Will the story of the Atlanta Child Killer get a shocking new ending? Well, we're about to be handed an epilogue in the form of DNA testing.
This week, an Atlanta judge ordered that tests be conducted on human hair and other forensic evidence that was used to convict Wayne B. Williams. 
Williams was convicted of two murders and suspected of many more. The strongest proof against him came in the form of fibers matched to his home, bedspread, and his dog. Twenty murder victims were tied to Williams based on this fiber evidence.
The 1979-1981 murders made headlines across the world. The coverage was so intense because of the sheer number of victims, the panic they caused, and because "the original assumption was that the Atlanta child killer was a white redneck or a Klan-like group" (John Douglas, Anatomy of Motive).
Even after Williams was convicted, many people believed -- even to this day -- that the Ku Klux Klan was involved in the murders.
From the Brockton (Mass.) Enterprise, March 1982:
Soviet propagandists have been making hay out of the trial and conviction of Wayne B. Williams in the Atlanta child murder case.
According to Tass, the official Soviet news agency, poor Williams has been made a scapegoat by white racists, who are not only persecuting an innocent man but are also allowing the real mass murderer -- a white racist -- to remain at large while black children cower behind locked doors.
Tass does not, of course, tell its readers that Williams was run to ground and convicted after the most intense and costly criminal investigation in the history of Georgia and after one of the most expensive trials in the state's history.
Was he a black patsy? Or are his supporters misguided? I'd put good money on confirmation of the verdict. But DNA evidence has made a jackass of many a judge and juror, not to mention true crime author, so prudence dictates testing whenever a claim of innocence is made, regardless of the degree of plausibility. Some questions are best settled, so let the chips fall.
For more:
Our Georgia History on Wayne Williams - a timeline of the murders.
The Toxic Silence by Tayari Jones - a mesmerizing first-hand account of the terror that seized Atlanta's children during Williams' murder spree.
I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF PEOPLE TRYING TO PUT THE BLAME OF THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS ON ANY
IF NOT ALL HATE GROUPS. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT
YOU ARE TALKING ABOT TIME PEOPLE SHOULD LISTEN
AND STOP SPEAKING ON THINGS THEY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. I CAN SPEAK ON THE CHILD MURDER CASE.
I DO HAVE THE EVIDENCE THJAT CAN CLOSE THIS CASE.
THE EVIDENCE I HAVE. CAN'T BE DISPUTED. CAN BUT
THE EVIDENCE ALONE WILL PROVE YOU WRONG.IT DON'T
TAKE A SMARTY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPEN WITH THE
ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS. YOU HAVE A MURDERER WHO THOUGHT HE COULD GET AWAY. NOT SO WITH THE PROOF I HAVE. WYANE WILLIAMS IS 1000 PERCENT GUILTY.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE STUPID REMARKS OR COMMENTS YOU HEAR MADE BY PRESS OR PUBLIC. NO ONE
CAN PROVE BEYOND A DOUBT THAT HE IS NOT GUILTY.
BUT I CAN PROVE THAT BEYOND A DOUBT THAT HE IS GUILTY. NOW TRY AND PROVE ME WRONG. GOOD LUCK
TRYING. THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. THE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT THIS CHILD MURDER CASE THE POLICE OR
FOR THIS MATTER. NO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY HAVE
THE INFORMATION I DO. SO YOU SEE PEOPLE WILL
SAY I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. BUT
YOU SEE. THEY CANNOT CHALLENGE ME. OR CAN THEY
TRY AND PROVE ME WRONG. NOW WHAT DO THAT TELL YOU. AM I WRONG OR JUST CLEVER OR HAVE THE PROOF THATS NEEDED TO CLOSE THIS CHILD MURDER CASE.
Posted by: BENJAMIN HARBOR JR. | April 03, 2009 at 08:25 PM
Hello my name is Benjamin Harbor Jr.
Here is some of the evidence I have. All I ask is that you keep an open mind. You will say over some 50 times that this is some coincidence. Yea right. This will tell you why the police had such a hard time with this Murder Case. Some of
the pictures may be upside down. Then just print and turn the page. You now get to see the truth.
You now get to see what happen in the deaths of the 1st 15 Children. Mind you there are 2 parts to this. Where the 1st 15 Children were last seen and where their bodies were found. The evidence will speak for itself. I will be showing the part where the 1st 15 children were last seen. Later I will sow you what it look like for where the 1st 15 Children were found.
http://www.myspace.com/waynewilliamszodiackiller
Posted by: Benjamin Harbor jr | June 04, 2009 at 07:09 AM