Fiber Analysis, 1979-1981/1982
Between the summer of 1979 and early summer 1981, 29 people, almost all African-American children, around Atlanta, Georgia were strangled by a serial killer. These murders are often called the Atlanta Child Murders. Bodies were found throughout the area, with relatively little care to the placement of the bodies after death. The victims were, however, connected geographically. The killer hunted in a relatively small area of the city.
The FBI became involved in early 1980 to assist in the investigation. Eventually, police began to stake out local bodies of water, believing that the killer might change his usual body drop sites to avoid detection. One of the officers heard the sound of something hitting the water. Several days later, the naked body of a man washed ashore.
They caught a man, Wayne Williams, driving away from the scene. They did not witness him dropping a body, but were able to collect dog hair and carpet fibers from the station wagon Williams drove. Williams claimed not to have stopped on the bridge, but this was in direct opposition to the witness testimonies of the police on stakeout that night.
Police were able to match fibers collected from Williams’ vehicle to fibers found on multiple victims of the Atlanta Child Killer. In addition, there was ample circumstantial evidence suggesting that Williams was the killer. He resembled a sketch of the killer, and had been seen with the last adult victim shortly before his death.
The fiber analysis was essential to Williams’ conviction; however, he was tried for only two of the murders. Local police believe he was responsible for nearly all of the killings. Williams was found guilty on February 27, 1982. Fiber evidence had successfully caught a killer.