Kimberly Williams

>> A beloved grandfather is found dead from an apparent suicide.

“>> There's a pistol in his hand who's got a gunshot wound to set.”

He had been severely disabled for some time. He was plagued with depression and suicidal auditions for the bulk of his adult life. But those who knew him best find it hard to believe. >> I don't see him doing that. He said suicide is the one thing that God can't forget.

Ron was not physically capable. He could not have raised the gun up to shoot himself. After uncovering a message from the deceased, investigators questioned if this suicide is really something more sinister. He was saying he wasn't going to be made into a cuck in his own house.

“>> He said in essence if something happens to me have an odd top seat done.”

>> He was kind of sleepy, tired, acting strange that evening and our session was also cut short. >> I saw something was going on, something wasn't right between the two of them.

There might be a motive in the amount of about a million dollars.

>> March 14th, 2019, a little after 3 p.m., emergency services in rural Clearfield County, Pennsylvania received a panicked call from 46-year-old Kimberly Williams. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> What's the problem, Erl? >> [INAUDIBLE] >> State police and paramedics quickly arrive on the scene.

Kimberly directs them to the bedroom where they find the body of her husband, Ron Williams.

“>> When the police arrived, there was a determination that he could not be saved.”

He's in his hospital bed slightly elevated, like he would have been watching TV, that kind of angle.

And in his hand would have been the 22-pistol. And the bullet wound was in the right side, right temple area of his skull. The layout of everything in that room and the story that was provided made sense. >> Ms. Williams tells them that he had been depressed for a while. >> She said he had a stroke about six years prior and he was quadriplegic.

He had limited use of his right arm. Hasn't been able to really get out of bed or do anything that he used to be able to do. And so mentally he just didn't want to go on. >> She did state that they were arguing earlier in the day. She was in the living room and heard the shot went back, heard him gurgling and call police.

There were a lot of questions involved. And the state police had to look into different aspects of his background. But based on the statements of Mrs. Williams, based on the firearm being in the deceitings hand. Mr. Williams might have taken his own life. [ Music ]

>> Ronald Lee Williams Jr. was born on December 21st, 1969 in rural Pennsylvania. >> My dad grew up in Oceola Mills, Pennsylvania. He went to Phillipsburg, Middle and High School. He was incredibly intelligent. He's too smart for his own good and he has a very dark sense of humor.

But he also found enjoyment in a lot of the little things in life. Following high school graduation, Ron joined the Armed Forces. From a very young age, my dad was very interested in the military. Soon after returning from basic training, Ron met the love of his life, a local girl named Kimberly Hallman. My mom grew up in the Chester Hill area. She wasn't necessarily a popular kid,

but she was a nice kid. My mom got pregnant relatively soon after they met. I want to say just a couple months into it. >> The couple tied the knot in February 1992, and before long, their family had grown by two with the addition of daughter's angel and Miranda.

>> As their family grew, Ron shifted into a new career.

“He worked mainly on, like, logging equipment, but he anything mechanical.”

He was absolutely obsessed with. He built, like, the craziest Frankenstein cars you would have ever seen. [ Music ] >> While Ron's military career may have been in the past, it left him with a special interest in firearms. >> He liked shooting guns that was probably his favorite pastime, just going out to the range.

>> Two, like, take care of guns and, like, put them together and everything like that, I guess, was soothing for him.

>> Ron was a huge second amendment guy.

He was, like, an encyclopedia for knowing what guns are out on the market, what gun was used in what war. >> That was his passion. [ Music ] >> But nothing was more important to Ron than his family.

“>> We are very close knit family, and that's how my parents referred it.”

We would make it a habit to go out on Sundays to, like, the flea markets and do, like, anti-picking and stuff like that. And we would have family dinner on Sundays. >> By 2013, both of their daughters were adults and had moved out to start lives of their own.

After more than two decades together, Ron and Kimberly were enjoying life as empty nesters.

>> Until they suffered a major setback, he was at a gun show and Lewis Town with his dad. And apparently, when they were walking back to the car, he'd just sat down and said he didn't feel good. It was bad enough that they needed to rush him to the hospital. He ended up having multiple strokes that they couldn't diagnose as to why. Until they ended up doing a CT scan where they found out that he had bleeding in the brain.

He was still having active strokes. >> He was left to quadriplegic pretty much after the stroke.

“So he didn't have any use of both upper and lower extremities.”

[ Music ] >> Ron was dependent of a wheelchair. He relied on his wife to get in and out of bed. Also to complete his bathing and dressing and cooking any functional task. Ron relied on somebody to complete for him. >> To physically get him from point A to point B, there was a lot of physically lifting, moving, pushing, pulling.

Him like his whole physical body. He was start doing therapy and gain momentum and movement back. And then he would have another stroke and have to start over again. [ Music ] >> His family was devastated to learn those additional strokes had been caused by an error in Ron's hospital treatment. When someone is showing symptoms of having a stroke, they're supposed to follow a certain protocol.

>> There was a medication that the literature says should have been administered could have prevented the second stroke. And the second stroke is what rendered it most disabled. So Ron and Kim sued the hospital and the doctors.

>> The hospital settled and he received $1.4 million in compensation.

[ Music ] >> Ron and Kim really placed the money in a trust to be used for Ron's ongoing treatment. >> My first encounter with Ron was in the outpatient clinic when he came there. And I transitioned him into home health. >> With the trust, now he could get medical care for what he needed.

Meaning a proper van, proper wheelchair, proper lifts throughout the house. They're able to buy a new house. >> I originally met Ron by doing home health as an occupational therapist. Ron was a fantastic person. A person that had a lot of interest in getting better and improving his quality life.

>> We became even closer because of my dad's illness. He knew 24/7 care. No one's going to take better care of him than his own family. [ Music ] >> Kimberly stayed by Ron's side overseeing all aspects of his care.

Together the family worked to adjust to their new normal. >> Every day my sister would bring her son over.

And I think my dad was so set on the idea that he wasn't going to make it to see that.

“That he just became absolutely enamored with that little boy.”

>> He still had his moments, of course, but he loved his grandkids.

That was always the highlight of his time.

>> With his family's unwavering support, Ron seemed to be enjoying life as a doting grandpa. >> To me, the fact that he hung in there a few years without doing it. I just don't see that being like, I don't see him doing that. That's not he doesn't quit like that. >> Whenever the EMS police corners office arrived on scene,

the layout of everything in that room and the story that was provided made sense that it was a suicide. He had been severely disabled for some time. He liked to shoot guns. The gun was there on the bed. It was late next to him.

“>> These are members of the state police collectively with decades of experience.”

And every single one felt comfortable that it had been a suicide.

The deputy coroner, he generates a report as a result. And the body is removed from the scene. The case seems open and shut until later that evening, police receive a call from James Wilkinson. The man overseeing Ron's settlement trust. >> The trust officer said, hey, I received this email.

One to bring it to your attention. He had received an email from Mr. Williams earlier in the day. A few hours before he passes and the email said, in essence, if something happens to me, have an autopsy done. He doesn't know what, but he believes something is a miss. It might be something more than a suicide.

>> Coming up, Pennsylvania police open an official investigation. >> Miss you.

“>> Somebody, you're an animator. >> And detectives quickly learn of a possible motive.”

He had just let me know, like, hey, your mom's cheating on me. [MUSIC] Pennsylvania state police thought Ron Williams' death was a clear cut suicide. Now, a mysterious email has them questioning what really happened. >> It was obviously a concern to the state police that earlier in the day that this individual dies,

that he's sending the email saying something's wrong. It changed what was a presumed suicide into a murder investigation. [MUSIC] >> Investigators start by sitting down with a manager, James Wilkinson, to go over the details of Ron's trust.

>> The trustee was a company called NDC. They oversaw the trust, approved expenses. >> It could only be used for limited purposes, in this case, Mr. Williams' care. People caring for him, things in the home, different things he needs. However, Wilkinson tells detectives there were recent changes made.

>> Three months prior to Ron's death in December of 2018, Ron and Kim had wills drafted, such that the money in the trust upon Ron's passing would go to Kim Poutwright. >> If they were to divorce, though, Mrs. Williams would not receive any of the trust proceeds. >> At this point, the police are believing that there might be a motive in the amount

of about a million dollars for this to be homicide.

[MUSIC] >> Suspicion of Kimberly intensifies when Wilkinson informs police, she asked for Ron to be buried immediately. >> Mrs. Williams had contacted him, and in that conversation, she had stated that she had been through Mr. Williams' emails,

and she saw the email that Mr. Williams sent earlier in the day about there being a concern for his safety. And she said that there's nothing to worry about, and an autopsy does not need to be completed. >> It was very suspicious that what she would contact Mr. Wilkinson,

to tell him that, no, we don't need an autopsy. Usually, people do not oppose an autopsy being done. >> Well, law enforcement doesn't engage in coincidences if there's something that's lining up, they're going to investigate it.

So they take the body for an autopsy. [MUSIC] >> As the coroner gets to work, investigators bring Kimberly in for questioning. [BLANK_AUDIO] >> I'm sure for Dave Patrick.

[BLANK_AUDIO] >> And Kimberly Williams.

>> Please ask her, the million dollar question as you say,

as did you do it? Did you kill your husband? [MUSIC] >> I wanted him to stop hurting. I wanted him to.

“>> That's what you want, and that's what you got.”

>> If I was going to hurt him, it wouldn't have been him. >> Do you know what he saw today? Do you have a new idea what I saw? [MUSIC] >> Video of that interrogation you can see.

She's distraught and she's exhausted. Her reaction was entirely appropriate for experiencing something like she had experienced. [MUSIC] >> Kimberly insists, Ron's death was the result of a lifetime struggling with mental health issues.

>> She said that Mr. Williams had talked about taking his own life that he wasn't happy. And she said that he had actually been three or two and voluntarily committed at one point because of those statements. >> Kimberly says the situation became worse after Ron's strokes.

“>> It is very understandable how anybody would become the”

pressed living in that situation. [MUSIC] >> Kimberly insisted that Ron had become increasingly volatile, maybe to the point of paranoia. [MUSIC]

>> Was he afraid of somebody's video anatomy or? [MUSIC] >> The fact that Ron kept so many guns in the house added to her concern. According to Kimberly, Ron kept the gun on a tray on his bedside table. And even before he was paralyzed, he kept the gun under his pillow.

>> Mr. Williams had limited use of his right arm. But he had the ability to lift a limited amount of weight. She also indicated that Mr. Williams recently in the past had actually brandished the firearm by pointing it at her. [MUSIC]

“>> Kimberly says she finally reached her breaking point.”

And told Ron, she had to get him full-time care. >> It was my only choice to put many nurses at your only choice. >> I was my only choice. >> You put them in the nursing home all that money has gone. >> Yeah, but I don't pass about that.

[MUSIC] >> Her interrogation began at 11.30 p.m. on the evening where she lost her husband. She hadn't slept and they kept her there until almost 2 a.m. where she grew so frustrated, she stood up and said, I'm done.

[MUSIC] >> This is a room on home, I'll get a lawyer.

I did not hurt my husband and I never would hurt my husband.

[MUSIC] >> Although she ends the interview, Kimberly continues to cooperate with investigators. >> Mrs. Williams gave consent for her hands to be tested for gunshot residue. >> And her clothing that she wore that night, as well as

for electronic devices. If she didn't fire the firearm, then she had nothing to hide. [MUSIC] >> While Pennsylvania State Police wait for the results of Kimberly Williams gunshot residue test, they dig deeper into the suspicious nature of

her husband's alleged suicide. [MUSIC] >> The State Police contacted family to see what kind of relationship they had, what issues there might have been. And during the discussions, the State Police had with the two daughters.

The daughters confirmed that there were some marital issues between Mr. and Mrs. Williams. [MUSIC]

>> When he first became paralyzed, there was a lot more misplaced anger

and misinterpretation of each other.

taking care of him, I think he was more in love with her than before he was ever sick.

But that's not to say he didn't also complain about all the stupid little things that she didn't do exactly the way he wanted it done. >> There would be times where she would take it well. She would do what she had to without complaining. But she was actually a very vocal person about her resentment towards my dad.

The Williams' daughters also confirmed runs depression had gotten worse. >> Throughout the entirety of my life, my dad's mental health was pretty shaky.

“When it comes to the idea of suicide, I do remember one specific conversation”

where he actually brought that up to me, implying that he was worthless. [MUSIC]

But despite their father's struggles, they tell police they can't imagine him killing himself.

>> The daughters said Mr. Williams was trying to find new treatments or different things that might help him regain use of some more all of his extremities. So he was trying to find ways maybe out of the dark place that he was in. [MUSIC] >> According to the Williams' youngest daughter Miranda,

the main thing weighing on Ron's mind wasn't his paralysis or his depression. >> I'm not even sure how he organically brought up the conversation, but he'd just let me know, like, hey, your mom's cheating on me. [MUSIC]

>> During the interview with Miranda, she brought up that there was another man

in Mrs. Williams' life, Terry Carter, and it was confirmed that they were more than just friends. [MUSIC] So Kim had sparked a relationship with an old friend from high school who lived out of state. That friendship then blossomed into more romantic relationship. >> Kim's affair with Terry didn't really start until about September of 2018,

about six months before Ron died. >> Miranda said that her father would tell her that Mrs. Williams had left him alone to go spend time with her boyfriend. And she would often travel the North Carolina to see him.

“>> I think for anyone to betray the person they've been married to for 25 years,”

like that, isn't really excusable. And then you add into the equation that the man can't walk and depends on you to literally help him go to the bathroom. I can't really wrap my head around it. [MUSIC] >> But Miranda tells investigators the affair didn't make her father suicidal.

It made him angry. >> One of the conversations my dad had with me, he was saying about kicking my mother out and that he wasn't going to be made into a cuck in his own house. >> She says that Ron had threatened to divorce Kimberly. And if he goes through with it, Kimberly gets nothing.

[MUSIC] >> Miranda says the day her father died, he tried to get in touch with her while she was working at a local tattoo shop. He had actually messaged me that morning, but unfortunately I had already been running like hours late to work. And in his message, he was asking me to stop out to the house because he didn't feel safe with my mother. [MUSIC]

But that wasn't anything new between them.

“I wouldn't say he was delusional, but sometimes I think he really bought into the notion that anyone was capable of anything,”

including my mother. So I kind of brushed it off because there's no way I could have left work anyways. [MUSIC] And then the day kind of went forward a little bit. And I was actually like with a client.

And my phone just kept ringing and ringing. And then he sent me this text message that said emergency call me. So, frantically I started calling him back. Eventually my mom picked up and as soon as she picked up, I knew something really bad had happened.

The next thing I remember is finding myself like collapsed on the ground in front of the door to the tattoo shop.

When I considered what the text message actually said, like what he was trying to tell me,

“I didn't know whether or not I should take it as seriously as calling the police,”

or if I should kind of disregard it because of his mental state. I just didn't take it seriously enough to do anything about it. It took me a very long time to come to terms with the fact that even if I was there, there wasn't going to be any stopping it. Coming up, and autopsy confirms investigators' suspicions.

The firearm had to have been fired at least 48 inches away. And a possible new suspect emerges. He was aware of the trust, and he knew that she was the beneficiary of it.

“After speaking with Ron Williams loved ones, investigators are growing increasingly skeptical that he committed suicide.”

When police interview Ron's physical therapist three days after his death, they agree.

Ron never seemed to press to me.

Ron was always very upbeat. He was going to beat it. He was going to get other treatments. He was going to make it work so he could be there for his kids and grandkids. Ron never said anything about suicide. Never made any comment to me that he was feeling suicidal with anything. Like Ron's daughters, they believe Kimberly was the one who'd given up on a future with Ron.

Closer to the time of his death, she seemed very distant and didn't speak to me a lot.

And just seemed very demanding of Ron.

And I don't feel taking as good of care as she was in the past. I saw something was going on. Something wasn't right between the two of them. Ron didn't tell me in details of anything. His therapists say they began to suspect more than mere negligence.

“I don't remember the date, but it would have been right before his death.”

There would have been my last visit there. He was a little out of it, not acting correctly in my opinion. Ron was kind of sleepy, tired, acting strange that evening, so our session was also cut short. And I had asked Kim if she could also give me a copy of medications, maybe if there was a medication change. And she did become a little defensive and walked away from me. His therapists also questioned if Ron had the arm strength necessary to raise the weapon to his head.

Ron was not physically capable of doing that. Mr. Williams had limited use of his right arm. He had been having a use of his left arm or his lower extremities. And the bullet wound was in the right side, right temple area of his skull. He was very weak, the visit prior to when I had seen him. He would not have had the grip strength to pull the trigger.

I didn't feel that he was capable of completing that at all, just because of the mobility in the arm. I said there is no way, but I had to have been hurt. But detectives know it's all conjecture until August 2019 when the results of the autopsy come in. A process that proves more complicated than expected. The autopsy showed that the cause of death was the bullet to the skull.

And that caused the death of Mr. Williams. It's what the autopsy doesn't uncover that is caused for concern. He couldn't find any gunpowder stippling, which is gunpowder becoming embedded into the skin or flesh. He couldn't find any of that, so he sent the gun to the state police to have a test. One of the tests that they complete on the firearm was discharging firearm at different distances to see the pattern that stippling made and how much residue was left at different distances.

Based on his analysis of the wound, the pattern or lack thereof of stippling showed that the firearm had to be fired at least 48 inches away from the head of Mr. Williams.

So he concluded there was no way he shot himself in the head. It was a homicide. At this point in the state police investigation, there wasn't any other physical evidence.

“So the gunshot residue testing was important to get the results before proceeding.”

And with the case load that the crime lab has, it would have taken a number of weeks for it to be completed.

But finally, in October 2019, seven months after Ron's death, Kimberley's GSR results become available.

To detectives, the report leaves a little question who pulled the trigger. The test showed that there was the presence of gunshot residue on both Mrs. Williams left hand as well as on her clothing. After seven months of investigation, Pennsylvania police feel they have enough evidence to arrest Kimberley Williams for the murder of her husband Ron.

“The firearm could not have been fired by Mr. Williams.”

Mrs. Williams had GSR on her coupled with the affair and her being the beneficiary of the million dollars that was pointing to her being the one that killed her husband.

The Commonwealth in charge sure with murder aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly injuring another person. However, when officers arrive at the Williams' residence to execute the warrant, Kimberley isn't there. Based on statements that she had made before and the family had made before, it wasn't too much of a leap for the state police to believe that she was with her lover. After pulling Terry Carter's last known address, US marshals arrest Kimberley without incident in Fayetteville, North Carolina on October 16, 2019.

She refuses to talk, but her boyfriend Terry is more cooperative. Investigators find out that Ron and Kimberley had known Terry since high school.

When me and my mother finally had a conversation about him, she said that it was basically an intervention of God to have her and Terry connect the way that they did.

And that it was just purely for the love of the Bible and Jesus and everything like that, and then it moved on to something more serious. Mr. Carter told the police that Mrs. Williams would meet up with him whenever she was able to get away for a few hours or a day, and they would meet in hotel rooms. As time went on, however, Kimberley became less discreet. She would actually bring her boyfriend Terry to the house with Ron next door in the separate bedroom. There was some very weird ideology going on between my mother and Terry. They had this idea that Terry was just going to move in and they were going to all live together.

Mr. Williams knew about this other man. At some point Mr. Williams did reach out to Mr. Carter and asked him to stop what he believed wasn't a fair with his wife. But the affair didn't stop and Ron started considering his other options. He was not happy about her having an affair and was threatening to divorce her, but there was a stipulation that they would divorce. She would surrender any claim to that money.

“She had a motive that the only thing between her and the money and her lover was her husband.”

According to Terry, she'd mentioned tampering with Ron's medications in order to knock him out so they could spend time together. Kimberley's phone records confirm it. Police discovered their text messages between her and her boyfriend, where she told her boyfriend she tried to give her husband additional medications. That was completely consistent with what Ron's therapist told investigators about him seeming to be really out of it the last time that they had seen him.

But he denies any involvement in Ron's death.

“Terry took a polygraph test and passed it.”

Stay police were able to confirm that Mr. Carter was in hotel in Kyler town at the time this would have occurred. But Terry does agree to testify against Kimberley. To state prosecutors, the evidence seems undeniable, but that doesn't mean the outcome of the trial is a foregone conclusion. With any case, trying to determine or decide what the jury wants to hear what might be the pivotal moment we're testimony. That's the hardest part.

“In June 2021, two years after Ron Williams' death, Kimberley Williams stands trial for murder.”

The evidence it was presented was first and foremost the motive.

And that was the million dollar trust that Mrs. Williams was the beneficiary of if anything happened to one.

Additionally, we had the daughter Miranda testify that there was problems in the marriage that there was an affair with Terry Carter. We had Terry Carter testify as to the affair that was occurring. We had the testimony of the corner doctor camera who'd stated that the firearm couldn't have been fired by Mr. Williams. Kimberley's defense team attempts to cast doubt on the prosecution's case.

“Ron was a very controlling person. It's not hard to believe that Ron would attempt to control all aspects of his own death.”

And by sending those emails, he could attempt to have Kim help responsible for his suicide. A valuation of the forensic evidence comes down to a battle of experts. They brought in an expert to refute the corner and his analysis of the wound. The determination by the defense's expert was that the firearm could have been fired at a closer distance, a distance that could have potentially been within Mr. Williams' range and reach. According to the defense, the 22 caliber pistol Ron used was the perfect choice to overcome his partial paralysis.

The weapon itself, the Caltech 22, is a super lightweight pistol. It had a 2.3 pound trigger weight. So it's extremely easy to squeeze the trigger. It does not take much grip strength. They argue any evidence to the contrary was tainted by detectives handling of the initial crime scene. Because law enforcement felt that this was a clear cut suicide, they didn't make any efforts in their initial response to preserve evidence. They made no efforts to preserve the integrity of the body. Ron was putting a body bag along with the sheep and the pillows that were beneath him.

After six days of testimony, the decision is left to the jury. The jury deliberated for around two hours, and they came back with a verdict.

Kim was found not guilty of first-degree murder. She was found not guilty of third-degree murder, not guilty of felony aggravated assault.

She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person. Those are misdemeanor offenses. While it's hard to determine what the jury base their decision on, the argument was made that they came to that determination because she created the condition for this to occur. By giving him a firearm, knowing his mental issues. Because Kim released meant the past two years in jail awaiting trial, the judge sentences her to time already served. She is released with three years of probation and a $5,000 fine, which is taken care of by Ron's trust.

Invokes the Slares Act, which says that the person responsible for the death cannot collect.

“Involuntary manslaughter does not invoke the Slares Act.”

So Kim received the money. Per Ron's wishes pursuant to his will.

Me and my mother don't talk about what happened anymore. We don't even bring it up or hint at it or anything like that because the passing judgment either way won't ever bring them back.

“I love her, and I'll always love her, but I'm never going to look at her the same.”

Whether you believe he was murdered or suicide, it was a very tragic event.

People tell me often that there's just something missing now that's not really going to be able to be replaced. I myself, I don't think I found a place that feels quite like home, like being with my dad did.