Mike Williams: Hungry Alligators or Cheating Wife? Who Hid Florida Hubby in Watery Grave?

Summary

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: Mike Williams: Hungry Alligators or Cheating Wife? Who Hid Florida Hubby in Watery Grave?

Release Date: September 27, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, Nancy Grace unravels the mysterious disappearance and murder of Mike Williams—a Florida husband and father whose vanishing was initially blamed on alligators, but ultimately revealed as a chilling murder-for-profit led by his wife and best friend. The episode exposes the tangled web of lies, insurance motives, and betrayal at the heart of the case, cutting through the recent sensationalized TV dramatization to reveal the tragic truth and the persistence of a mother’s search for justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Day Mike Williams Disappeared (02:06–04:51)

• Nancy sets the stage: Mike Williams vanishes while duck hunting at Lake Seminole, near Tallahassee.
  • His mother, Cheryl Williams, launches a tireless campaign for justice, refusing to believe the official "accidental drowning" finding.
  • The case gains new attention from a Hulu docuseries, but Nancy vows to reveal the unvarnished facts behind the crime.

2. The Initial Investigation & The Alligator Theory (04:25–16:39)

• Discovery of the Boat: Mike's boat is found, with his decoys and shotgun—but no Mike. (04:25–08:53)
  • Nancy: “What happened? Out duck hunting. Husband Mike Williams goes missing…But oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” (04:51)
• Friends & Family Response:
  • Mike’s wife, Denise, contacts her father to help search with Brian Winchester—Mike’s best friend and later revealed co-conspirator.
  • Initial inconsistencies in friends’ and wife’s stories arise.
  • The group discusses the implausibility and “flimsy” nature of reports that Mike “just disappeared.”
• Transition to Recovery: Grid and cadaver dog searches fail; pieces of Mike’s clothing start appearing on shore but no body. (13:27–15:54)
  • Wild theories abound: Did Mike abandon his family, or was he eaten by an alligator? (14:11)
• Cheryl Williams’s Intuition: She insists “he’s not in that lake”—her tireless advocacy drives the investigation forward.

3. The Forensic Puzzles (17:12–20:56)

• Karen Smith (Forensics Expert): Questions about the condition of the boat and clothing and the credibility of the alligator theory.
  • Explains what physical evidence should be present if an alligator attack had occurred. (17:30)
  • Clothing and boat fail to support the alligator scenario.

4. Background and Tangled Relationships (18:09–20:56)

• Mike and Denise Williams: High school sweethearts, married in 1994, part of a tight social circle including Brian Winchester and his then-wife.
  • Both couples remained close over the years, regularly socializing.

5. Insurance Motives and Legal Maneuvering (24:51–25:53)

• Life Insurance Policies: Denise quickly seeks to claim $1.75 million in life insurance before Mike is legally declared dead.
  • Her attorney pushes for an expedited death certificate by using Mike’s found clothing as proof—accepted by the court after just six months.
  • Nancy: “The wife goes broke…but then Denise, the wife, goes broke.” (24:51)
• Ashley Wilcott (Legal Analyst): Highlights the suspiciously rapid insurance claims while the search is still ongoing.

6. The Cold-Blooded Murder Plan (25:53–31:03)

• The Premeditated Crime:
  • John Laemmle (Crime Online Investigative Reporter): Reveals the plan for Winchester to stage a drowning by pushing Mike into the water, then ultimately shooting him.
  • Winchester later confesses to the plan and subsequent actions.
  • Winchester’s words: “I got him to stand up… I pushed him into the water.” (28:17)
    • When Mike began to survive, Winchester circled him and shot him dead.
  • Nancy breaks down the actions: “The guy can swim. He's an athlete... Winchester loads his gun, drives over to Mike, and shoots him multiple times. That’s what happened.” (29:56–30:41)
• Discussion on Motive: Nancy and Dr. Daniel Bober underline the universal motives in murder—money, sex, love, revenge.

7. The Love Triangle Revealed (36:56–39:24)

• The case unravels into a classic love (and money) triangle: Denise and Brian had been having an affair prior to Mike’s death.
  • They marry just 18 months later.
  • Brian Winchester was responsible for taking out two of Mike’s three life insurance policies.
  • Nancy: “Some friend…They are nothing but Satan and Beelzebub.” (02:06)
• Ashley Wilcott: “Absolutely love triangle. Not only that, but it comes out they were having an affair before…the victim was shot in the face and murdered.” (37:40)

8. The Break in the Case – Betrayal and Confession (39:32–43:13)

• Brian and Denise's Downfall:
  • Their marriage falls apart, further complicated by Brian’s “sex addiction.”
  • Brian kidnaps Denise in 2017, leading to his arrest for kidnapping and aggravated assault.
• Legal Leverage: With the marriage over, police exploit the break in spousal privilege. Brian confesses as part of a plea deal.*
  • Ashley: “He gets none [time] for killing. He got immunity…They took life in prison off the table for the kidnapping charge. He got both.” (42:33–42:50)
  • Denise is ultimately convicted of conspiracy, murder, and other charges.

9. The Mother's Relentless Quest for Justice (16:39–18:09, 32:11–32:32)

• Cheryl Williams's Decade-Long Effort: Her unwavering determination leads to the reopening of the investigation and the eventual prosecution.
  • “She wrote the governor a letter every day for nine years.” (32:11)
  • “Until God tells me in my heart that that child is dead, I cannot give up looking for him.” (32:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the “Alligator Theory”:

  • “So the wife is in hysterics…Brian Winchester is the last one with him out in the middle of Lake Seminole on a boat. And then you get the final decision by the police. Well, an alligator's dismembered him and is storing him for when he gets the munchies in about six months.”
    — Nancy Grace (14:20)

• On the Suspect’s Confession:

  • “I got him to stand up, and… I pushed him into the water.”
    — Brian Winchester (28:17)

  • “I ended up shooting him. I ended up shooting him.”
    — Brian Winchester (29:56)

• On Motive:

  • “When you get right down to it…It always boils down to money, sex, love, revenge, anger. It's always one of those four.”
    — Nancy Grace (31:40)

• On Justice for Mike Williams:

  • “If it had not been for Mike Williams's mother, Cheryl, this would never have been uncovered and Denise Williams and Brian Winchester would be skipping along their merry way, laughing at not only dead Mike Williams, but everybody else, including the justice system.”
    — Nancy Grace (23:25)

• On Denise Williams’s Conviction:

  • “Denise Williams, the jury returned a verdict: guilty on all counts. A TV series glamorizing a cold-hearted killer. MIKE Williams WIFE what really happened is…his best friend who was sleeping with his wife takes Mike on a trip to Lake Seminole... They take the boat to a deep part of the lake. Winchester pushes Mike in the water with hopes he would drown. He didn't drown. He had to kill him.”
    — Nancy Grace (43:13)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:06: Intro to the Williams case, Cheryl Williams’s campaign for justice
• 04:25: Early police investigation, discovery of boat
• 08:53–12:36: Questioning timeline, inconsistencies in stories
• 13:27: Search shifts from rescue to recovery; alligator theory proposed
• 16:39: Cheryl Williams’s conviction her son’s not in the lake
• 18:28: Background on Mike and Denise’s relationship
• 24:51–25:53: Denise's rapid pursuit of life insurance money
• 26:05–29:56: The actual murder plan and Winchester’s confession
• 36:56: Love triangle exposed; Winchester and Denise marry
• 39:32–43:13: Marriage falls apart; kidnapping and, finally, confession and legal consequences

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The Takeaway

This episode exposes how a seemingly tragic accident—a husband vanishing while hunting—masks a cold-blooded murder perpetrated out of greed and lust. Nancy Grace highlights the perseverance of a mother determined to reveal the truth, the failures in the original investigation, and the eventual unraveling of the plot due to human frailty and persistence. More than a true crime recap, this episode reminds listeners that sometimes the real story is not the one told in docuseries or rumor—but the one unearthed by relentless pursuit of justice.

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For further exploration, listeners are invited to revisit the case files and trial records, and to remember Cheryl Williams’s tireless fight as an example of faith and determination in the face of deceit.

Transcript

[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace it took 15 years of his mother begging for justice, literally standing at intersections with a poster stating, my son was murdered. Please help me. She called state reps. She called congressmen. She called senators. She called everybody she could. She contacted local law enforcement. She begged. She pleaded. She showed up. Nobody would listen to her. Her son disappeared. Okay? It took the mother fighting all those years for a real investigation to go down. Then Harsan's body was fished out of a local lake. It was determined to be a, quote, accidental drowning. Really? BS because of Mike Williams mother, Cheryl, a road to justice was paved. Denise Williams, Mike Williams wife and her lover Brian Winchester, AKA Mike Williams best friend, murdered him in the last days. Wait for it. The entire horrific saga unfolds on, of course, a made for TV murder series. Yeah, she gets her own series On Hulu called Mr. And Mrs. Murder. Oh, gosh, talk about glorifying murder. Okay, you know what? This is what really happened. Don't fall for some glamorous actress and actor playing the part of the killers. They are nothing but Satan and Beelzebub. This is what really happened.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Segment 2 Alton Renu and David Arnett were among the first law enforcement officers to get a call about a missing duck hunter. What we thought had happened is that he possibly fell out of the boat or capsized. Early the next morning, there was a break. Mike's boat was found. On board were some decoys and his shotgun, but no sign of Mike himself.

[Nancy Grace]

What happened? Out duck hunting. Husband Mike Williams goes missing near Tallahassee, his body believed to be in the water. But oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. Nancy Grace here, Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Straight out to John Lindley. Crimeonline.com investigative reporter John Lindley. How did this guy, an experienced hunter, fall overboard? I mean, what did his buddy say about how he fell overboard?

[John Laemmle]

It was a complicated story, to say the very least. As Denise Williams begins the tale to police on the morning of December 16, her husband woke up early leaving their house on Centennial Oak Circle well before dawn, boat in tow to go duck hunting at Lake Seminole. This is a large reservoir just west northwest of Tallahassee. The couple actually had plans to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary that night in Apalachicola. At noon, Denise called her dad.

[Nancy Grace]

Stop right there. John laemmle, INVESTIGATIVE reporter, have you ever been to Apalachicola?

[John Laemmle]

I have not, actually.

[Nancy Grace]

It is some of the prettiest beach I've ever seen in my life. Nobody seems to know about it. And in Apalachicola, I'm telling you, you can get the best oysters and shrimp at this little place called Boss Oyster. And I have a very strong suspicion they may have been going there to celebrate. I mean, Ashley Wolcott, this is on the panhandle and it is beautiful. It's, it's really the salt life. Everybody has a boat, whether it's a little skiff or a big beautiful, expensive thing. Everybody has a boat, even if it's tiny. And they are out on the water, they are fishing. They are living the salt life, I'm telling you. Ashley, you know about the panhandle, right?

[Ashley Wilcott]

Yeah, I've been and I agree with you. It's absolutely gorgeous. And it's a whole different attitude because it is the salt life. They are on the boat, they're enjoying life. They're out in the beautiful weather, beautiful beaches, beautiful fish fishing.

[Nancy Grace]

Let me tell you a little story, Ashley. My dad, who, you know, don't tell my husband, but I still say he was my soul mate, is from a little city called. Well, it's not really a city called hey Cody. Yes, it's really a place. Hey Cody. I think that's an Indian name. And it's near. To give you perspective, it is near Mobile. Okay. It's near Sampson, which is near Mobile. That's how you have to find it. So, long story short, it's the panhandle, Alabama, Florida Panhandle. And he grew up crabbing and fishing. And I remember going to these exact spots as a little girl. And my sister and I were supposed to watch the crabs, not get out of the. The net. And of course they would. And we'd run away from the crabs. Okay. But the beaches are so deserted. You could get them right back in. That's where they were. They were along the panhandle, but they were on Lake Seminole. All right. Sorry, John Laemmle. I digress. Go ahead. Back to the story.

[John Laemmle]

Absolutely. Well, it was at noon that same day that Denise calls her dad to let him know that Mike had not come back. That's when her father hopped in his car, drove with Mike's best friend, Brian Winchester, to the areas of the lake where they knew Mike Williams frequently went duck hunting. They were able to find his.

[Nancy Grace]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. The wife goes with the friend to look for him, but wasn't the friend with him when he fell in the water or. No.

[John Laemmle]

Well, this is later in the day that Brian Winchester goes with them with the dad, where they knew that he went duck cutting. And that's when they found the 1994.

[Nancy Grace]

You're so not answering my question. I'm asking you, John Laemmle, did the victim in this case go with his longtime high school friend, Brian Winchester, duck hunting?

[John Laemmle]

Yes, absolutely.

[Nancy Grace]

Why were they duck hunting out on a boat?

[John Laemmle]

Correct.

[Nancy Grace]

So you go out into the water to. To scare the ducks up out of stumps that are swampy area. Is that why they were out on the water shooting guns?

[John Laemmle]

Right. Usually go into an area that is camouflaged by a lot of vegetation.

[Nancy Grace]

How do you know that, John Laemmle? You've never really struck me as a hunter out in a swamp.

[John Laemmle]

I try to research.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, okay, so you don't know firsthand.

[John Laemmle]

No, I do not.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. Bober. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist. I don't really see you as the type out in a. No, not out in a boat. In a swamp with a gun, shooting at ducks. Yes. No. Maybe Dr. Bo. No.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Nancy.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay.

[Ashley Wilcott]

I'm probably not airboating or doc hunting. It's probably not me.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. All right. So I'm down to Karen Smith. Karen Smith. You actually seem the most likely to go duck counting of this bunch. Does that make sense to you, what they're saying?

[Ashley Wilcott]

I have no idea. I've never duck hunted either.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. All right. So it's on me. All right. Actually, I guess, you know, there's a lot of stumps and growth and trees out in the middle of swampy area. So I guess the ducks are hiding there and you scare them up and shoot them. That's my guess. Okay. I didn't see a gun or touch a gun until I was a prosecutor. Contrary to everyone's beliefs about the Southland. So they're out in a boat. Let me get back to you, Laemmle. They're out on a boat. They're shooting ducks. And this is what I don't understand. The high school friend they. I mean, they're grown now, is out fishing with. I mean, shooting with him. Why are you telling me, Lily, that they go back to where they think he was? Doesn't he know where he was?

[John Laemmle]

Well, that's where the stories begin to get really tangled and confusing. Because one story is being told by Denise, another by Brian. He comes back into the city and is now helping the dad look for his. His best friend. And so the timelines very clearly do not match up.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, I don't see a problem so far. I don't even know what you're talking about, John Laemmle. Because you're saying the friend, Brian Winchester, goes out with Mike. They go duck hunting out in Lake Seminole. He falls overboard, the friend comes back, and then the wife gets involved. I don't see the inconsistency with that. Am I missing something? Because that's all I've heard from you so far.

[John Laemmle]

Well, the story at that point was that. That he didn't know fully what happened to his friend Mike. They were looking for what happened to him.

[Nancy Grace]

He's sitting in the boat and then he disappeared. You know what that reminds me of? Ashley Wilcock. That reminds me one of my favorite shows, Bewitched. He knows you just disappear. But that was a TV show. Ashley People don't just disappear.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Yeah, see, you can tell already the story's a little flimsy.

[Nancy Grace]

And he said something stinks.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Who fell overboard and then he was gone. It stinks. That's exactly right.

[Nancy Grace]

Listen to our friend at CBS 48 Hours, Mike Schlesinger talking with Alton Raymieu and David Arnett.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

We've done a grid search, very slow metic grid search back and forth over the search area. And what began as a search and rescue soon turned into a search for a body. Cadaver dogs were brought in while teams scoured the murky bottom of Lake Seminole in a gruesome search for Mike's body. That was high intensity and low tech. That was actually one of the poles. And all you do is put it in the water and see if you feel anything.

[Nancy Grace]

If it's a log, it's kind of a thump, kind of a hard thump.

[John Laemmle]

If it would been her body, you.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Hit it, it's kind of like a pillow. Did you feel something ever on the bottom that felt like a body?

[Ashley Wilcott]

Never.

[Nancy Grace]

Never.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Maybe he just abandoned his family or something like that. That was the strongest scenario of everything that we had.

[Ashley Wilcott]

It was.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Do you believe that? I mean, did you think that was possible?

[Ashley Wilcott]

I thought that was a possibility.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

What did you think?

[Nancy Grace]

We knew Mike had not run off. I mean, he loved his family and he adored his daughter, adored her. So Mike did not run off. This was not some elaborate ruse.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Soon there was another explanation offered for why Mike's body could not be found. That he had been snatched by an alligator.

[Nancy Grace]

What happened to husband and father Mike Williams? He goes out duck hunting and never comes back. Was it an elaborate ruse to get away from responsibility? Was he held by his high school friend, Brian Winchester, longtime best friend from high school, or is he a fatality? Was his body at the bottom of Lake Seminole being stored by an alligator? Dismemb Joining me, Ashley Wilcott, judge, lawyer. You can find her at ashleywilcott.com Karen Smith, renowned forensics expert, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist. And joining me right now, crimeonline.com investigative reporter John Laemmle. So John, the friend, Brian Winchester, I would have hooked him up to a polygraph pronto to figure out if he helped Mike Williams, you know, take a powder, crap out on his wife and family. So the wife is in hysterics. Denise Williams, you can't find Mike Williams anywhere. Not his jacket, not anything belonging to him. Brian Winchester is the last one with him out in the middle of Lake Seminole on a boat. And then you get the final decision by the police. Well, an alligators dismembered him and is storing him for when he gets the munchies in about six months. So that's what we know. So, John Laemmley, what happens next? Did any part of the body ever surface or was there a sighting of Mike Williams?

[John Laemmle]

There was no body parts or no sightings at all. However, within days, parts of his clothing started showing up along the shore in different places. The initial search was handled in a way that they were viewing it as a missing hunter. And the agency handles those cases in a completely different way, focusing on search and rescue or recovery. So in their minds, they're looking for a living person. But when these pieces of clothing began popping up, that's when investigators begin to think they're dealing with something else.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, not everybody bought the alligator story. Take a listen to Tallahassee Democrat reporter Jennifer Portsmouth reporting on Mike's mother.

[Ashley Wilcott]

She never, ever believed that her son was in the lake.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Not from day one.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Not from day one.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

What did she think had happened?

[Ashley Wilcott]

She didn't know. All she knew was that her son was not in that lake. She just knew it, knew it like a mom knows something just deep inside of her. And she was absolutely committed to finding out what happened to him.

[Nancy Grace]

It's never out of my head. Where is this child? He may be dead, but he's not in that lake. And if somebody did hurt my child, I want him found and I want him punished. Karen Smith FORENSICS EXPERT if they have the boat, what, if anything, could that prove?

[Ashley Wilcott]

Well, it could prove a lot of different things, Nancy. Did the boat have water in it? Was it completely dry? You know, these, these small boats, they tip, they're going to have water in it. Also evidence from the clothing. You know, alligators, if that theory pans out, they're not delicate eaters. Were there rips? Were there tears? Was the clothing indicative of a gator attack? Was there any other forensic evidence within that clothing? You know, the boat itself was his wallet there? Was his information there? Was there other indicators? Was his gun still laying there? Was his gun missing? If he was duck hunting, all of these things are going to play into a timeline and it's going to play into what really happened.

[Nancy Grace]

So as one piece of clothing after the next starts floating up to the surface, everyone's looking for Mike Williams. Did he just leave town or did an alligator devour him? How did he get in the water to start with? To John Laemmle, what can you tell me about his background for Instance, how did he meet his wife, Denise?

[John Laemmle]

Well, Denise and Mike were actually high school sweethearts. It's that great old story that we hear so often, and in reality, you know, most of the time it's not true. In this case, it is. They met at North Florida Christian School in Tallahassee, and most details from their early lives to the couple's college days at Florida are interchangeable. Both were active in extracurriculars through high school. Mike was a promising football player, voted best personality. His wife, then known by the maiden name Denise Merrill, was a cheerleader for the North Florida Eagles. Former classmates and and then current friends of Mike say he was very well respected, then at private school, then in business, where he excelled in both. It wasn't unlike Mike to step into the role of a protective older brother and to look over younger friends and family members. Mike and Denise graduated in 1988 alongside classmates Brian Winchester and his future bride, Kathy Aldridge. The two couples remained close as they each married in 1994 and had children.

[Nancy Grace]

So those coach couples became very best friends. They're all. They go way, way back now. As a matter of fact, Williams, the victim. As a matter of fact, Mike Williams and Brian Winchester hang on duck hunting that day, and then somehow he disappears. Everybody heads to the lake together with their boat to start searching. And they search in the dark hours and hours and hours until Winchester and his dad stumble on William's motorized canoe. And it was kind of up touching the lakeshore. They found his ford Bronco about 75 yards away, abandoned. And that's all they found. But eventually, after they searched, they found at the very bottom of Lake Seminole, his hunting license, his jacket, his waders. Investigators convinced Williams was eaten by alligators.

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[Reporter/Interviewer]

Scott Dungy says now that Denise was a single mom. Money was getting tight. I was helping her with some of the items that needed to be sold and to generate some cash until the insurance money came. And there was a lot of insurance money involved. Williams had three policies worth more than $1.75 million.

[Ashley Wilcott]

While the search itself is still going on, while he is still actively missing, they're still actively searching for her. She is going and filing a claim against his life insurance.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

According to Florida law, since there was no proof Williams had died, he would not be declared dead for five years. How much time did it take?

[Ashley Wilcott]

In this case, it took six months.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

That's because Denise's attorney argued to a judge that the waiters, the vest and the hunting license were proof enough that William's dead. The judge agreed and issued a death certificate. Cause of death, accidental drowning while duck hunting on Lake Seminole.

[Nancy Grace]

Straight out to John Laemmley, Investigative reporter with crimeonline.com John Laemmley. The facts to me are very confusing. Let me understand this. Did he go out originally alone on the boat or was he with the high school friend?

[John Laemmle]

They allegedly chose December 9 as the day Winchester would take Mike on a duck hunting trip, knock him overboard and stage his death as a boating mishap. But the morning of the trip arrived and Mike called Winchester to back out. Winchester invited Mike to go on another duck hunting trip, but it seems no one else in Mike's family knew that he was meeting Brian. So it was in the early morning hours of December 16 that the two pals launched their boat out into Lake Seminole. When they reached a landing down from where they parked their vehicles, Winchester got Mike to stand up, and that's when he shoves him overboard. After that, Mike takes off his jacket, takes off his waders, was in an absolute panic, and Winchester says he was driving the boat, didn't know what else to do, and then ends up shooting his best friend. Winchester then allegedly dragged his friend's body to the shore, put him in the back of his Chevrolet Suburban. He then pushed Mike's boat back out into the water and headed back to his house where his wife Kathy was still asleep. Kathy, of course, knows nothing about any of this. And Winchester says he got undressed, got back into bed, and pretended that he.

[Nancy Grace]

Just woke up as usual. It's not all as it seems. I want you to listen to high school friend Brian Winchester. We launched the boat. It was just like a hunting trip was supposed to be. The plan that was discussed and come up with was that he was going to be wearing waders. And belief was, somebody falls in the water with waders, you're going down. So we went out like we were going hunting. We got to the area where his waders and jacket were found. I got him to stand up, and.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

I pushed him into the water.

[Nancy Grace]

You are hearing longtime high school friend Brian Winchester describing breaking down crying. He pushed his friend from high school into the muddy waters of Lake Seminole. Ashley Wolcott. I mean, from the very beginning, his story didn't make sense to me. But to push somebody into the water. But you know what, Ashley? Hold on. I want you to hear this. He got his jacket off. His waiter's off. And he was in a panic. Obviously, I was in a panic. I was driving the boat and I didn't know what to do. And I ended up shooting him. I ended up shooting him. To Ashley Wilcott, judge lawyer@ashley wilcott.com Ashley Wilcott. It's like he didn't do it himself. Well, I ended up, and I've seen that so many times when defendants give statements or they're, you know, stupid enough to take the stand where they just go in. The gun went off. No, you pull the trigger. What happened, Ashley, is he tricks his friend Mike Williams into standing up in the boat, okay? The little skiff. When he stands up, he pushes him in. The guy can swim. He's an athlete. All right. Remember captain of the football team, Hunter Fisher, the works? The guy swims to a swamp, a stump or something in the water. And he's not dead. He's not drowning, even with the waders on. He gets his jacket off. He gets his waders off. So what does Winchester do? He starts circling him in the boat. Can you imagine Mike Williams clinging to a stump in the middle of Lake Seminole and his best friend is circling him in the water and finally gets close enough and shoots him multiple times. That's what happened, Ashley.

[Ashley Wilcott]

That's exactly what happened, Nancy. And it's horrific. And think about this. There's also testimony by Mike that he had to take time to load his gun. So. Not by Mike. I apologize. By Brian Winchester. So Mike's in the water, really literally hanging on to life on a tree, and he has to watch his quote unquote friend load his gun to circle around to then shoot him.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, it's to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist. This is not a stranger on stranger attack. This is his high school friend. They're grown now, they're both married with families. And his high school friend, his best friend for 20 years, shoots him dead. How does that happen?

[Ashley Wilcott]

You know, Nancy, I don't know. I don't know how he could have thought he was going to get away with this. I mean, there's just a. You know, there's like a lot. It's like a trail of breadcrumbs. Given these connections of all these people, it just seems silly to me that they thought the story would be plausible.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, when you, when you get right down to it, though, Dr. Bober, I've been asked so many times about motive. The state, of course, doesn't have to prove motive for murder, but it always boils down our money, sex, love, revenge, anger. It's. It's always one of those four. I mean, it's got to be one of those four. Dr. Bober, agree or disagree?

[Ashley Wilcott]

No, I totally agree. I think that pretty much encompasses all the. All the motivation.

[Nancy Grace]

Take a listen to our friends at 48 hours.

[Ashley Wilcott]

She wrote the governor a letter every day for nine years.

[Nancy Grace]

She was absolutely possessed with finding this.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Out, what had happened to Mike.

[Nancy Grace]

Until God tells me in my heart that that child is dead, I cannot give up. Looking for.

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[Ashley Wilcott]

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[Nancy Grace]

Have both with Mowry. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A brand new docu series is handed over like a silver platter after Denise Williams and her lover, AKA her husband's best friend. Wow. Some friend murder Mike. All raised in deeply Christian households. What went wrong? Wow. Long story short, I guess what you have to do to get TV documentary is to murder your husband or something equally as horrible. Mike disappeared after going on a duck hunting trip. Lake Seminole. That's a little north of Tallahassee. When he didn't return, a search ensued. His boat and car were found, but not his body. Believe it or not, many assumed. I wonder where this rumor started? That he had been eaten by alligators. Right? Blame the alligator. But his mother Cheryl never believed it. Now a series on Hulu. Does it glorify the Killer killers. This is what really happened.

[Ashley Wilcott]

This man was murdered and they blamed it on alligators.

[Nancy Grace]

For 17 years, many a murder has been blamed on an alligator. But that's exactly what did not happen in this case. As a matter of fact, what we learned was happening is that after many, many double dates together, Brian Winchester falls in love with Mike Williams wife, Denise Williams. And on one of their double dates, they start kissing after a discussion about sex. Wow, what a surprise. So now we see it's not an alligator wanting a snack. It's a love triangle. Ashley Wilcott.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Absolutely love triangle. Not only that, but it comes out they were having an affair before they. Before the victim was shot in the face and murdered.

[Nancy Grace]

As a matter of fact, they go on. And they marry. John Laem. How long after Mike Williams is shot dead do the two marry?

[John Laemmle]

It was just a year and a half before they married.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

As the years dragged on, it looked like the mystery of what happened to Mike Williams might never be solved. If Brian and Denise knew anything about Mike's disappearance, they weren't talking. And no one could make them. By Florida law, as long as they stayed married, neither could be forced to testify against the other. But behind the scenes, Denise and Brian's marriage was disintegrating.

[Nancy Grace]

Wow. Can you imagine that? So Mike Williams is gunned down. His widow, Denise Williams gets that life insurance policy over a million dollars and marries the high school best friend, Brian Winchester. You know, are you surprised, Ashley, that over as time passes, the two start hating each other? The high school friend and the widow, who are now married and joined at the hip and bound together by murder.

[Ashley Wilcott]

No, I'm not at all surprised there is such a convoluted web as you already alluded to. Oh, the tangle web we weave. And it was. There were multiple affairs by different partners in these two marriages that led back to this. And Nancy, let me add this to your little food for thought. There were three life insurance policies that amounted to $1.75 million. And guess what? Who wrote put together two of those policies? You got it. Brian Winchester.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, so John Lumley, investigative reporter, crimeonline.com the two wouldn't talk. How was the case cracked?

[John Laemmle]

Well, a story emerges of Brian actually kidnapping Denise. This is such a bizarre twist to the story. Denise and Brian separated in 2012, reportedly due to his sex addiction. She filed for divorce in 2015.

[Nancy Grace]

So he's a killer and he has a sex addiction?

[John Laemmle]

Absolutely.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, go ahead.

[John Laemmle]

Denise tells the Leon County Sheriff's Office that on an August afternoon, the day when the Appraisal of their home had been filed with court. She left her house to drive to her job at Florida State University. While she's on the phone with her sister, she sees someone climb over the back of her car, and it turned out to be Brian. He takes her phone away, begins yelling directions to her. She didn't comply until he shows a gun. She said later that he claimed that this was necessary since she was not taking his calls and was blocking his text messages.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, and the whole time, she knows he's already killed once. Listen to Denise Williams in her own words. He's screaming, and I'm just, like, shaking, and he's telling me to stop crying, that people are going to notice.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Denise reported her killer kidnapping to the Leon County Sheriff's Office.

[Nancy Grace]

I was like, are you planning on.

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Ending both of our lives today?

[Nancy Grace]

Well, mine. I'm planning on mine. And then he would say, I want to kill myself. He must have said a million times, I want to kill myself.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Brian Winchester was soon arrested and charged with the kidnapping and aggravated assault of his wife.

[Nancy Grace]

I was just kind of agreeing with whatever he was saying, and I was like, I know that you love me.

[Reporter/Interviewer]

Police quickly realized that the rift in Denise and Brian's marriage presented an opportunity.

[Nancy Grace]

So after she. Then Karen Smith goes to police saying she's being kidnapped, I guess she had no idea that everything she was saying was breaking the husband wife privilege. But how can you back up her story?

[Ashley Wilcott]

That's a really good question, other than words at this point, because they don't have forensics, they don't have the gun. All they have is what Denise is telling police at this point.

[Nancy Grace]

So, John Laemmley, after she goes in on the kidnap, the alleged kidnap, how did they get the.

[John Laemmle]

Well, the case really, as you mentioned, really cracked open with this break in their bond, the marriage bond, legally. And he began to tell investigators details as well. This is during the investigation of the kidnapping. And in December 2017, Winchester was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the kidnapping. Now, no mention was made of the Williams case at Brian Winchester's sentencing. However, there was some sort of deal that was reached that would reduce his sentence for information in the case, specifically, what happened and where the.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, hold on. Let's go to Ashley Wolcott, judge and lawyer. Didn't he get immunity?

[Ashley Wilcott]

He sure did, Nancy. He did get immunity. And they took life in prison off the table for the kidnapping charge. He got both.

[Nancy Grace]

So how long is. He's the sugar man. So in order to testify against his new wife, Mike WILLIAMS WIDOW how much time is he going to get?

[Ashley Wilcott]

He gets none for killing. He got immunity, so he gets none for killing. Now the only caveat is they said if there's any new evidence discovered outside of your version of what happened, we could prosecute on the new evidence. But he told the whole shebang, the whole story, so I cannot imagine that happening.

[Nancy Grace]

So on 20 years, he'll probably do about 10.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Yes.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. Man, you're not kidding. A kidnapping, a murder. A cold blooded murder. Denise Williams the jury returned a verdict. Guilty on all counts. A TV series glamorizing a cold hearted killer. MIKE Williams WIFE what really happened is that his best friend who was sleeping with his wife takes Mike on a trip to Lake Seminole. They take the boat to a deep part of the lake. Winchester pushes Mike in the water with hopes he would drown. He didn't drown. He had to kill him. The two killers stated they preferred the idea of drowning because it would, quote, make them, quote, feel better about ourselves. If there was a chance he could make it out of it. It will be up to God what happens, not us. It won't be murder. It'll be an accident. Really? You're trying to drag God into this? Mike was an excellent swimmer and he removed his jacket and waders in the water and latched onto a floating tree. Winchester loads his gun, drives over to Mike and shoots him in the head. Yes, that's what happened. Then these two pieces of crap marry after murdering Mike. We wait as justice unfolds.

[Ashley Wilcott]

Goodbye.

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[Nancy Grace]

Is Danielle Fishel from Pod Meats World. Parents, quick question. When is the last time you won snack time? The other day, I handed my son a perfectly portioned Pinterest level snack and he traded it for a Mott's Applesauce Pouch. I'm not mad, just impressed. And that's why Mott's no Sugar Added Applesauce pouches are perfect to keep on hand. They're made with real apples packed in a super easy pouch. Perfect for tossing in a lunchbox, keeping in the car, or grabbing as you're running out the door. Plus, they're a good source of vitamin C and kids love them. Win, win. Make sure your kid wins snack time with Mottz. Real apples make real good applesauce. Learn [e-mail] hello, it is Ryan and.

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[Ashley Wilcott]

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[Nancy Grace]

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