Accused in Two Murders, Williams May Be Linked to Others

Williams, a drifter from Georgia who was living in a homeless at thetime of his arrest, is the city's first serial killer. They're working nowto gather evidence to show Williams killed four of the six black womenfound murdered in downtown Raleigh last year. But, police are not the onlyones trying to connect Williams to more crimes.

Elizabeth Todd, the mother of homicide victim Dawn Grandy, toldWRAL-TV5's Bret Baier that she has nodoubts Williams is responsible for her daughter's death.

Williams is currently charged with the murders of Patricia Ashe andDeborah Elliott, but Raleigh police say he is also the prime suspect intwo other murders still unsolved, those of Grandy and Cynthia Brown.

Todd says her daughter used to live with Williams. Before Dawn's bodywas found in July, Todd says she would see Williams following Grandyaround all the time. In addition, Patricia Ashe was one of Dawn's bestfriends.

Police conducted 6,000 interviews and beefed up downtown patrols before luck led to Williams' arrest.

Police refused to link any of the murders together until just recently.Now, they say they have a serial killer behind bars. Criminologist Dr.Margaret Zahn says it's understandable that police would put off makingsuch an announcement.

Zahn says the portrait of a serial killer is often difficult to figureout.

``We have our man,'' said police Capt. Dennis Ford. ``We have him off the street at this point. People should feel comfortable at this point that we have our perpetrator.''

Ford said the slayings were not tied together until Williams was arrested and women he allegedly assaulted helped officers.

In addition to the newest murder charge, police also have chargedWilliams with two additional rapes, two attempted rapes, three counts ofassault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting seriousinjury, one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill andone count of first-degree sex offense. These charges results from crimesthat occurred between October 1995 and November 1996.

Williams has pleaded innocent to killing Elliott and has not entered a plea in the second slaying. In all, he is suspected in the deaths of or attacks on nine women.