Page 6 - Eric Middlebrooks News Today

>> the bottom line is nobody ever testified or even claimed that they saw me strike another person, choke another person, stab, beat or kill or hurt anybody because i didnt. >> reporter: this is the first time wayne williams has talked on tv in at least a decade. >> reporter: why do you think you were convicted? >> fear. >> what do you mean? >> atlanta needed any person at the time. if it would have been a white suspect, a lot would have gone up in flames. >> reporter: do you think you...

>> this is the first time wayne williams has talked on tv in at least a decade. why do you think you were convicted? >> fear. >> what do you mean? >> atlanta, at the time, was in a panic. they wanted any suspect that they could find. and lets just be honest. it had to be a black person, because if it had been a white suspect, atlanta probably would have gone up in flames. it came very close to that. >> do you think youll ever be free? >> no doubt its not a matter of if to me. its a mat...

recruit, jumped to his feet down beside the chattahoochee river. >> i was really startled. it sounded like a body entering the water. >> he looked up at the bridge. >> and i saw brake lights of a car coming. i saw red lights. the car started slowly moving away from me across the bridge. >> campbell radioed the other team members up above him. >> i asked, did a car stop on the bridge? because i couldnt believe what i saw. and each person told me they didnt see it. >> then a policeman in...

>> this is the first time wayne williams has talked on tv in at least a decade. why do you think you were convicted? >> fear. >> what do you mean? >> atlanta, at the time, was in a panic. they wanted any suspect that they could find. and lets just be honest. it had to be a black person, because if it had been a white suspect, atlanta probably would have gone up in flames. it came very close to that. >> do you think youll ever be free? >> no doubt its not a matter of if to me. its a m...

atlanta georgia. in all, more than two dozen victims. most of them strangled. by may, 1981, the police and f.b.i. were hiding in the brush beside and below theiver bridges. this was toe be the last niekt. almost the last hour. >> i heard the splash. >> reporter: bob campbell, a police recruit, jumped to his feet. >> i was really startled. it sounded like a body entering water. >> he looked up at the bridge. >> and i saw brake lights of a car. i saw red lights. the car started slowly mo...

this was to be the last night, almost the last hour. >> i heard the splash. >> bob campbell, a police recruit, jumped to his feet down beside the chattahoochee river. >> i was really startled. it sounded like a body entering the water. >> he looked up at the bridge. >> and i saw brake lights of a car coming. i saw red lights. the car started slowly moving away from me across the bridge. >> campbell radioed the other team members up above him. >> i asked, did a car stop on the bridge? b...

the best that i could describe was a ski rope type. the woven type and it was my guess about 24 inches long. >> no. >> williams denies there was any such cord. >> because if that rope had been in the station wagon that night, im sure they would have taken it. >> the fact that i didnt confiscate it didnt make it go away. >> the nylon cord would never be seen again. >> could have been the murder weapon as far as i know. >> fbi supervisors decided to let wayne williams go that night. >>...

the fbi looked hard and could never find her. >> it says to me that cheryl johnson didnt exist and he made it up. >> williams says only after that call from a gas station did he turn around to cross back over the bridge again. police would stop him moments later. you said, i know this is about those boys, isnt it? >> correct. thats what i said. >> pretty damning statement, dont you think? >> no. i mean, the perception in atlanta was at the time kids were missing. and i think if im not ...

river. >> he came to a ridge. >> i saw red lights and the car started slowly moving away from me on the bridge. >> campbell radioed the other team members up above him. >> i asked, did a car stop on the bridge? you know, i couldnt believe what i saw. and each person told me they didnt see it. >> then a policeman in a chase car, hidden on the other side, came on the radio. >> he just said the car is pulling in the parking lot here turning around in front of me. started to come back in m...

you said, i know this is about those boys, isnt it? >> correct. thats what i said. >> pretty damning statement, dont you think? >> no. i mean, the perception in atlanta was at the time kids were missing. and i think if im not mistaken, the perception was a lot of young males are missing. thats what i asked. this is about those kids or boys or something like that, isnt it? >> remember what fbi agent mike mccomas said he saw when he got to the scene? >> saw a black male. he had on a base...