Danny Williams
Real Name: Daniel Williams
Nicknames: Danny
Location: Galesburg, Illinois
Date: June 30, 1991
Case
Details: On the night of Sunday, June 30, 1991, Larry and Lois Williams arrived at their twenty-three-year old son Danny's home in Galesburg, Illinois. They were concerned because they had not heard from him in two days. Larry went through the back door of the house and found Danny dead on the couch in his living room. He had been shot to death; a gun lay in his hand.
Danny was the youngest son of his parents. For two years, he had managed distribution for his family's multi-million dollar apparel manufacturing company. He had recently bought his own house. It was the house that he would die in. After calling the police, Larry spoke with detectives. They believed that, based on the position of the body, the gunshot wound, and the absence of foul play, his death was a suicide. His family, however, believes that he was murdered and the scene was set up to look like a suicide. Larry did not believe that the gun would have landed where it did in his lap if Danny had shot himself. Larry hired Mike Turnquist, a private detective, to investigate the death. He found some witnesses whose testimony seemed to conflict with the official ruling.
The time of death was estimated to be 2:30 am on Saturday, June 29. However, a neighbor reported that she had seen him alive at around 10:30 am that day, being picked up by an unidentified woman. The police believe that the neighbor was mistaken about the day. They believe that she saw Danny being picked up by his mother on Friday. However, the neighbor was adamant about the day and believed that the woman was too young to be his mother. Several witnesses also reported seeing activity at Danny's house on Sunday, a full day after his supposed death. However, police again claim that the witnesses were mistaken about the day.
Larry believes that some of the physical evidence is not consistent with suicide. The bullet that apparently killed Danny had gone through his head and lodged in the wall behind him. However, when the bullet was removed, there was only one small spot which appeared to be blood on the paneling. The police noted that each case is different; there would not always be large amounts of blood found with a bullet.
Larry called in forensic scientist, Mark Boese, to investigate Danny's home. He used a laser luminescent scanner to find traces of organic matter, including blood. With the scanner, he found several traces of blood throughout the living room, even on the television set. This evidence was clearly inconsistent with a suicide.
The blood type was determined to be both B and O, and while Danny's blood type was B, there was no explanation for type O blood to be in the home. Along with the living room, the type O blood was also found in the bathroom sink and in Danny's jean pocket. A forensic serologist stated that the evidence suggested that another person was with Danny when he was shot. However, the police did not believe that the blood evidence was credible because the scene was contaminated. They also suggested that the blood could have been there prior to the shooting.
Boese later found a second shell casing in Danny's couch. Tests determined that it had come from his gun. The fact that his gun was fired more than once was not consistent with a suicide. When Boese tried to place himself in the trajectory of the bullet, he discovered that Danny would have fallen forward, towards the ground, if he had shot himself that way. Boese believes that Danny was killed somewhere else and that his body was taken back to the den, and arranged to make it look like a suicide.
Police interviewed Danny's girlfriend who claimed that he had contemplated suicide several times before. She said that six months prior to his death, he had placed a handgun to his head as if he were to shoot himself. However, he then shot the gun towards a wall.
Danny's family and friends still believe that he was murdered, but have no idea who might be responsible. Larry Williams is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in his son's death, which remains unsolved.
Suspects: A neighbor witnessed Danny being picked up by an unidentified woman on the morning of his death. She had dark hair and was between twenty-five and thirty years of age. His family believed that she may have something to do with his death.
Also, an unidentified man described as 5'4" with curly hair was seen at Danny's house the day after he died. Neither of these people have been identified and it is unknown what connection they may have had to the case.
Extra Notes: This segment originally aired on the September 29, 1993 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
Results: Unsolved. The coroner later ruled that his death could not be classified as a suicide or a homicide. His cause of death is listed as "uncertain". Sadly, Danny's father Larry Williams who was in the segment passed away in 1998.
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