That's the kind of wife you wouldn't wish on an enemy! True Crime Documentary.

[Music] hi guys my name is Jack and today we're going to take a look at another horrible case with you on December 20th 2017 a Press Conference was held during which mark Perez special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced a breakthrough in the appearance of Mike Williams a Tallahassee real estate appraiser who was originally presumed to have drowned while duck hunting on Lake seol on December 16th 2000 and was eaten by alligators being here now I can tell you what happened to Mike Williams Perez said Mike Williams did not drown

in the lake he wasn't eaten by alligators he didn't leave town and leave his wife and 18-month-old daughter behind he was murdered in the interest of the investigation we cannot yet release details but I am happy to to report that this morning investigators notified the Williams family of recent discoveries in the case today's story is not only about love betrayal infidelity and greed but also about a mother's resilience for 17 years and 4 days Cheryl Williams Mike's mom disagreed that her son had drowned in Lake seol and pushed with tenacity for law enforcement to investigate

her son's disappearance she believed with all her heart that those responsible would be punished believed even when no one else did I had two choices he was alive or dead I chose to believe he was alive and I really think that's what helped me Cheryl said on December 20th 2017 a lot of people called me crazy but if I had given up we never would have found him the day before the press conference Brian Winchester a close friend of Mike and his wife Denise who later married Brian was sentenced to 20 years in prison Mike's

mother was right retribution came to those responsible and ironically they were the cause of the truth coming out in 200000 Brian and Denise's Affair which began in 1997 turned into a murder and years later they went from lovers to strangers who didn't trust each other Brian was very afraid that after the divorce Denise would inform the police about what had happened to Mike so he attacked her Denise on the other hand went to Great Lengths to get him a life sentence she was very persuasive in asking the jury for the maximum sentence and it was

these efforts that led to Brian having nothing to lose and he made a deal with the prosecutor Brian was sentenced to 20 years in 2017 for the kidnapping of Denise Williams but he avoided a life sentence Denise was celebrating the Victory and was unaware that the conviction was part of a deal in which Brian Winchester 49 admitted to planning the murder and a 17-year coverup of the murder and received immunity from any prosecution for his role in the case in exchange he led investigators to Mike's body and gave a full and truthful confession it would

only be a few months later and on May 8th 2018 Denise Williams would be arrested at first glance things are a little confusing aren't they let's break down this case in detail Jerry Michael Williams was born on October 16th 1969 in Bradfordville north of Tallahassee the son of a bus driver and a kindergarten teacher family and friends called him Mike even though the family didn't have much money and the boy along with his older brother grew up living in a trailer those were happy times the parents cared about their son's future and instead of building

a house they set aside money for the education of both boys who themselves worked part-time at night in supermarkets the sons enrolled in North Florida Christian High School there Mike excelled he became student council president played soccer and was active in the Key Club at the age of 15 Mike started duck hunting as a hobby and met Denise Merrill the young lad was a soccer player and student council president Denise was a cheerleader in Council secretary and they began dating friends thought they were a great couple while still in high school Mike became best friends

with Brian Winchester whom Denise introduced him to Brian later had a friend Katie Thomas and the two couples remained friends for the rest of Mike's Life After High School Mike attended Florida State University where he majored in political science and urban planning the lovers graduated together Denise became a public accountant Mike became a real estate appraiser Mike proved to be a valuable worker he often worked 15 hours a day and of course his career took off in 1994 the young successful man married Denise it was around this time that Brian married Kathy as well all

four of them continued to stay in close contact Mike loved his wife dearly strived to provide for their family as best he could and had incredible energy at the age of 31 Mike Williams achieved considerable success as a real estate appraiser he was earning nearly $200,000 a year the couple was able to afford a home in a small upscale neighborhood on the east side of town and in 1999 became happy Parents they had a daughter whom the couple named an Mike's friends told me that he was always prudent since the young man was engaged in

quite risky activities he wanted to be sure that in case of disaster his family would definitely be taken care of not surprisingly Mike turned to his best friend who was working as an insurance agent at the time Brian sold him two insurance policies for $250,000 and later for $500,000 in 2000 Mike's father passed away Williams was so stunned by this suddenness that wanting to financially secure his own family he again turned to a friend Brian helped Mike to ensure his life for $1 million thus about 6 months before his disappearance the life of the loving

father of the family was insured for almost $2 million according to Denise on the morning of December 16th 2000 her husband woke up early to go duck hunting on Lake seol a large Reservoir connected to the appalache Cola River it was the day of their sixth wedding anniversary and the couple planned to celebrate the date at night in appalachicola a small town on the Bayou the wife and daughter waited for Mike at home at noon but he never returned naturally Denise became concerned and called her father who in turn called Mike's best friend Brian Winchester

together with his father Brian drove to Lake seol there they found Mike's Ford Bronco car near the boat dock but Mike himself was nowhere to be found the men went around to all the places Mike liked to hunt but couldn't even find the boat so they decided to call the police after investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation agency were called the search for Mike began a few hours later a helicopter pilot found the boat drifting about 225 ft from the boat ramp a search of the boat turned up Mike's shotgun still in its

case apparently he never got to use it the search became a rescue oper op ation locals believed that before the Three Rivers were damned to form the lake the reservoir was the site of an orchard thus the lake got its name stump field due to the many remaining stumps that protruded above and below the water level requiring careful handling of any motorized boat in the area because of this Searchers speculated that Williams hit a stump on his boat fell out and submerged himself in the water his waiting boots filled with water and he probably drowned

when he could couldn't get out several other agencies were called in to help including a dive team from Montgomery Alabama and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office but the extensive and methodical search yielded nothing Mike was never located a week passed and the rescue operation turned into a body search operation teams were given probe poles to probe the bottom of the lake and dogs were brought to the site 10 days into the search volunteers found a camouflage patterned hunting hat that could not be linked to Williams officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation agency speculated

that Mike had been eaten by alligators which is why the body could not be found there were actually quite a few alligators living in the lake the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found no signs indicating a violent death and agreed with that theory after 5 weeks the search was called off the day after the search was called off Denise held a memorial service for Mike less than 2 months after the alleged accident it seemed to everyone that Denise had come to terms with the loss of her husband but Mike's mother had not 6 months later

in June 2001 an angler discovered waiting boots floating in the lake divers searched the lake area and retrieved a lightweight hunting jacket and flashlight from the bottom in one of the jackets Pockets was a hunting license with Williams's name and signature the find raised many questions neither the hunting jacket nor the boots had visible teeth marks indicative of an alligator attack none of the items found showed signs of having been in the water for 6 months the boots were not slimy and the flashlight still worked however a week later Denise's attorney asked the Court to

declare Mike Williams dead based on the items found he suggested that alligators and other Aquatic Life had swallowed the body whole the motion was granted the death certificate said Mike died on December 16th 2000 cause of death accidental drowning while duck hunting on Lake seol the body has yet to be recovered this is how Mike Williams's story might have ended if not for Cheryl Williams who refused to give up and continued to search for her son all I know is that I can't stop looking for him until I find him she said Cheryl's efforts seriously

strained her relationship with her former sister-in-law Denise demanded she stop searching and accept reality she said I'm tired of seeing artic about Mike and his disappearance I just want to move on with my life if you keep pushing this investigation you will never see your granddaughter again Cheryl couldn't give up on her son and Denise carried out her threat if not for the mother's persistence her son's story might have remained submerged at the bottom of a dark algae covered Lake it took Cheryl Williams 3 years to convince law enforcement officials to open an investigation into

her young son's disappearance I made phone calls calls put up signs about my missing son wrote to the governor of Florida every day compiled my notes into an Evidence book asked people to post on social media and contacted reporters Cheryl will tell you years later the persistent mother contacted Matthew oresco an alligator expert in his response he explained that alligators do not feed during the cold winter months cold weather causes water temperatures to drop so alligators don't feed in the winter all they do is maintain their body temperature 14° is too cold for an alligator

to be interested in food at all moreover oresco wrote that after an alligator kill there is always forensic evidence Left Behind eventually after 3 years Cheryl Williams convinced law enforcement to drop the ridiculous alligator Theory and launch an official investigation into her son's disappearance the case was reopened because of little known facts regarding alligators eating habits evidence gathered from interviews and a little little official data convinced investigators that William's death was no accident my gut feeling is that Mike did not die in Lake seol and that's the general consensus of all the law enforcement agencies

working on this case said Ronnie Austin a former investigator with the second district States attorney's office who prosecuted Mike's case the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation agency initially took over the case because Williams was considered a missing Hunter officers spent 735 hours searching a 10 acre section of the lake for the body but didn't spend a minute looking for signs of wrongdoing Jackson County sheriff's deputies brought into to help with the search also did not consider other possibilities investigators interviewed everyone involved in the search and police officer David Arnett who was present at the scene

that day years later said some things immediately look strange Williams didn't usually hunt alone his truck was found in an undeveloped area from which he would have had to to drag the boat over mud not on the nearby concrete boat launch he usually used the terrible storm that night should have pushed the boat to the East Shore but it was found on the West Shore the boat's motor wasn't running but it was full of gasoline if Mike had been driving the boat and fell out of it it would have continued to float in circles until

it ran out of gas unfortunately law enforcement began to doubt too late that they were dealing with a simple drowning the crime scene had already been trampled by numerous volunteers and Searchers a car that could have served as a clue was taken by the family without any verification potential Witnesses were missed Denise Williams and Brian Winchester became suspicious to investigators because they learned that Winchester had divorced his wife Cathy and married Denise they also learned of Denise's unexpected financial gain of nearly 2 million from her late husband's life insurance policy detectives determined that it was

Winchester who sold the policy to Mike they also found it strange that Denise as Mike's wife did not want to have anything to do with the investigation and tried to prevent Cheryl's activity even forbidding the grandmother to communicate with her granddaughter in5 the newly married couple were called in for questioning which gave nothing new to the investigation Brian provided an alibi for the morning of The Disappearance of Mike Williams he said he was 60 mi from the lake and at home in bed as his ex-wife Cathy could attest he said he had intended to go

hunting with his father-in-law in the morning but overslept Denise's interrogation also yielded no new leads in 2008 the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that Mike's disappearance was not an accident and they believe he was the victim of a crime however without sufficient evidence they alas cannot prosecute we have suspicions but we need proof another investigation failed to find out her son's fate but Cheryl Williams did not give up again her efforts led to the Discovery cable channel doing a story on Mike's disappearance and subsequent investigations in late 2011 by then Cheryl had become disillusioned

with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement believing it was either incompetent or uninterested in solving the case beginning in 2012 Mike's mother wrote about one letter A Day to the Governor Rick Scott asking him to either sign the investigation to another agency or appoint a special prosecutor to do so Cheryl sent 2,600 letters to the governor over 9 years in 2012 Denise caught Brian cheating and they broke up the following year Denise filed for divorce after a few more years an appraisal of the former family home was to take place after which even property issues

would no longer bind them this event was a turning point in Mike's case Brian didn't want a divorce Denise didn't want to continue the relationship they were constantly fighting and the Williams investigation was poking fun at them Brian would call Denise and she stopped returning his calls he couldn't handle the stress level on August 5th 2016 the day a real estate appraisal was due as part of a court order Denise left her home to drive to work at Florida State University while talking to her sister on the phone she saw someone climb over the back

seat of her car it turned out to be Winchester Brian pressed a loaded gun against Denise's ribs and told her to drive straight ahead he said he had to do that because she wasn't answering his calls Denise tried to calm Brian down agreed with everything he said and promised to give him a chance to save their marriage Brian believed it Denise assured him that she wouldn't go to the police and report what he had just done and Brian got out of the car as he got out he took the brown sheet plastic sheeting bleach sprayer

and tools with him it became clear that Denise had miraculously escaped death Denise called Emergency Services Brian was quickly arrested and charged with kidnapping which is a first-degree felony in Florida and carries a life sentence as the maximum penalty he was also charged with domestic violence and armed burglary the court decided to keep Brian in custody without bail Cheryl Williams expressed hope that this development will lead to the solving of her son's disappearance case Bri is not going to let Denise run around alone with all that money she told the New York daily news I

pray that he will tell us what really happened and Brian did tell bargaining himself an extremely favorable deal with the prosecutor and avoiding a life sentence at first I think we were all doing really well but I wasn't a good husband Brian began his story one day I found a note in my first wife Cathy's purse and realized she was cheating on me I wanted Revenge we often went went to bars and concerts with Denise and Mike I had been friends with Denise since high school I was never really attracted to her but after Cathy

cheated on me I started looking at other women differently the affair between Brian and Denise began in October 1997 one time drunken sex at a rock concert quickly escalated to frequent secret meetings we started meeting at hotels during the workday we met whenever we had the opportunity Brian recounted he did not want to divorce Denise made it clear that she would never divorce her husband public opinion was important to her and she did not want to share custody of her daughter over time the affair became more than just meeting for casual sex Denise and Brian

thought of themselves as a couple exchanging gifts and love letters it became clear that they couldn't go on like this they could not be without each other and divorce was unacceptable to Denise her Pious image was not to be harmed around this time Mike almost died in a hunting accident Brian saved him and Denise suddenly saw a way out of the situation after the deal with the prosecutor Brian will reveal the year 2000 prompted us to start talking about Mike and Cathy's death Denise wanted it all on me not her and she wanted a scenario

where it wasn't a murder but an accident she wanted death to be left up to God that way she could live with it after considering various options Brian and Denise settled on a boating accident in doing so they timed the murder so that they could get the maximum possible payout on Mike's life insurance policy they both realized that Mike had to be killed before one of the three policies expired at the end of December 2000 the plan was in place Brian called his friend to go hunting he said he'd found a great spot on the

shores of Lake simol Mike expected to go there with Brian and return home by noon to celebrate his anniversary with his wife I told him that we were going to go to a special place and that he absolutely had to bring his waiting boots with him I had to make sure he took them with him because it was believed that if you fell overboard in Waiting boots you would drown very quickly the plan was to make death look like an accidental drowning once Brian and Mike were in the water Brian pushed Mike out of the

boat but instead of sinking he grabbed onto the stumps and began to Wade through them to the shore Brian panicked I didn't know what to do Mike started calling loudly for help I didn't know how to get out of this situation I had a shotgun I was panicking and I shot him in the head I didn't think about what I was doing things didn't go according to plan and I needed to cover up what happened there was hardly any time left I should have been back home by now and getting ready to go hunting with

my father-in-law no one knew I was at the lake with Mike so I decided it would be best for me to drive home and pretend like I had overslept I drove home and hoped that Kathy was still asleep I entered the house as quietly as I could Katie was asleep my phone was on the floor I went to bed called my father-in-law and apologized Brian did everything he could to create an alibi for himself then he hid the body Denise didn't know that Brian had shot Mike in the head and buried him Brian tried to

tell her but she didn't want to listen it was enough for her that her husband was gone Denise wanted to go on living with the idea that it was God who kept him from swimming out and let him drown according to Brian they promised each other that neither of them would ever say anything Denise and Brian Justified what happened by saying that the main reason Mike was killed was because it was impossible for them to live together we said the money was just the cherry on the cake Brian would pronounce in court investigators learned that

it was Brian who planted a hat boots flashlight and license first he needed to keep a Searchers from leaving a lake and afterward W he needed grounds to pronounce Mike dead so Denise could get insurance since a recognition process usually takes about 5 years the lovers managed it in just 7 months including Social Security and other benefits Denise received about $2 million on May 8th 2018 Denise Williams was charged with first-degree murder conspiracy to commit murder and accessory to a felony which carried a life sentence Denise pleaded not guilty to all three charges in February

2019 she was sentenced to life in prison 5 months later Mike and Denise's daughter Ansley received all of her late father's assets and insurance money owed to Denise in January 2020 Denise Williams appealed the conviction and life sentence her attorney argued before Florida's first district court of appeal that there was no evidence that she was involved in committing the murder in November 2020 the murder conviction was overturned but the 30-year sentence for consp iracy to commit murder was upheld Denise is now in custody at the Florida Women's Reception Center she will be 78 years old

when she is released Brian Winchester was transferred to Madison Correctional Institute in Florida to serve the remainder of his sentence his current release date is set for July 30th 2036 he will be 67 years old Ansley daughter of Mike and Denise insists her mother is innocent and places the blame on Brian Winchester she refused to speak to any media regarding the outcome of the case and her personal life according to Cheryl and Nick ansley's uncle they have not been able to connect with Ansley Cheryl is very sorry that she has lost not only her son

but also her granddaughter thanks for watching guys that was Jack with you subscribe to the channel there are many shocking stories ahead