After Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by Marilyn J Bardsley Page B
Authors: Marilyn J Bardsley
collapsed and died, supposedly in the study, the same room where he shot Danny.
Over the years, Jim had told two of his closest friends, Joe Goodman and Doug Seyle, that he was working on a new will, which would give them valuable properties upon his death. Because Jim’s death at age 59 was totally unexpected, it is possible that the new will was never completed. If it had been completed, it was never executed.
Jim made it clear to his close friends that he and his sister never got along, but he dearly loved his mother and his two nieces, Amanda and Susan. The only surviving will was dated September 24, 1984, which made his mother, Blanche B. Williams, the primary beneficiary of his wealth. He gave his sister the “sum of ten ($10) dollars and all rights to my papers and writings together with the copyright on ‘Psycho Dice,’” a game that Jim devised. Mrs. Williams passed away in 1997.
Dorothy Kingery
photo by Jeanne Papy
Jim’s sister, Dr. Dorothy Kingery, netted over $1 million when she engaged Sotheby’s to auction off some of Jim’s finest treasures, including a set of nine pastel drawings by early American female artist Henrietta Dering Johnston, the ormolu coach fitting from Napoleon I’s coronation coach, a Spanish-made silver-gilt and turquoise dagger reputedly used in the murder of Rasputin, and a Fabergé document casket presented by Czar Nicholas II to the Shah of Persia around 1899. Dr. Kingery also listed Mercer House with Sotheby’s in 1999 at a price of nearly $9 million, but it was eventually taken off the market. In the past few years, Mercer House has been open for tours and shopping in the old carriage house.
James Arthur Williams’ grave
The life of Jim Williams came to an inglorious finish. His unwise relationship with Danny ended tragically, his reputation was permanently damaged, his life ended prematurely at age 59, his fortune was diminished by a decade of defense against persistent prosecution, and the sister he disliked was enriched by his financial success. Some said that he deserved this ending because of his crimes. Others believed that he was persecuted because of his sexual orientation. However, because of Jim’s tragic story, he will forever be identified with Savannah as its best-known citizen. His legacy includes not only splendid restorations of historic homes, but Savannah’s transformation into a tourist mecca.
Acknowledgements
I want to express my thanks to the more than 40 people who were kind enough to offer what they knew about Jim Williams, Danny Hansford and the four murder trials that Williams endured in the 1980s. Special thanks goes to Joe and Nancy Goodman, who were long-time friends of Jim and spent hours helping me understand how good Jim was to the people close to him; Spencer Lawton Jr., who shared with me his observations and strategy behind his prosecution of the Williams case, as well as documents he prepared to summarize it for posterity; Jeanne Papy, who permitted me to publish the excellent photos she took of Mercer House parties and some of the actors in the movie
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
; Jan Skutch, who provided me with important information about the trials and a list of people to interview; and Carol Freeman, whose enthusiastic characterization of Jim brought him to life for me. I must also thank my sister-in-law, Ulla Jensen, who accompanied me on many of the interviews.
This book and the Crimescape series of short nonfiction crime books would not exist if it had not been for the encouragement and marketing efforts of my agent and the CEO of RosettaBooks, Arthur Klebanoff. Special thanks also goes to Tracy Majka for her critical reading of the manuscript, and her counsel on style and editing.
I am also grateful to the following people who shared their stories with me over the past few years: Alison (Ali) Fennell, Mykell Holdren, Randy Shuman, David Sands, Kenneth Worthy II,
Over the years, Jim had told two of his closest friends, Joe Goodman and Doug Seyle, that he was working on a new will, which would give them valuable properties upon his death. Because Jim’s death at age 59 was totally unexpected, it is possible that the new will was never completed. If it had been completed, it was never executed.
Jim made it clear to his close friends that he and his sister never got along, but he dearly loved his mother and his two nieces, Amanda and Susan. The only surviving will was dated September 24, 1984, which made his mother, Blanche B. Williams, the primary beneficiary of his wealth. He gave his sister the “sum of ten ($10) dollars and all rights to my papers and writings together with the copyright on ‘Psycho Dice,’” a game that Jim devised. Mrs. Williams passed away in 1997.
Dorothy Kingery
photo by Jeanne Papy
Jim’s sister, Dr. Dorothy Kingery, netted over $1 million when she engaged Sotheby’s to auction off some of Jim’s finest treasures, including a set of nine pastel drawings by early American female artist Henrietta Dering Johnston, the ormolu coach fitting from Napoleon I’s coronation coach, a Spanish-made silver-gilt and turquoise dagger reputedly used in the murder of Rasputin, and a Fabergé document casket presented by Czar Nicholas II to the Shah of Persia around 1899. Dr. Kingery also listed Mercer House with Sotheby’s in 1999 at a price of nearly $9 million, but it was eventually taken off the market. In the past few years, Mercer House has been open for tours and shopping in the old carriage house.
James Arthur Williams’ grave
The life of Jim Williams came to an inglorious finish. His unwise relationship with Danny ended tragically, his reputation was permanently damaged, his life ended prematurely at age 59, his fortune was diminished by a decade of defense against persistent prosecution, and the sister he disliked was enriched by his financial success. Some said that he deserved this ending because of his crimes. Others believed that he was persecuted because of his sexual orientation. However, because of Jim’s tragic story, he will forever be identified with Savannah as its best-known citizen. His legacy includes not only splendid restorations of historic homes, but Savannah’s transformation into a tourist mecca.
Acknowledgements
I want to express my thanks to the more than 40 people who were kind enough to offer what they knew about Jim Williams, Danny Hansford and the four murder trials that Williams endured in the 1980s. Special thanks goes to Joe and Nancy Goodman, who were long-time friends of Jim and spent hours helping me understand how good Jim was to the people close to him; Spencer Lawton Jr., who shared with me his observations and strategy behind his prosecution of the Williams case, as well as documents he prepared to summarize it for posterity; Jeanne Papy, who permitted me to publish the excellent photos she took of Mercer House parties and some of the actors in the movie
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
; Jan Skutch, who provided me with important information about the trials and a list of people to interview; and Carol Freeman, whose enthusiastic characterization of Jim brought him to life for me. I must also thank my sister-in-law, Ulla Jensen, who accompanied me on many of the interviews.
This book and the Crimescape series of short nonfiction crime books would not exist if it had not been for the encouragement and marketing efforts of my agent and the CEO of RosettaBooks, Arthur Klebanoff. Special thanks also goes to Tracy Majka for her critical reading of the manuscript, and her counsel on style and editing.
I am also grateful to the following people who shared their stories with me over the past few years: Alison (Ali) Fennell, Mykell Holdren, Randy Shuman, David Sands, Kenneth Worthy II,
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