TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A year ago, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement disclosed it had made progress in what was then missing persons case spanning 17 years.
The investigation had been hampered by no evidence and no body having been discovered, but the case changed dramatically that day.
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It was exactly 17 years and five days after Mike Williams disappeared that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement made the announcement.
“Standing here now, I can tell you we know what happened to Mike Williams,” said Special Agent in Charge Mike Perez. "He was murdered.”
Mike Williams' mother Cheryl had spent the 17 years leading up to that day believing her son was alive.
Her hope vanished in the blink of an eye.
“That was the most horrible day I think I ever remembered, because I spent all those years believing he was alive,” said Cheryl. "Everybody thought I should be happy. 'Gee, you got Mike.' No. I wasn’t looking for a skeleton, I was looking for my child to come through the door. So it put me in a deep, deep depression.”
It wasn’t until Cheryl watched the murder case unfold against her son’s wife and his best friend in court that she knew the real truth.
“How horrible for my child to know that his friend is fixing to kill him,” Cheryl said. "I wasn’t there to help him. Mommy wasn’t there to help him, but for 17 years, I did everything I could to make up for the fact that I wasn’t there to help him.”
Denise Williams, the ex-wife, faces three possible life sentences, and the judge in the case is known to be tough.
His nickname: Hanging Hankinson.
Sentencing for the ex-wife is set for February 6th.
The victim's best friend, who pulled the trigger, is serving 20 years on a kidnapping charge and got immunity for the murder in exchange for his testimony.