29 Murders

Copyright © 2013 by James Campbell.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2013912578

        Hardcover                               978-1-4836-6696-9

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4836-6695-2

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4836-6697-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 09/13/2013

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twevle

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Epilogue

Chapter One

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Beginning in the summer of 1979, and ending in the spring of 1981, 29 young African Americans were murdered by a lone killer, or more than one killer. And to this day, the real killer or killers are still walking among the rest of the free world. On February 27, 1982, a jury found Wayne Bertram Williams guilty of killing two of the twenty-nine victims, which mean the other 27 murders remained unsolved. Of course, that alone has left many asking the exact same question; who kill the other twenty-seven? Until this day, the police cannot answer that question. And since that question cannot be answered, it was and still is assumed that Wayne Williams must have been the right suspect after all, because when he was arrested, the murders stopped.

Needless to say, there are still those who have serious doubts concerning Williams’ guilt, and if the police arrested the wrong man it means the real killer or killers are still on the loose. And at some point and time, they will kill again. But at what point will the real killer or killers re-surface, or raise their ugly heads again? The thirty year mystery has been looming over the city like a black cloud, and police officials are scared to death that it is only a matter of time before Atlanta is reminded of what took the city into the deadliest nightmare in history. Atlanta has yet to recover from that nightmare.

In the thirty years since the Child Murders in Atlanta, the vast majority of the cops who were involved in that investigation are either retired or dead. Today, there is a new generation of cops who have no idea what happened thirty years ago in the city where they work. But they are about to get a crash-course lesson of Atlanta’s past. A letter was delivered to Police Chief Barry Mason’s office at police headquarters on Peachtree Street by his secretary Marcia Bailey. On the front of the envelope was boldly marked ‘Confidential’ which immediately drew a suspicious reaction from the Anglo American, or white chief.

Thirty years ago, Chief Mason was a six month rookie who had just graduated from the academy, and was used primarily in stakeout situations, hoping to catch a killer. Today, he was about encounter something that would take him all the way back to those dark nights of staring into empty spaces for what seemed to have been no more than ghost shadows. The letter had already been electronically scanned by the x-ray machine at the building entrance before being brought to his office. But that did not prevent him from being a little leery of what was inside of the envelope.

As he sat his desk, he glanced at the clock on the wall across from and the calendar on his desk. It was Tuesday, May 22, 10:30 A.M. Of course, none of that made any difference as to what was on the inside of the envelope. His first thought was to throw the letter in trash basket, but then he thought better, because it could have been a citizen complaint, which he sometimes comes to him instead of going to Internal Affairs office.

So, what is so fucking confidential? He was thinking to himself. He held the envelope up to the desk lamp, hoping to see something inside other than the letter. There was nothing.

Finally, he decided to see what was on the inside. He slowly began tear one edge of the envelope downward until he had completely torn the end off. He then held the envelope up side down to allow the two page letter to drop out onto his desk. He unfolded the letter and began to read the words that were computer written. It read as follows: Chief Barry Mason: More than thirty years ago when you were only a rookie cop, your department and the city of Atlanta experienced the worst tragedy that has ever been recorded in the south since Reconstruction. Year 1979 was the beginning of the Atlanta Child Murders. 29 to be exact were murdered. The worst part about that, the GBI, FBI, as well as your own incompetent department could not solve the case. And after everything was said and done, you ended up arresting a misfit who couldn’t think his way out of a wet paper bag, much less kill 29 young, dumb niggers on the streets of your city.

The question is; do I have your attention? If so, allow me to continue. By the year 1980, almost every cop and politician had their eyes on Atlanta, trying to figure out what was going on. And how can anyone do what was being done? And no one saw the person who was doing it. It even caught the attention of the White House and that Peanut Farmer you had for a President. His defeat came as a result of the people seeing him as a weak President. How could he protect the nation when he could not even protect the citizen of a single city? Now, here we are again; this time a nigger in the White House who need to be removed. So, how are we going to do this? We simply start the killing all over again. Why am I telling you this after all these years? The answer is very simple; for too long I have allowed someone else take credit for something that he was not mentally capable of doing. It took a genius to do what was done back then, and the so-called brightest cops in America didn’t come close to figuring it out. By now, the real killer is older and smarter, which mean he can kill twice that many in half the time. Of course, you’re probably asking yourself, why me, and why now? It is quite simple; if and when the killer is ever caught, which he probably won’t be, he will go down in history as being the smartest mass murderer of all times. Every human being needs to leave a legacy behind when he leave this world.

Plus, I’ll be doing America a favor by eliminating some of the filth and trash that black folks are cluttering up this country with. As the old saying goes, The only good nigger is a dead nigger. You now have one or two choices; you can take this as a practical joke, or you can try to find someone in your department who has half of a brain and can figure what the next move the killer might make.

And by the way; the only reason Wayne Williams is in jail today is because your predecessors received pressure from the White House to arrest someone, anyone. Because the murders were making that Peanut Farmer as President look really bad. But it was too little, too late for him by the time Wayne Williams made himself appear guilty. He wanted to take credit for something he didn’t do. What an asshole! The letter ended.

Chief Mason was stunned way beyond reason as he sat there at his desk with his eyes still glued to the letter, his mouth had dropped open, and his brain was spinning faster than a wheel on a vehicle. He wanted to say something to his secretary, but he was speechless. This has to be some fucking joke! He thought to himself. But why would anyone in his right mind want to claim responsibility for killing twenty-nine young black kids that took place more than thirty years ago? And if this person is telling the truth, why in the world is he telling the police now? This has to be some nut trying to get some attention from the police, or whoever. A crazy bastard, that’s what he is!

At that every moment his secretary buzzed him and spoke to him on the speaker phone, Chief, Mayor Tyler is on phone, line three.

He quickly tried to bring himself back to some sense of reality as he tried to focus on what the Mayor wanted to talk about. Okay, Marcia, thanks… He said slowly as he picked up the phone, pushing the button to talk. Good morning, Mr. Mayor! He tried to sound upbeat. How in the world are you today?

Good Morning, Chief. And I don’t know if this is a good morning or what. The Mayor said with his voice dropping at the end.

Yeah, I know what you mean, Mr. Mayor. But is there anything wrong, Sir?

"Well, for starters, I just got a call from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and the caller said that the paper had received an anonymous letter, or tip from someone saying that he was the real killer of all those black kids that took place in 1979 through 1981.

I thought we put Wayne Williams in prison for those murders. I mean, he is in jail, right? I don’t know what to make of something like this."

Mayor, trust me, I am sure this is nothing but someone who is trying to get his name and picture on the front page of the AJC. You’re right Wayne Williams is in jail as far as I know. And by the way, I received the same kind of letter this morning myself.

So, you’re saying that this is no more than someone playing a sick joke on the media and the city? But how would he know that much about the investigation of that case if he’s just someone looking to get his rocks off?

You have to understand, Mr. Mayor, that was a case that the entire nation, if not the whole world knew all about. Books have been written and details about the case are all over the internet. However, . . . . He paused for a moment.

However, what?! The Mayor asked sharply.

However, there were a few things that he spoke about that were not let out to the media as I have been told. He talked about President Jimmy Carter, and as far as I know, no one ever mentioned the fact that the White House or the Carter Administration was putting serious pressure on the Atlanta police to make an arrest in that case. That was right about the time when Carter was running for re-election. But somehow and someway, the letter writer knew all about it in details.

Okay, and what does that really mean? You think he’s for real?

I certainly hope that he’s not the killer. I hope that Wayne Williams is the killer.

However, just to be on the safe side, let’s not take any chances with whoever this maniac thinks he is. I want you to treat this as if he is the real killer. And by the way, I convinced the AJC to hold off on going public with this thing until we have had time to follow up on where this might lead us. It might be nothing, but then again, it just might be something. The Mayor said.

Yes sir, Mr. Mayor. I’ll get someone on it right away! Chief Mason said as he hung up the phone.

Before doing anything else, the chief stood and went over to the coffee pot and poured himself another full cup of hot coffee to help calm his nerves. While he stood next to the coffee maker, stirring in a teaspoon of sugar, his thoughts took him back to1979 when he was only six months out of college and the police academy, his predecessors had no idea what was going on right under their noses. There had been six murders before they came to the conclusion that they had a serial killer on the loose in the city of Atlanta. And by the time they could form a task-force to look into the murders, there had been four more killings committed, all by using the same methods, strangulation or suffocation.

He walked slowly back to his desk, placing the coffee down in front of him. Again, he picked up the letter as he sat. As he glanced over the two pages once again to see if there had been anything that he had missed, he began to think back over what he remembered about the case. After the first two murders, all the others began to appear as repeat murders, except they were different victims. Back in 1979, he wondered why his predecessors did not see a pattern after the first two murders. Strangely, they did not see a pattern until there had been four more. Then they saw the pattern; all the children were taken mysteriously from wherever they were at the time, some were molested, then murdered and their bodies were dumped in areas of abandonment.

He picked up the letter and read it again especially the part about the police not being able to figure anything out until Wayne Williams practically walked up to them and said, ‘I did it.’ Even then, after he offered himself as the scapegoat, they still failed to convict him on twenty-seven of the twenty-nine victims, and the two that they did convict him on were not very convincing by any stretch of imagination, a miscarriage of justice.

He remembered it like just it was yesterday. He remembered how Wayne Williams purposely drove his white and tan Chevy station wagon onto the bridge on the Chattahoochee River as slow as he could possibly go, and practically yelled out of the window, ‘Come get me, I’m the one you’re looking for!’ And he then led the police on a slow driving chase to the driveway of then Mayor Maynard Jackson’s home. What the hell was that all about? He thought.

The truth of matter was; Wayne Williams was under the illusion that he was brilliant enough to talk his way out of being a prime suspect. But what he failed to realize was the police department was under severe pressure from the White House to arrest anyone who looked like a suspect for the murders.

Although he was just a rookie, fresh out of the academy with no experience about investigating a series of murders, but he still was in the frame of mind as many veteran cops and citizens alike, they all had their doubts about whether Wayne Williams was capable of committing that many murders without someone else helping him. Now, he was staring at the letter, which was confirming his own suspicion. Yeah, this letter may have been the work of someone wanting to take credit for the murders after thirty years, but it was still a clue that maybe Wayne Williams didn’t do it. And if he did, he certainly didn’t act alone. He was thinking. He paused for a moment from staring at the letter to push the speaker button to his secretary. Marcia, get Deputy Chief Paul Spencer on the phone for me please.

Yes sir, Chief. The secretary responded quickly.

While waiting for his deputy chief to call back, he continued with his studying the contents of the letter while he thought about the case some more. He remembered that there were several attempts made by other agencies to re-open the case, but they all were met with strong resistance by unknown, but obviously very powerful sources. Even Lewis Graham, a one time police chief of Dekalb County, after being one of the original investigators on the case, said publicly that he did not believe that Wayne Williams had killed any of the victims. However, not long after that his statement, Lewis Graham was forced to leave his position with Dekalb County, and not long after that he was dead by reasons unknown.

At that moment the secretary interrupted his thoughts with, Chief Mason, Deputy Chief Spencer is on line one.

The chief quickly picked up the phone, and punched the button to line one. Paul, can you come to my office right away, it’s an urgent matter, and I need your opinion on something. He hung up the phone.

The deputy chief was a few steps away from his office, and it only took moments for him to reach the chief’s office. The secretary waved him right on in when he got there. As he entered the office, closing the door behind him, he said rushing his words, Yes sir, what’s going on, Chief?! He did not sit he stood by the chair waiting.

Have a seat, Paul, and read this letter for me. And when you’re finished reading it, tell me what you think about it.

The deputy chief took the letter and sat at the same time as he began reading it. After a few minutes, he slowly raised his eyes towards his boss. Is this for real?

That’s the million dollar question that I’ve asking myself. That’s why I called you, to see what you think about it.

Paul Spencer did not respond immediately, he was trying to form his own thoughts as to whether he believed the letter was real or not. Ah, allow me to say this first, Chief; I don’t know much about this case, but from what I’ve heard people say about it, there are a lot of people in this city who have their doubts about Wayne Williams. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s not guilty, it’s simply a mystery as to how he was able to kill that many people in what, two or three years? And no one can positively place him at any of the scenes where the crimes took place. That’s damn near impossible! However, my question now is; does this letter mean that the real killer is going to start killing again? He handed the letter back to the chief.

I hope to God that this is only a prank! However, we don’t have a whole lot of time to wait around to see what the bastard is going to do next.

I don’t understand. The deputy chief looked confused.

Well, the son-of-a-bitch planned his so-called come back from the dead with a letter to the AJC as well, and I’ll bet you a dime to a doughnut that they are not going to hold off on printing this letter. This is news for them! And if that happens, this city will go into another panic mode.

The deputy chief studied his thoughts for a moment before saying, What if this is nothing but a publicity stunt? And what if the person is doing this to send the police on some wild goose chase trying to find a killer that’s already sitting behind bars?

Chief Mason immediately rose to his feet, lifting his six foot frame out of his seat, looking down on Spencer. Those are some mighty big ifs’ you have there! He threw the letter down on the desk. But either way, we are walking in uncharted territory. And this bastard is painting us into a corner that we can’t get out of. And you know what else?! We’re damned if we do, and we’re damned if we don’t. You see, there are a lot of people who believe Wayne Williams had help committing all those murders, which mean that this letter could be legitimate, and we have a mad killing machine on our hands again. He sat down again in total disgust.

I definitely see your point, Chief. So, what do we do now?

The chief stared at him for a moment. Well, we certainly can’t sit around on our hands like they did back in 1979. But on the other hands, what can we do? We have nothing but a computer printed letter that doesn’t tell us anything that we don’t already know. Which on the other hand, it also could be nothing but bullshit!

So, we’re right back where we started at square-one, which is nothing.

The chief smiled at his deputy chief. You’re right! This is nothing. We have nothing to go on, so how do we investigate nothing?! You know, Paul, I knew that I could count on you to bring a solution to this situation. That’s why I count on you to help me understand difficult situations like these. He stood again. Thanks a million! You’re a real problem solver.

The deputy chief stood as well. Still, let’s not get ahead of ourselves we still have someone out there who is claiming to be the killer. We cannot discount the fact that he’s not the real thing.

The chief nodded with agreement. But until we have something more to go on, let’s not jump the gun, let’s wait and see. The chief said with a short smile.

Or, if we began to find more bodies, that’s when we’ll know it’s for real. The deputy chief said as he left the office, closing the door behind him.

Chief Mason stared at the door for a few moments. I sure hope to the good Lord that you’re wrong, Paul! We don’t need another round of Missing and Murdered Children in this city . . . We’ve had our share. He thought as he dropped down in his chair and rocking backward.

Chapter Two

AS THE MINUTES SLOWLY CREPT BY, Chief Mason continued to look for the other shoe to drop, for there was a strange feeling deep down in his gut that was telling him that the writer of the letter was not done with whatever he or she was trying prove. He sat very quietly at his desk thinking about what he should do next. While he was thinking he instructed Marcia not to interrupt his thoughts with phone calls unless it was from the mayor. His brain was wrapped up in its own little tiny world waiting for a crisis to happen. And it may have been a situation that could very well spell embarrassment if he did not handle it correctly, which led his thoughts to try and visualize the things that his predecessors did, or did not do over thirty years ago that led to a major embarrassment for the city and the police department.

He was thinking of retirement for some wild odd-ball reason. Probably because at fifty-five years of age, and being a cop on top of that, retirement is always in the back of one’s mind. And as far as he was concerned, this was no time in his long career as a law enforcement officer for the possibility of a killer’s resurgence, especially the one who claimed that he took Atlanta to the brink of total chaos. Then add that fact to a city that had always been a not-so-good on reputation when it came to crimes in the inner-city. Whether the killings were justified or unjustified, the bad press was still there. And every chief before him found themselves on the proverbial hot-seat of trying to find a solution to the crime in the inner city. Suddenly, his concentration was broken by the interruption of his secretary. Slowly he responded with, Marcia, I told you I’m not taking any calls right now, unless it’s the Mayor.

Yes sir, I know. It’s not the Mayor, but I think you need to turn on your television to something that’s on the CNN channel, and it’s being shown right now. She hung up.

He immediately picked up the remote and clicked on the TV to CNN Noonday News. According to the anchor woman who was doing the mid-day reporting, he suddenly realized that the shoe that he was waiting for to drop had just dropped. The reporter stated: This station has just received an anonymous tip, or a letter if you will, claiming responsibility for the Missing and Murdered Children that occurred some thirty years ago. The same murders that Wayne Williams is currently serving two life sentences in State prison for. According to the letter, this person is promising this station that he or she will strike yet again which caused sheer terror in this city thirty years ago. And the letter also promise CNN that even more people will be killed this time, simply because he is older, smarter, and has had lots of time to perfect his killer’s strategy.

"At this time, we cannot provide any evidence that this letter is anything more than a childish prank, or a hoax. But we do know that the Atlanta Police Department has been given the same warning, putting the city on notice of what is yet to come. We know that the city was rocked to its core thirty years ago with at least twenty-nine murders of young African Americans children. Wayne Williams was tried and convicted of only two such murders, which caused many people to doubt whether or not he committed any of the murders at all. The question I should ask the letter writer right now, what is the purpose of warning this station, this city, and the world that you are going to come back once again to terrorize Atlanta with more murders? It certainly causes me to wonder if this is real, or just a cruel, sick joke that you’re trying to play on all of us . . . . Hopefully, we will have a conversation with the Atlanta Police Department to see what they think about this so-called warning from a killer.

As a national news channel such as CNN, they had just dropped the bomb that would surely set off a shit-storm of panic calls, wanting to know what the chief is planning to do to head off what could possibly be another wave of children being murdered in Atlanta. This type of news was almost as bad as the burning of Atlanta way back in 1864, he thought. Keeping the letter out of the media’s hands was not an issue anymore, they knew what he knew, and at that moment, he did not have an answer to what might be coming. They could not stop the killing in 1979, could they today?

He picked up the remote again and turned the TV off. And as he stared into the black TV screen, he wondered if the letter was real? And what if the killer decided not to take the same route as he had done before? Supposed he decided to kill a different kind of person? There are two million more people in Atlanta now than it was back in 1979, and a lot more to choose from. He looked up to the ceiling, God, as much as I hate a bad ass joke let this one be a bad ass joke! And I’ll gladly take it with a smile on my face.

Suddenly, he pushed the button on the speaker phone and said, Marcia, I want all commanders, uniform, detectives, special operation, and vice, I want everyone to meet me at city hall in the city council’s chambers ASAP. That order is coming directly from the mayor. Make sure they know that it’s from the Mayor.

Yes, sir, Chief! Marcia responded eagerly. Oh, do you want me to call the ones on vacation, and those who have the day off as well?

No, not the ones who are off, I’ll contact them later.

Yes sir! . . . . The secretary said as she clicked him off and began to press the button for the communication supervisor, Major Joseph Thomas. Major Thomas, this is Marcia in the Chief’s office. The Chief said that this is an order directly from the Mayor. He wants all zone commanders, detective commanders, as well as SWAT and Special Operations to meet him in the city council chambers within the hour, ASAP!

Major Thomas was a bit confused and surprised that she did not include the communication section, which he was the commander. Are you at liberty to tell me what’s going on, and why isn’t communication included?

Major Thomas, you are a commander of your section, and I think that does include you. And as far as what’s going on, I think you will find out when you get there. She immediately hung up.

The bitch hung up on me! Smartass! He thought as he hung up the phone and began typing the information on his computer to be given to all the department commanders.

Within the hour, twenty-two high ranking officers were seated and chit-chatting among themselves about what they thought the chief and the mayor had called this emergency meeting for. Quietly and abruptly, the mayor and the chief entered the chambers from the Mayor’s office through a side door. The mayor proceeded to the podium to begin the briefing as the chief took a seat to the rear. The mayor was an African American, dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt and poky-dotted blue tie began speaking in an ultra-serious voice and expression on his face. "I know some of you are wondering why you are here. And there may some of you probably already know why you are here, especially after seeing the broadcast on CNN this morning. Either way, Chief Mason and I wanted all you here to see what exactly can be done at this point… .

In additional to what you saw, the chief and I have also received anonymous letters stating that the real killer of twenty-nine African American boys and girls thirty years ago is still on the loose. And right now we are very much concerned that if this is true, we might be facing another series of murders, just like it was in 1979 through 1981. As Mayor, I am determined not to let that happen again. As the story said on CNN, the letter stated that Wayne Williams is no more than a scapegoat, and the real killer wants to set the record straight.

Everyone in the audience began looking at each other and mumbling among themselves as someone finally stood. It was Major Carl Smith, Airport commander. Ah, Mr. Mayor, I saw the CNN newscast, and as far as I can tell there was nothing in that report that might suggest any such thing. It made absolutely no sense. I mean, why would a killer announce his intentions before doing so? It would be an invitation to be caught. And why would he make a confession of being the real killer after thirty years of total silence? Now, there are a lot of people who might think Wayne Williams is innocence, but I for one think he’s guilty. I think this whole thing is much to do about nothing. It’s a hoax, and we should treat it like one. It’s no more than some clown seeking attention. He sat down.

The Mayor smiled. "The Chief and I feel have similar feelings. But when we looked at this situation from another aspect, in 1979, the department failed to respond to a serial killer when all the evidence was staring them in the face. My question to you, Major, what if you are wrong? Can we afford to let what happen thirty years ago happen again today? I think not! You see, thirty years ago, the administration sat back and did nothing until