27. The Trial
28. Patterns
29. Damaging Testimony
30. Mounting Evidence
31. On the Stand
32. Going Down!
33. Fiber Analysis
34. Under a Microscope
35. Challenging Evidence
36. Probability
37. Reasonable Doubts
38. Unfair Trial?
39. Race War?
40. More Than One
41. A New Investigation in 2005
42. New Chapter 2006 — Ku Klux Klan Connection
43. New Chapter 2006 — The Child Molester Theory
44. Bibliography