Laron Williams

Deceased American Serial Killer

Laron Ronald Williams (1949 – July 7, 1985) was an American serial killer whose violent crimes spanned several years and left a chilling mark on multiple communities. Initially convicted for the 1977 murder of a prostitute in Nashville, Tennessee, he became a suspect in at least two additional killings. Williams's criminal journey took a dark turn when he escaped from prison in 1981, subsequently committing the murders of a police officer and a priest within just days. Ultimately, he was sentenced to death for each of these heinous acts but met a brutal end at the hands of fellow inmates on death row in 1985, just before he could face execution.

Quick Facts

• Born: Laron Ronald Williams, 1949
• Died: July 7, 1985 (aged 36)
• Place of Death: Hubbard Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
• Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma
• Convictions: First-degree murder x2, Second-degree murder x1
• Criminal Penalty: 10 years imprisonment (Wedlaw murder), Death x2 (latter murders)
• Details of Victims: 3–5+
• Span of Crimes: 1977–1981
• Country: United States
• States: Tennessee (possibly Georgia, Oregon, Washington, and Illinois)
• Date Apprehended: May 18, 1981

Early Life

The early life of Laron Williams remains shrouded in mystery, leaving true crime enthusiasts with more questions than answers. During a death row interview, Williams claimed to have been born outside the United States in 1949 as the second of six children, with a father serving in the Army. Williams stated that he rarely saw his father during his formative years due to the elder's deployment in Korea. After the war, the family relocated to Louisiana.

He mentioned attending high school in a place he referred to as “Newardton,” which seems to be a fictitious location as no such records exist in Louisiana. Eventually, he moved to Southern California, where he completed high school and allegedly spent a year and a half studying psychology at an unspecified college. Throughout the 1970s, Williams drifted across various regions of the country before ultimately settling in Chicago, Illinois.

Murders

Terra Wedlaw

In late 1977, Williams found himself staying at a friend’s apartment in the Pagoda Garden Apartments in Nashville. On October 18, he solicited the services of a 19-year-old sex worker named Terra Wedlaw, who had recently arrived from Tampa, Florida. After they engaged in sexual activity at the Capitol Park Inn, Williams committed an atrocity, strangling Wedlaw to death before fleeing the scene.

What’s truly chilling is that just weeks later, he was arrested for her murder when authorities discovered her birth certificate in his possession. While awaiting trial, investigators publicly announced that Williams was a suspect in two other strangulation murders of sex workers in Nashville: Mary Jo Corn (also known as Larisa Ann Marsay) and bank teller Bessie Wallace, both of whom were 24. These women were found nude, strangled, and with their hands and feet bound, eerily similar to Wedlaw’s murder, prompting authorities to investigate Williams for potential links to other unsolved murders in cities like Atlanta, Portland, and even his own residence in Chicago.

While at Metro Jail awaiting trial, Williams was attacked by fellow inmates, sustaining minor injuries that required medical attention. To prevent further incidents, he was temporarily transferred to another facility while investigators gathered evidence to charge him with the three strangulations. Ultimately, he was only charged with Wedlaw's murder. In January 1979, under the advice of his lawyer, Williams pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, eligible for parole after serving at least 4 years.

He was initially sent to Fort Pillow State Prison and later transferred to the Memphis Correctional Center in 1980, where he was placed in a work-release program to train as an electrical apprentice. However, his violent tendencies soon got him removed from this program.

Escape, Further Murders, and Recapture

On April 22, 1981, Williams made a daring escape by climbing over the facility’s fence and disappearing into the night. For weeks, he remained under the radar until May 12, when Memphis Police Department lieutenant Clarence P. Cox attempted to arrest him. In a desperate struggle, Williams managed to pull the lieutenant's gun from its holster, fatally shooting him in the head. The discovery of Cox's body the next day sent shockwaves through the community and initiated a massive manhunt for the now extremely dangerous fugitive.

Just two days after murdering Cox, Williams committed another horrific act in Jackson, Tennessee. He burgled St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church and shot 35-year-old assistant pastor Rev. John Jay Jackson, killing him in cold blood. Williams's violent spree came to an end three days later when he was captured by authorities at a restaurant near the motel where he had been staying.

Trial, Imprisonment, and Death

Following his arrest, Williams faced separate charges for the first-degree murders of both Cox and Jackson. Each trial resulted in guilty verdicts, and he was sentenced to die in the electric chair. His initial execution dates were set for March 15 and July 14 of that year, but automatic appeals to the Tennessee Supreme Court delayed the process.

During this tumultuous time, Williams gave a revealing interview to reporter Charles Thornton of the Memphis Press-Scimitar, where he maintained his innocence and expressed confidence that his convictions would be overturned. He even believed he would be a free man after serving just 1 to 5 years for the prison escape.

On July 8, 1985, everything changed. While participating in an exercise period at the Tennessee State Prison, Williams was brutally attacked by a group of fellow death row inmates. They beat him with their fists and with weights, inflicting severe injuries. Although the fight was quickly broken up, Williams was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

The motive behind this brutal attack was later revealed to be rooted in resentment; fellow inmates were angered by what they perceived as Williams’s excessive time on the prison phone. In the aftermath, two inmates, Cecil Johnson and Tony Bobo, were convicted of second-degree murder for Williams’s death. Their convictions were later appealed and reduced to voluntary manslaughter, leading to 8-year sentences.

Interestingly, Johnson was executed for a different triple murder in 2009, while Bobo, who had previously been on death row for murdering a woman, was later sentenced to life for the murder of another fellow inmate, Thomas Lee Crouch, after his original death sentence was commuted.

See Also

• List of serial killers in the United States

Sources

• "2nd death sentence ordered for convict". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 16, 1981.
• "Death Row Inmate Killed in Beating". Associated Press. July 8, 1985. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021.
• "Williams Says He'll Elude Execution, Be Freed When Convictions Reversed". The Tennessean. December 27, 1981.
• "Other Police Eye Strangle Case Queries". The Tennessean. November 5, 1977.
• "Strangle Suspect Move Bid Said Imminent". The Tennessean. November 7, 1977.
• "Chicago Man Gets Term for Murder". The Tennessean. January 5, 1979.
• "Escapee Sought After Officer's Body Found". The Tennessean. May 13, 1981.
• "Escape Sought for the Slaying of Memphis Officer is Captured". The New York Times. May 18, 1981. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021.
• "Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling" (PDF).
• "2 justices spar over Tennessee execution - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
• "State v. Bobo". Justia. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
• "Death of Shooter of Clarence P Cox Jr". The Tennessean. 1985-07-24. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
• "Article clipped from The Tennessean". The Tennessean. 1997-06-15. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
• "State v. James, No. M2004-00808-CCA-R3-CD | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2022-01-16.

For more details, you can visit the original Wikipedia article on Laron Williams.