Williams to seek DNA testing of hairs used to convict him

ATLANTA - Wayne Williams, accused of being the infamous Atlanta child killer of a quarter century ago, will ask a Superior Court judge to allow DNA testing on hairs found on some of the victims that were purported to come from him and his dog, one of his lawyers said Tuesday.

The lawyer, Jack Martin, said the Georgia Innocence Project has agreed to help fund DNA analysis of the hairs by a yet-to-be-determined independent lab.

But the lawyers will first have to ask the court for permission to do the tests, which Martin says were not available when Williams went to trial in 1982.

"We don't know if the prosecution will oppose this," Martin said. "We hope they won't. Wayne knows that this is a risky enterprise. If this turns out to be his dog's hair or his hair, it removes doubt in the case."

Erik Friedly, a spokesman for Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, said Howard would need to speak with the state Attorney General's office before determining whether to support or oppose any motion for DNA testing.

Between 1979 and 1981, 29 black boys and young men were killed in the Atlanta area, sparking fear throughout the region.

Williams was convicted of murdering Jimmy Ray Payne, 21, and Nathaniel Cater, 27, and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Evidence of a pattern of conduct in 12 of the murders was used in his trial. Afterward, officials declared Williams responsible for 22 other deaths, and those cases were closed.

Williams has always maintained his innocence, and last year a local police chief said he was reopening the investigation into five of those deaths. That chief resigned recently, and the status of the investigation was left in doubt.

According to Martin, investigators used microscopic analysis of the hairs to determine that they were consistent with Williams' hair and his dog's hair. Martin said DNA testing would be more exact. He said the samples remain intact and could be tested.

There also was blood alleged to have been found in Williams' car that was purported to have come from two of the victims, but defense lawyers have not yet located those samples to see if they, too, could be sent for DNA testing, Martin said.

In February, a federal judge rejected a motion by Williams challenging his incarceration. His lawyers are planning to ask the judge to reconsider.

Williams, who is black, has contended that he was framed. He has maintained that Atlanta officials covered up evidence of Ku Klux Klan involvement in the killings to avoid a race war in the city, a claim investigators have denied.

In a telephone interview from prison last month with The Associated Press, Williams said he is confident about his prospects after more than 20 years in prison.

"I'll say this 100 times. It should be obvious right now of my innocence," he said.