Denise Williams, wife convicted in Mike Williams murder, resentenced to 30 years
Denise Williams will have to serve out a full 30-year sentence for her role in conspiring to kill her husband Mike Williams more than two decades ago.
Her fate, in which she could have been released from state prison after serving just 21 months, hung in the balance Thursday as she was resentenced in her conviction for conspiracy to commit murder.
In November, her 2018 conviction of first-degree murder was vacated by the 1st District Court of Appeal, and thus her punishment for other convictions had to be readdressed. A third count of accessory after the fact was dropped three years ago.
Williams’ resentencing came after tearful testimony from Mike Williams’ mother Cheryl Williams, friends and family. And for the first time in public, Williams and her 22-year-old daughter Anslee Williams, who was 18 months old at the time her father was killed, addressed the court.
Williams’ attorneys argued Denise was a minor participant in the conspiracy to kill Mike Williams, which she orchestrated with her lover and husband’s best friend, Brian Winchester, who shot him while he struggled in the frigid waters of Lake Seminole in 2000.
But Leon County Circuit Judge Kevin J. Carroll disagreed.
“I don’t find she was a relatively minor participant in the conspiracy to kill Mike Williams,” Carroll said before making his ruling. “Mrs. Williams could have stopped this on December 16 as she had done before. This case is a tragedy. This case is a waste and it didn’t have to happen.”
'Please don't show her any mercy'
Mike Williams, a 31-year-old real estate appraiser, was reported missing Dec. 16, 2000, during what was supposedly a solo duck hunting trip to Lake Seminole in Jackson County.
He was actually the victim of a grisly and elaborate plot by Winchester, and Denise Williams, who prosecutors said wanted to get out of the marriage and collect $2 million in life insurance money.
During her testimony, Mike Williams’ mother recounted the gruesome details of her son’s killing and the recurring nightmares of his final moments.
“Mike suffered horribly,” Cheryl told Carroll from her wheelchair with her son Nick Williams at her side. “For the rest of my life, when I try to go to sleep, I see my son clinging to a stump in the freezing water. Please don’t show her any mercy. She didn’t show my son any mercy. She took him away from his daughter, family and friends.”
The resentencing means Cheryl can rest a little easier. She fought for years to have the investigation reopened in the face of criticism from law enforcement and those close to Denise Williams.
“Michael has justice,” she told the Democrat in the State Attorney’s Office, surrounded by family, friends and prosecutors following the sentencing. “I’ve been so afraid that she would get out... I believe he can rest in peace now.”
"If you will make Denise serve every minute of her 30 year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder then and only then will I believe justice has been done for my son mike Williams," Cheryl Williams told the court.
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