Questions about the Atlanta Child Murders in the late 70's/early 80's (crime, credit)

[phillipmaloney]

Given the information I was privy to at the time, the background and profiles of the victims, and the location and condition of the victims, the Task Force believed Williams was responsible for a minimum of 20 deaths and possibly more but certainly not all of them. Due to the mindset of "we need to put this behind us" some people did indeed get away with murder. But William's killing spree did stop what seemed for a time an almost weekly report of another victim found.

[Harrier]

There was some nutcase who wrote a letter saying black women were going to die unless a black killer of white women was caught. This was 1978 in Columbus, GA and the guy was some pimp who was trying to cover up his murders of prostitutes. The killer of the white women was caught and was named Carlton Gary. I never heard of the same situation in the Atlanta case.

I think the case against Williams is rather spotty. He may be innocent. Perhaps a better investigation will uncover the truth.

[oldschoolChevy]

The Atlanta Child Murders is one of the biggest coverups in Atlanta's history. First there were more children found murdered in those years that the police never officially connected to the case. Atlanta was pretty bad back then so who is not to say that those other kids didn't get killed behind some unrelated street BS, but I think APD dropped the ball on a lot of things on purpose. APD basically played the country dumb role to the national media like the killer was some mastermind who was out smarting them at every turn. But truth is the murder rate in Atlanta in those days was almost three times what it is today. The Homicide unit was pretty seasoned and used to catching cases. The reason they played that role was to cover up what was going on. Yeah I'm sure Wayne Williams did some of them, actually I think his Dad helped him on some as well. But all of them? Naw, I doubt it. Wayne Williams was a tiny dude, there is now way he could have overpowered some of those guys. And a lot of these guys weren't kids, but basically teenaged street kids. Like these kids were selling drugs, robbing, tricking, you name it they were doing it. And we are talking about a man as small in stature as Wayne Williams going around to some of the worst parts of the city and abducting and killing them. I'm Sorry but I just can't buy that. That's like some 5'7, 160 pound nutcase driving down JP Brawley now and trying to abduct some 12 y/o kid on the corner. It's not going to happen. Like I said Wayne Williams and his dad did some, but there is no way he did most of them. He got the biggest railroad job ever.

[arjay57]

It was a little confusing because a number of the victims were grown men. The two victims Williams was convicted of murdering were Nathaniel Cater, age 28, and Jimmy Ray Payne, age 21. Other victims included John Porter (also age 28), Eddie Duncan (21), Michael McIntosh (23) and Larry Rogers (20).

Several victims were under 12 but a number were mid to latter teens.

So there didn't seem to be a clear cut pattern with how the killer was operating.

[dculross]

Atlanta once again never fails to prove itself as the lowliest city ever! Children are victimized everyday there. Atlanta is the child exploitation capital of the world. See this thread for more info https://www.city-data.com/forum/paren...ights-off.html

[suprascooby22]

Originally Posted by dculross

Atlanta once again never fails to prove itself as the lowliest city ever! Children are victimized everyday there. Atlanta is the child exploitation capital of the world. See this thread for more info https://www.city-data.com/forum/paren...ights-off.html

Hater hater just go away.

[dculross]

Originally Posted by suprascooby22

Hater hater just go away.

I'm not a hater. I love children. I feel we need to protect them from a place like Atlanta. if we could just bulldoze the entire state of Georgia, and ship the pedo's to mars, we'd be doing the children of the world a great serve.

[Overcooked_Oatmeal]

^^Georgia is no panacea for pedophiles or child-killers. Besides, I'm referring to an event that occurred 30 years ago, not now.

If anything, it's FLORIDA to the south that seems to be pedophile and sex offender central. All those theme parks, beaches, and families on vacation make it a veritable smorgasbord for kid-touchers. Child trafficking seems to happen there a lot too.

[Newsboy]

^^^^ You're screen name may be OVERCOOKED OATMEAL but there's nothing OVERCOOKED about your posts on C-D! I'm impressed with all of your posts, but especially with your ability to respond calmly, fairly, accurately and succinctly to an undeserving moron troll like the one above! BRAVO! And stick around! We need more of you on C-D!

[oldschoolChevy]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It was a little confusing because a number of the victims were grown men. The two victims Williams was convicted of murdering were Nathaniel Cater, age 28, and Jimmy Ray Payne, age 21. Other victims included John Porter (also age 28), Eddie Duncan (21), Michael McIntosh (23) and Larry Rogers (20).

Several victims were under 12 but a number were mid to latter teens.

So there didn't seem to be a clear cut pattern with how the killer was operating.

Even the ones under 12 still would have been a tough go for Wayne Williams to kill. Wayne Williams is tiny, even a 12-14 y/o kid would have given him all he could handle. And we're not talking about sheltered kids who hadn't been exposed to crime in the streets, these were street kids who had I'm sure seen their share of all types of things in the streets in late 1970's-early 80's Atlanta. But the guys who were in their late teens to early adulthood I'm sure would have been near impossible for Williams to kill by himself. Either way I've always been fascinated by the Atlanta Child Murders, not just the story itself, but the way Atlanta was back then. It just seems like it was a totally different city back then. I would love to be the age I am now in early 80's Atlanta before the Olympics came and changed this city forever. Don't want to glorify crime, but I love the dark side of Atlanta's history-from Sherman burning the city down, to the Atlanta Race Riot in 1906, and fast forward to the Atlanta Child Murders, the old school gangsters and numbers runners on Auburn Ave. and then the Miami Boys War of the early 90's and even to BMF in more recent memory.