Retired judge, prosecutor re-examined Atlanta child murders case a decade ago

ATLANTA — After Atlanta's mayor and police chief announced they were going to re-examine the evidence in the Atlanta missing and murdered children case, Channel 2 Action News learned this is not the first time the case has had a second look.

Two retired courtroom leaders looked closely at the case and evidence more than 10 years ago.

Retired Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore told a Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that she hopes advances in DNA testing that will lead to a more definitive picture in case.

[READ: Prime suspect in Atlanta Child Murders 'ready and willing to cooperate']

Over a two-year period from 1979 to 1981, at least 25 African-American children were killed in areas around Memorial Drive. Several other adults were killed around the same time. A total of 31 people were killed.

Atlanta native Wayne Williams was convicted in the deaths of two adults in 1981. A police recruit heard the splash of a body hitting the Chattahoochee River, which led to Wayne Williams' arrest. It was the last body recovered in the case.

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Police also think he is responsible for at least 22 of the children's deaths, though he has never been tried for them. Williams has maintained he never murdered any children.

Williams is the only man ever tried and convicted in connection with the Atlanta child murders.

Moore and retired Deputy District Attorney Bettieanne Hart told Winne that roughly 12 years ago, they were together in court on the Wayne Williams case.

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“I was hoping that this would provide a breakthrough,” Moore said. “I did order the testing or the retesting.”

The two told Winne they had hoped new DNA technology could yield new answers in the case that was already about 24 years old at the time.

“I never met either victim in my life,” Williams said during his trial.

Moore told Winne that she had high hopes when she signed an order for the testing, to which the DA's office and attorneys for Williams had agreed.

[READ: Police sets up dedicated phone line for tips in 'Atlanta child murders' case]

“As judges, we always instruct the jury that the object of all legal investigation is the discovery of the truth,” Moore said.

“DNA from animal hair found on five of the victims was compared to hair from Williams’ dog, Sheba,’” Hart said

That led to an estimate that only one in 100 dogs contained a genetic combination found in the hairs on the five victims and Sheba.

“Testing showed that Wayne Williams’ dog cannot be excluded from the hair,” Hart said.

[READ: Lawyer: Reopening Atlanta child murder case won't link his client to more crimes]

She said an expert even told her all the hairs could be narrowed down to one litter.

“I certainly couldn’t send a man to prison for the rest of his life based on how many dogs might have been involved,” attorney Lee Sexton told Winne.

Sexton represented Williams in the past in efforts to be freed and likely will again.

“If the trial were held today, Wayne Williams never would’ve been convicted,” Sexton said.

Hart said blood from Williams’ car yielded no DNA and human hair found on one victim was not definitively linked or excluded from Williams.

[READ: Police to reopen and retest evidence in Atlanta child murders case]

“You’ve been through the case file?” Winne asked Hart.

“I have,” Hart said.

“There’s evidence in there that was never made public?” Winne asked Hart.

“That’s true,” Hart said.

“Does it point to Wayne Williams?” Winne asked Hart.

“Yes,” Hart said.

“Then why has no one ever seen that evidence?” Sexton asked.

In an order from 2011, another judge denied Williams’ motion for a new trial, citing DNA testing.

Moore said she had retired by then, but still believes the families of victims for whom Williams was never tried deserve more answers.

Cox Media Group