Murder & Mayhem in Rockford, Illinois by Kresol Kathi

Author:Kresol, Kathi [Kresol, Kathi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2015-11-09T05:00:00+00:00

A photograph of John Williams Jr., seventeen, convicted of the double slaying. From Rockford Morning Star.

On the same day the arrest was announced, there was another article from the mayor stating that everyone must uphold the law. He pleaded with the readers to let the police and the courts handle the case. Obviously, there were concerns about vigilante justice.

The chamber of commerce added another $1,000 to the $2,500 reward already pledged as an incentive for witnesses to come forward. A grand jury hearing was held, and the jurors felt there was enough evidence against John Wesley Williams Jr. to hold him for trial. The grand jury heard from nine witnesses. The last one was Jon Moore, eighteen, an acquaintance of Williams. Moore testified that he saw Williams on March 1, 1967. Williams showed him a revolver that his father had just purchased for him and made the statement that he wanted to “go out and shoot someone.” This was the day before Wayne and Chuck were shot.

Another witness was a gun store owner from the Rockford Discount Sales on East State Street who stated that Williams had visited his store on Tuesday, February 28, but he was just looking. On Wednesday, March 1, Williams returned and brought his father. They looked at a few guns and decided on the Rohm RG 24 .22-caliber revolver.

Police declared that both the Williams men denied owning a .22-caliber revolver. After the police revealed the statement from the gun shop owner, Williams Sr. said he had not seen the gun since he bought it for his son.

John Wesley Williams Jr.’s trial began in June 1968. State’s Attorney William R. Nash was the prosecutor for the case. The defense attorneys were New York attorney Seymour Friedman and Rockford attorney Sam Dean. The jury consisted of seven women and five men. The judge was Chief Justice Albert O’ Sullivan.

Since the case had such massive media coverage, the judge ordered the jury sequestered. They stayed at the National Motor Inn, now the location of a senior citizen high-rise apartment building. They were not allowed to look at magazines or newspapers, and the televisions were removed from their rooms.

One of the witnesses called was the owner of the Rockford Discount Sales, James Anast. His testimony was the same as it had been before the grand jury. He sold a gun to John Wesley Williams that was the same caliber as the murder weapon.

Another witness, James Rose, seventeen, who worked as a bag boy at the Po-Jo Supermarket on West State Street, testified that he saw an African American male in the store at the same time that Wayne and Chuck were there.

The main incriminating evidence was found right behind John Williams’s house. Some men who knew Williams told the police that he had a “target practice area” behind his house. When the police followed through with the tip, they discovered slugs that Williams shot from the .22-caliber revolver. The bullets that were recovered from the autopsies were in good enough condition to be compared with those found at the house.

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