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- For other people with similar names, see James Williams and Jim Williams.
James Arthur Williams (or Jim Williams) (December 11, 1930 - January 14, 1990) was a noted Savannah, Georgia, antiques dealer and restorer of historic homes. Williams is, however, best known for his role as the central character in John Berendt's non-fiction bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Williams was the only person in the state of Georgia ever to be tried four times for the same crime - the alleged murder of his assistant, Danny Lewis Hansford, on May 2, 1981, in Williams's home, Mercer House.
Williams, who was born in Gordon, Georgia, played an active role in the preservation of Savannah's historic district, beginning in the mid-1950s. After several years of purchasing, restoring and selling historic homes, he was able to purchase Mercer House in 1969. The house had stood empty for more than 10 years since its last occupants, the Shriners organization, had used the building as their Alee Temple. Williams restored the home completely and operated his antiques restoration business out of the carriage house in the rear of the mansion.
After his 1981 arrest for the shooting of Danny Hansford and the subsequent four trials, Williams was finally acquitted by a jury in Augusta, Georgia, in 1989. On January 14, 1990, six months after the trial, he died unexpectedly in his home, aged 59, from pneumonia and heart failure. He is buried next to his mother, Blanche Brooks Williams, in Ramah Church Cemetery, Gordon, Georgia.
Trial History
Bobby Lee Cook defended Williams during the first trial. Williams was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He appealed, posting a $200,000 bond. Cook subsequently received an anonymous copy of the police report showing the arresting officer had contradicted himself. The judgment was reversed and a new trial was ordered.
Sonny Seiler assumed Williams's defense at the second trial and decided to have Williams openly bring up his sexuality; little else differed from the first trial. The Georgia Supreme court overturned the conviction saying the sheriff should not have been allowed to testify as an expert, and that the prosecutor waited until his closing argument to demonstrate some evidence.
New evidence at the third trial showed Hansford’s hands were never bagged by the police at the crime scene, explaining the lack of gunpowder residue. During deliberations, a juror supposedly called a paramedic to ask some medical questions, forcing a mistrial.
The fourth trial got under way two years later with a change of venue to Augusta, Georgia. The jury took one hour to come back with a verdict of not guilty.
References
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (ISBN 0-679-75152-1)
- More than Mercer House: Savannah's Jim Williams and his Southern Houses (ISBN 0-9672187-0-5)
External links
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