the state of florida vs. denise williams. cheryl s jaw dropped when she heard the decision. we, the jury, find the defendant is guilty of first degree murder. guilty on all counts. tell me, cheryl, what s going on with you? we got justice for mike, and this was about justice for mike. he loved denise. his wedding ring was on his hand when they found his remains. the murder conviction meant a mandatory life sentence for denise williams. she also received 30 years for conspiring to commit the crime. our interview with cheryl and nick came on a very difficult day. and denise williams remains in prison. this is an important day as you sit here, isn t it? it s an anniversary day. yes. it s the 18th anniversary of mike s disappearance. now that i i now i now know that it s his murder.
he can t be. and they said, it s mike. i said, you know that? and they said, yes. we ve done all the dna. fdle agent will mickler broke the news to denise. i saw her tear up when the death notification was provided to her that mike williams remains had been identified and located. now you d think with the recovery of the body, murder charges would be filed forthwith, but that didn t happen. detectives continued to investigate. they had another suspect in their sights. and what a sensation that turned out to be. five months after mike s body was recovered, a perp walk to remember. denise, did you kill mike? denise williams in handcuffs being marched by cops from her office at florida state university. she was charged with the first degree murder of her first husband, mike. it was her daughter, anslee s 19th birthday. the indictment said that denise had conspired with brian winchester to kill his best friend mike. she pleaded not guilty. but denise was the
robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. when you re through with powering through, it s time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. i m your glitchy wi-fi which means your smart home isn t so smart. sprinkler on. and now i m sending mixed signals. to your garage. but, if you haven t bundled your home and auto, unpacking this isn t going to be too much fun. so get allstate. denise williams was standing trial for first degree murder, conspiring in the death of her first husband mike. and who was she accused of conspiring with? why, her now ex-husband number two, and mike s best friend, brian winchester. he would be the state s star witness against her, required to testify to every grisly detail.
denise. that one person sat here and listened to brian winchester describe how he had shot and killed her husband, the man she supposedly loved and cherished. absolute stone face. didn t bat an eye. didn t shed a tear. with that, the jury had the case. and remember, a point easy to lose sight of, it was denise on trial for murder, not brian. the waiting began. did you feel pretty good about things? i was feeling pretty confident. i mean, i wasn t 100% sure either. like, we didn t have a slam dunk case. there is no evidence. there is no proof. she did nothing wrong. she just has the story told by the ex-husband. exactly. late that night, about eight hours into deliberations, a verdict. cheryl had waited 18 years for this moment.
about it one day. and she did not want to know the details. she told me that she assumed that what we had planned did not happen and god was gonna forgive us. in the end, the defense attorney got brian to tell jurors exactly why they should not believe him. mr. winchester, you re a murderer. isn t it true? yes, sir. mr. winchester, you re a liar. isn t that true? yes, sir. you got him to say yes to both of those things. i have probably in 20 years never had a witness come right out and say boldly and emphatically that they are a liar. in his final remarks to the jury, attorney ethan way argued, if you exclude brian s lying testimony, you are left with nothing forensically, evidentially, tying denise to the murder. this case is only about brian winchester. it is only about him killing mike williams. it is only about him doing the most heinous thing that can be done. in his closing remarks, prosecutor fuchs pointed to