'Atlanta Monster' Podcast Hopes To 'Close The Door' On 1970s Child Murders : NPR
Wayne Williams
On how bridge stakeouts near the Chattahoochee River led police to Wayne Williams in May 1981
Lindsey: A police recruit heard a splash down there in the water by the bridge  and that was FBI special agent Mike McComas  and he was in charge of the bridge stakeouts in Atlanta. And there were about 14  15 bridges they were staking out for 30 days. And this recruit hears a large splash  which he thinks is a body  shines his flashlight on the water but doesn't see anything — sees ripples. They see a car up there on the bridge. They stop it  and then they find  Wayne Williams . And you know  after that they begin to tail  Wayne Williams  and look into this guy.
Albright: Three days later  the body of Nathaniel Cater was found about 500 yards downriver. So that's what clued them into that that must be  you know  they theorized that was the body  he  dropped that night. It wasn't long after that  he  was arrested.
On the case that investigators built against  Wayne Williams
Lindsey: It was carpet fibers and dog hairs they were able to link from  Wayne Williams  —  his  car   his  home — to some of the victims. Besides that  everything else was mostly circumstantial. And  he  obviously had failed a couple of polygraph tests  but those were inadmissible in court. Besides that  they didn't have much against  him .
On why  Williams  was only convicted of the murders of two adults
Lindsey: The biggest question that surrounds that case is  "If  Wayne Williams  is the Atlanta Monster  is the Atlanta child murderer  then why was  he  only convicted of killing two adults?" And that's how the families feel  that's how some people in the community feel. It just doesn't add up all the way.
On what happened after  Williams  was arrested
Albright: And it was a shaky pattern to begin with. Some of these kids had stab wounds  some of them had genital mutilation  some of them were beaten with objects  some of them were just strangled. They were found in various places  various counties  so there's not a distinct pattern that you would think of  like when you  you know  people who are accustomed to watching serial killer movies or hearing about this serial killer calling card  there was nothing like that  that definitely tied Wayne Williams to all of these victims.
On how bridge stakeouts near the Chattahoochee River led police to [TGT] in May 1981
Lindsey: A police recruit heard a splash down there in the water by the bridge  and that was FBI special agent Mike McComas  and he was in charge of the bridge stakeouts in Atlanta. And there were about 14  15 bridges they were staking out for 30 days. And this recruit hears a large splash  which he thinks is a body  shines his flashlight on the water but doesn't see anything — sees ripples. They see a car up there on the bridge. They stop it  and then they find  [TGT] . And you know  after that they begin to tail  Wayne Williams  and look into this guy.
Albright: Three days later  the body of Nathaniel Cater was found about 500 yards downriver. So that's what clued them into that that must be  you know  they theorized that was the body  he  dropped that night. It wasn't long after that  he  was arrested.
On the case that investigators built against  Wayne Williams
Lindsey: It was carpet fibers and dog hairs they were able to link from [TGT]—  his  car   his  home — to some of the victims. Besides that  everything else was mostly circumstantial. And  he  obviously had failed a couple of polygraph tests  but those were inadmissible in court. Besides that  they didn't have much against  him .
On why  [TGT]was only convicted of the murders of two adults
Lindsey: The biggest question that surrounds that case is  "If  [TGT]is the Atlanta Monster  is the Atlanta child murderer  then why was  he  only convicted of killing two adults?" And that's how the families feel  that's how some people in the community feel. It just doesn't add up all the way.
On what happened after  [TGT]was arrested
Albright: And it was a shaky pattern to begin with. Some of these kids had stab wounds  some of them had genital mutilation  some of them were beaten with objects  some of them were just strangled. They were found in various places  various counties  so there's not a distinct pattern that you would think of  like when you  you know  people who are accustomed to watching serial killer movies or hearing about this serial killer calling card  there was nothing like that  that definitely tied [TGT] to all of these victims.