Editing Wayne Williams (section)

==Arrest and trial==
Williams was arrested on June 21, 1981, for the murders of Cater and Payne.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/30/us/lawyer-sees-hope-for-retrial-in-atlanta-murders.html|title=Lawyer Sees Hope for Retrial in Atlanta Murders|work=[[The New York Times]]|location=New York City|date=August 30, 1987|access-date=December 10, 2015}}</ref> His trial began on January 6, 1982, in [[Fulton County, Georgia|Fulton County]]. During the two-month trial, prosecutors matched to a number of victims 19 sources of fibers from Williams's home and car: his bedspread, bathroom, gloves, clothes, carpets, dog, and an unusual trilobal carpet fiber. Other evidence included witness testimony that placed Williams with several victims while they were alive, and inconsistencies in his accounts of his whereabouts. Williams had also lied about when the carpet was installed in his home, claiming it was installed in 1968 (which would undermine the testimony of prosecution experts, who said it was a rare type not manufactured until the 1970s) only for it to be discovered that the company that manufactured the carpet did not even exist until 1971.<ref name="rawls1982">{{cite news|first=Wendell Jr.|last=Rawls|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/25/us/final-testimony-hurts-defense-in-atlanta-trial.html|title=Final Testimony Hurts Defense In Atlanta Trial|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 25, 1982|access-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref> Williams took the stand in his own defense but alienated the jury by becoming angry and combative.<ref name="rawls1982"/> After 12 hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty on February 27 of the murders of Cater and Payne. He was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Kevin|last=Rowson|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2015/04/30/wayne-williams-hair-evidence-fbi/26678019/|title=Atlanta Child Murders: Wayne Williams hopes for appeal|work=[[USA Today]]|date=April 30, 2015|access-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref> After Williams became a suspect, the killings stopped.<ref name="wp"/>

In the late 1990s, Williams filed a ''[[habeas corpus]]'' petition and requested a retrial. [[Butts County, Georgia|Butts County]] Superior Court judge Hal Craig denied his appeal. [[Attorney General of Georgia|Georgia Attorney General]] [[Thurbert Baker]] said that "although this does not end the appeal process, I am pleased with the results in the habeas case" and that his office will "continue to do everything possible to uphold the conviction."<ref>{{cite press release|first=Daryl A.|last=Robinson|date=July 10, 1998|title=Attorney General Baker Announces Wayne Williams' Convictions Upheld|url=https://law.georgia.gov/press-releases/1998-07-10/attorney-general-baker-announces-wayne-williams-convictions-upheld|location=Atlanta, Georgia|publisher=Department of Law, State of Georgia|access-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref> In early 2004, Williams sought a retrial again, with his attorneys arguing that law enforcement officials covered up evidence of involvement by the [[Ku Klux Klan]], and that carpet fibers purportedly linking him to the crimes would not stand up to scientific scrutiny.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=175831&c=2|title=Convicted killer blamed for Atlanta child murders seeks new trial|agency=[[The Associated Press]]|work=[[WDUN (AM)|WDUN]]|date=February 24, 2004|access-date=May 29, 2018}}</ref> A federal judge rejected the request for retrial on October 17, 2006.