Governor Bob Taft News Release

TAFT STATEMENT ON WILLIAMS CLEMENCY

COLUMBUS (October 24, 2005) – Governor Bob Taft today issued the following statement concerning the clemency of Willie J. Williams, Jr.:

“During the early morning hours of September 2, 1991, Mr. Williams brutally murdered four young men. The execution-style killings of Alfonda Madison, William Dent, and Eric Howard were part of Mr. Williams’ plan to take control over the drug trafficking business in his neighborhood. Mr. Williams killed Theodore Wynn, an acquaintance of the others, to avoid being identified. A jury convicted him of four counts of Aggravated Murder, Kidnapping, and Burglary, and he was sentenced to death.

“Since his conviction, Mr. Williams’ case has been exhaustively litigated in both state and federal courts, and these courts have upheld his convictions and sentence. “Mr. Williams did not request executive clemency and has shown no remorse for his crimes. His attorney attended the clemency hearing, but indicated only that Mr. Williams did not wish to participate in the clemency process.

“The Ohio Parole Board thoroughly considered Mr. Williams’ case in anticipation of his pending execution date. The Parole Board unanimously recommended (7-0) a denial of executive clemency, noting that the ‘aggravating circumstance of a wanton, calculated, horrific, cold-blooded, execution-style killing of four (4) defenseless young men greatly outweighs any proffer of mitigation.’

“Following a thorough review of the judicial opinions, the report and recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board, recommendations from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office, and other relevant materials, I can find no compelling reason to grant clemency.

“May God bless the families and friends of Alfonda Madison, Theodore Wynn, William Dent, and Eric Howard.”

ProDeathPenalty.com

Willie J. Williams, Jr., controlled the drug trafficking at the Kimmelbrook housing project in east Youngstown, Ohio. After an extended absence from the area, Williams returned to find that Alfonda R. Madison, William L Dent, Eric Howard, and others had taken over the drug trade at the Kimmelbrook project.

Williams wanted to regain control of the drug business, so he decided to rob and kill Madison and the others. Williams recruited three juvenile accomplices: his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Jessica M. Cherry; her brother, Dominic M. Cherry; and Dominic Cherry's seventeen-year-old "cousin", Broderick Boone.

On August 27, 1991, Williams bought walkie-talkies at a Radio Shack store. The devices had a combined microphone-earphone earpiece that left the user's hands free. He also bought batteries and duct tape. Williams, Dominic, and Broderick later tested the walkie-talkies.

Before the murders, Williams outlined his plan to his three accomplices. During this meeting, he drew interior and exterior diagrams of Madison's house. He later ordered Dominic to burn these diagrams, but Dominic burned only one copy. In addition, Williams supplied each accomplice with a gun.

On September 1, 1991, Jessica met with Madison and discussed a drug deal. Later that night, Williams and his three accomplices arrived at Madison's home by car. Williams armed the three juvenile accomplices with guns and a walkie-talkie and sent them inside, while he waited outside with a walkie-talkie.

Once inside, the three accomplices drew their guns on Madison, then, after receiving word via walkie-talkie that the situation was secure, Williams, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, entered the house carrying a duffel bag containing handcuffs, duct tape, and gloves. Inside, Williams handcuffed and bound Madison and put tape over his mouth.

Thirty to forty-five minutes later, Theodore Wynn, Jr., a recently discharged Air Force sergeant, came to the door looking for Madison and Howard, who were roommates. Jessica answered the door and told Wynn that Madison was not home and Howard was asleep. As Wynn walked back towards his car, Williams told Jessica to call Wynn back into the house because Wynn could identify them. Inside the house, Williams held Wynn at gunpoint and handcuffed him.

Upon orders from Williams, Jessica walked to a pay phone and called William Dent for the purpose of luring him to the house. When Dent arrived with Howard, Williams and his accomplices ambushed them and forced them to lie down in the bathroom. Williams strangled Madison and Wynn, and then instructed Jessica to turn up the stereo. Going from room to room, Williams shot each of the four victims in the head with Madison's gun.

The group left Madison's home but Williams, according to Jessica, went back in “to make sure they were all dead”. Later, back at his apartment, Williams embraced his juvenile accomplices and rewarded them with drugs. He warned them not to tell anyone what they had done or he would kill them.

The next day, September 2, 1991, Williams and Jessica were driving down the street when another car rammed theirs and the people in the other car shot at them. Jessica and Williams fled the scene.

When they returned to the vicinity of the accident, officers transported them to the Youngstown Police Department and later released them after questioning them about the traffic accident. Later that night, Williams, Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick fled to Pennsylvania. They returned to the Youngstown area and parted company.

On September 24, 1991, Dominic turned himself in, and gave a statement about the murders. Later, officers arrested Jessica and Broderick, and the latter also gave statements.

Following their arrests, Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick were held at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. Williams was later arrested in connection with the murders.

On 10/15/91, shortly after being arrested, he escaped from jail. While a fugitive from justice, a Mahoning County Grand Jury indicted Williams on four counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary.

On January 12, 1992, Williams and two other accomplices, Paul R. Keiper, Jr, and a juvenile named Eric Fields, appeared at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.

The three deceived a receptionist and were permitted to enter. Once inside, Williams held the receptionist and a deputy sheriff hostage, demanding to see Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick. After lengthy negotiations, Williams surrendered to authorities.

At trial, Keiper testified that Williams planned to kill the three juveniles because he knew that they had made statements to the police regarding the murders. The Mahoning County Grand Jury reindicted Mr. Williams on twelve counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary. In addition, each aggravated murder charge included two felony murder death specifications and one death specification for multiple murders.

The court transferred venue to Summit County. Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick all entered into plea agreements with the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office. All three pled guilty to delinquency by reason of complicity to aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated burglary, and complicity to kidnapping. All three testified against Williams. Williams had an extensive prior record of criminal activity and arrests.

A jury convicted Williams on all counts and specifications. The trial court merged the twelve aggravated murder counts into four and the three specifications per count into a single multiple-murder specification. Following the sentencing hearing, the jury recommended death for each count of aggravated murder. The trial judge sentenced Willie J. Williams to death, and the court of appeals affirmed the sentence.

UPDATE: The Ohio Parole Board recommended that Gov. Bob Taft deny clemency to a man who shot to death 3 alleged rivals and their visitor in his Youngstown drug territory 14 years ago. "The aggravating circumstance of a wanton, calculated, horrific, cold-blooded, execution-style killing of four defenseless young men greatly outweighs any proffer of mitigation," the board's unanimous report said in the case of Willie Williams Jr. At a clemency hearing on Monday, the men's relatives detailed how their deaths still hurt their families.

A prosecutor said Williams deserved no mercy for shooting the men in the head, and defense attorneys said their client told them not to argue for it. The state pointed out several factors in their oppostion to clemency: The brutality and magnitude of the crime; four young men were shot in the head execution-style. No mitigation exists in the offense itself; several of the victims were lured to the residence prior to their murders, each was bound, and Williams enlisted juveniles to accomplish his premeditated plan.

On each of the four Aggravated Murder counts, Williams was convicted of three specifications; although merged by the trial Court at sentencing, the establishment of a singe factor on a single count was sufficient to impose a sentence of death. Williams has never accepted responsibility for the heinous murders of four individuals nor apologized for his callous actions. He is not asking for clemency. The aggravating and mitigating circumstances surrounding the crime were considered at trial, upheld throughout an appellate process lasting twelve years, and affirmed by each reviewing Court.

Williams, 48, is the first inmate to face death for such a large one-day mass murder since Ohio resumed executions in 1999. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Oct. 25. He has no remaining appeals. Four days is the shortest time within the seven-day time limit the board has reached a decision, prisons spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. Taft can either accept the recommendation or change Williams' sentence to life in prison without parole. Taft's legal staff will review the report, spokesman Mark Rickel said.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Do Not Execute William James Williams Jr.!

OHIO - William James Williams Jr. - Oct. 25, 2005

William James Williams Jr., a black man, faces execution on Oct. 25, 2005 for the deaths of Alfonda Madison Sr., Eric Howard, Theodore Wynn Jr., and William Dent in the home of Madison and Howard on the morning of Sept. 2, 1991. Williams’s girlfriend, Jessica Cherry, her brother, Dominic Cherry, and his friend, Broderick Boone, all testified to their involvement in the deaths. The three were tried as juveniles in exchange for their testimony against Williams.

Williams raised a number of issues during his appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio that he believed should lead to a new trial. Although the majority disagreed with Williams’ contentions, Justice Moyer wrote a compelling dissent that was joined by Justice Pfeifer. According to Moyer “the trial court failed to adequately protect appellant Williams’s constitutional right to be tried before an impartial jury.” Moyer states that “Vigilance is required to protect the integrity of the jury from infirmities that may sap and undermine it. Such infirmity is present in the composition of the jury that sentenced Williams to death. I would therefore vacate the conviction and sentence and grant Williams a new trial.”

The transcript of the prospective-juror-questioning clearly shows evidence that the seated jurors may not have been impartial. John Gombaski, later excused as a prospective juror, raised concerns that other prospective jurors were concealing possible prejudice. Gombaski explained that he was prejudiced by what he heard and believes that others also heard what he did. Additionally, Gombaski admitted to telling two other jurors what he heard. The trial judge erred by not further investigating Gombaski’s statement.

Furthermore, the questioning of the prospective jurors plainly confirms Williams’s contention that he was not protected from juror bias in favor of the death penalty. Juror Eddleman was seated on the jury regardless of her repeated statements that if parole was a possibility she would automatically “go with the death sentence.” In Williams’s case the choices of sentences were in fact various lengths of life sentences, all including the possibility of parole, or death. Undoubtedly Eddleman was biased in favor of the death penalty in this case. Because William James Williams Jr. was not tried by an impartial jury capable of sentencing him according to the law he certainly should not be executed. As Moyer points out in his dissent “This case represents a test for the criminal justice system.” If Williams is executed, considering the problems with his trial, the criminal justice system will have failed the test.

Please contact Gov. Bob Taft to request that William James Williams Jr.’s execution be stopped.

Ohioans to Stop Executions

Petition to Commute the Death Sentence of Willie Williams

We the undersigned urge Governor Taft to commute the sentence of Willie Williams. Mr. Williams is scheduled to be executed on October 25th , 2005.

“An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of human life. Morality is never upheld by legalized murder” - Coretta Scott King

We deeply sympathize with the family and friends of the victims, but we respectfully offer that another death will neither heal nor resolve this tragedy. Action petitioned for: We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our governor to act now to commute the death sentence of Mr Williams scheduled for October 25, 2005.

Please return completed petitions to IJPC, 215 E 14th St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, phone: 513-579-8547, fax: 513-579- 0674, or send directly to Governor Taft, 77 South High St., Columbus, OH 43215, fax: 614-466-9354. Thank you.

Finalities set before scheduled execution

At least 21 relatives were to visit the condemned man

By Jeff Ortega - Youngstown Vindicator

October 25, 2005

LUCASVILLE — Condemned killer Willie Williams will be able to meet with family members this morning, just hours before he is scheduled to be put to death for the execution-style slayings of four men in Youngstown in 1991 in what became known as the "Labor Day Massacre."

Williams, 48, also known as "Flip," arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at 9:48 a.m. Monday from the Mansfield Correctional Institution where he had been held, said Larry Greene, an SOCF spokesman. Until his scheduled execution at 10 a.m. today, Williams is expected to spend most of his time in a holding cell just steps from the Death Chamber, where he is to die by lethal injection, prison officials said. "He seems to be in a calm, positive frame of mind," Greene said. "He is in good spirits."

Williams met with family in cell-front visits from about 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Greene said. Williams was set to meet in so-called "contact visits" — visits without any partition or barrier — from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Greene said. Prison officials said at least 21 family members were to meet with the convicted killer Monday. The visitors included his mother, Joyce Williams, his sister, June Williams, and various children and other family members, according to prison officials. Williams was also to meet with a prison spiritual or religious adviser, Greene said.

Taft denies clemency

Earlier Monday, Republican Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency for Williams. Taft said he reviewed the material, including the report from the Ohio Parole Board that urged the governor to deny clemency for Williams. "Following a thorough review of the judicial opinions, the report and the recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board, recommendations from the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Mahoning County prosecutor's office and other relevant materials, I can find no compelling reason to grant clemency," the governor said in a statement.

Williams declined a "special meal," prison officials said. But he will be allowed to eat whatever the prison serves for breakfast this morning, they said. Williams will have access to a Bible and Quran in his holding cell. Joe Wilhelm, Williams' lawyer and chief of the death penalty section for the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said, at his client's request, he will not attend the execution and that no further legal fights are planned. "We discussed it and he declined," Wilhelm said.

The process

Today, after Williams is prepared by the prison's execution team and after he is led into the death chamber, three fluids will be injected into his veins as the death sentence is carried out, according to officials. First, prison officials said, sodium pentothal will be injected to render Williams unconscious; then, pancuronium bromide will be injected to stop his breathing; and finally potassium chloride will be injected to stop his heart. Prison officials were still trying to finalize late Monday who will witness Williams' execution, representing both Williams and his victims.

Recap of the crime

Williams, who authorities said used to control a major drug-trafficking operation on Youngstown's North and East sides, was convicted in the killing of William "Lamont" Dent, Alfonda "Al" R. Madison Sr. and Eric Howard as part of what authorities say was a drug-related dispute. Williams also was convicted of killing Theodore "Teddy" Wynn Jr., who authorities say was an acquaintance of one of the other victims. The four were found dead in a Youngstown home. Three teen accomplices aided Williams, investigators said. Each victim was killed with gunshots to the head, according to investigators.

After Williams' capture, he and other prisoners escaped from the Mahoning County Jail, court records say. After months on the run, Williams surrendered to authorities in early 1992 after he and other accomplices armed with guns and explosives invaded the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. At the time, the JJC held the three teen accomplices who were to testify against Williams, investigators and court records say. In August 1993, a jury convicted Williams on multiple charges including aggravated murder and sentenced him to death. State and federal courts have upheld Williams' conviction and death sentences.

Since 1999, Ohio has executed 17 men, state officials say. The latest was Herman Dale Ashworth on Sept. 27. He was convicted of aggravated murder in Licking County.

State to execute cocaine dealer who killed four men

Canton Repository

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — With no legal obstacles remaining, the state prepared to execute a former cocaine dealer convicted of murdering four men in a bid to seize control of the drug trade in a Youngstown housing project. Willie Williams Jr., 48, was to die by injection Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

He was transferred to the prison from Mansfield Correctional Institution on Monday and spent three hours visiting with some two dozen friends and relatives, including his mother, a sister and a son and daughter, a prison spokesman said. Williams opted not to request the customary special dinner that condemned inmates are allowed to choose before execution, said Larry Greene, an assistant to Warden Edwin Voorhies Jr. Greene said Williams had asked only for a cup of coffee. The prison system’s director of religious services met with Williams, said Greene, who described Williams’ demeanor as reserved but “positive.”

Saying Williams had shown no remorse for the slayings, Gov. Bob Taft on Monday declined to commute the inmate’s sentence to life in prison without parole, removing the last legal barrier to execution. Williams had not asked for clemency and the Ohio Parole Board earlier had unanimously recommended against it.

Prosecutors, police and court records depicted Williams as a strongman in the Youngstown underworld. When the state of California released him after a five-year sentence for cocaine trafficking, Youngstown officials tried to block his return by asking California officials to limit his probation to the West Coast. Upon his return to Ohio, Williams walked into a police station asking for information about some of his rivals, which he didn’t get. Nevertheless, he managed to catch three of his rivals at home, authorities said.

The three — William Dent, Alfonda Madison and Eric Howard — were involved in drugs, police said. The fourth victim, Theodore Wynn, was a recently discharged Air Force sergeant who was visiting Madison and Howard. Two of the victims were strangled, and all were shot in the head. Police arrested Williams soon after the Sept. 1, 1991, slayings, but he escaped from jail a month later. He was recaptured three months after that when he took hostages in the lobby of a juvenile lockup in what authorities said was an attempt to kill three accomplices who cooperated with police against him.

The trial was moved from Mahoning County to Summit County, where jurors convicted Williams of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated burglary. Williams’ trial attorney, J. Gerald Ingram, said the judge didn’t adequately address concerns that some jurors heard rumors about the case and some may have been worried about courtroom security. Williams lost state court appeals in which his lawyers claimed prosecutors were able to stack the jury with people who favored the death penalty. Last year, a federal appeals court declined to overturn those rulings, although a dissenting judge said he would have thrown out the conviction because it appeared Williams’ right to an impartial jury had been violated.

Williams would be the third person to be put to death in Ohio this year and the 18th since the state resumed executions in 1999. Two more inmates are slated for execution next month.

Notorious felon finally caught, will be executed

By Thomas J. Sheeran - Bowling Green News

Associated Press - October 24, 2005

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - In a city once called the nation's crime capital, drug dealer Willie J. "Flip" Williams Jr. pictured himself as a modern-day successor to the underworld bosses. Short but proud, authorities say Williams brought a formidable persona to Youngstown’s streets: smart, brash and vicious. A felon the city couldn’t ban, he once walked into police headquarters, pronounced himself reformed and asked for information on drug rivals, getting none.

Williams, 48, was convicted of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated burglary in the Sept. 1, 1991, slayings of three suspected drug dealers and a fourth young man who had recently been discharged from the Air Force. He is to be executed today by lethal injection. State and federal appeals courts rejected Williams' appeal of his conviction and death sentence. Williams did not ask for clemency from Gov. Bob Taft.

The evidence against Williams included the eyewitness testimony of three accomplices who pleaded guilty. In addition, when Williams was arrested shortly after the deaths, a test showed he had recently used a gun.

Williams escaped soon after his arrest and three months later broke into a juvenile detention center, taking hostages before surrendering with no one hurt. Police think he wanted to kill his three cohorts for testifying against him. Williams was kept out of the juvenile detention cell block when a quick-thinking employee, on her fifth day on the job, lied to him, saying she didn’t have the keys.

Williams, who turned down interview requests, earned notoriety at a time of rising street violence in Youngstown, with drug dealers flashing Uzi submachine guns and the murder rate ballooning.

Ohio Executes Cocaine Dealer for Killings

By Joe Danborn - Salon.com

Associated Press - October 25, 2005

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- A cocaine dealer was executed Tuesday for killing four men in a bid to seize control of the drug trade in a Youngstown housing project. Willie Williams Jr., 48, died by injection at 10:20 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

Saying Williams had shown no remorse for the slayings, Gov. Bob Taft on Monday refused to commute the inmate's sentence to life in prison without parole. Williams did not ask for clemency and the Ohio Parole Board unanimously recommended against it. He was the third person to be put to death in Ohio this year and the 18th since the state resumed executions in 1999. Two other inmates are slated for execution next month.

Before Williams died, he winked and blew a kiss to his adult daughter, Jameka, and thanked her and his brother and uncle for being witnesses. "I'm not going to waste no time talking about my lifestyle, my case, my punishment," he said. "Y'all stick together. Don't worry about me. I'm OK."

Prosecutors, police and court records depicted Williams as a strongman in the Youngstown underworld. When California released him after a five-year sentence for cocaine trafficking, Youngstown officials tried unsuccessfully to block his return by asking that state to limit his probation to the West Coast. Williams' wanted to be like the dons of the Youngstown underworld who had battled for control of rackets as part of a feud between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh mobs, authorities say. According to police and prosecutors, he may have killed up to 10 other people but never was charged.

He caught three of his rivals at home in September 1991, authorities said. The fourth victim was visiting two of the others. The victims were variously bound, shot and strangled, a coroner ruled. Police arrested Williams soon after the slayings but he escaped a month later. He was recaptured three months after that when he took hostages at a juvenile lockup in what authorities said was an attempt to kill three accomplices who had cooperated with police against him.

Williams lost state court appeals in which his lawyers claimed prosecutors were able to stack the jury with people who favored the death penalty. A federal appeals court refused to overturn those rulings last year.

Ohio executes brazen killer of drug-dealing rivals

Reuter News

October 25, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A drug dealer who murdered his rivals and later broke into a juvenile jail to try to kill his accomplices in that crime was put to death on Tuesday, Ohio prison officials said. Willie "Flip" Williams, Jr., 48, did not ask for clemency and died at 10:20 a.m. EDT after a lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. He turned down an offer of a special meal the night before and had only a cup of coffee.

"I'm not going to waste no time talking about my lifestyle, my case or punishment. Mom, you've been there for me from the beginning. I love you. To my nieces, nephew and uncle I love you very much. This ain't nothin', I'll be OK," he said just before he was put to death.

Williams was the 988th inmate executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. It was the third execution in Ohio this year and the 18th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1999.

Williams had returned to his hometown of Youngstown in 1991 after serving a prison stint in California for dealing cocaine and sought to reclaim control of drug sales in a public housing project. In one brazen move, Williams went to the local police station and tried unsuccessfully to gain information about local drug dealers. In what became known as the "Labor Day Massacre," Williams enlisted the help of his 16-year-old girlfriend, her brother and a friend to set up the three men who had taken over the drug trade. William Dent, Alfonda Madison and Eric Howard were bound, along with a friend who came to visit, recently discharged Air Force Sgt. Theodore Wynn, and Williams strangled or shot them, prosecutors said.

Shortly after his arrest as a suspect in the murders, Williams and a group of other inmates escaped from a county jail. A few months later, he broke into a juvenile jail where his three accomplices in the quadruple murder were being held, apparently intending to kill them because they had cooperated with police. Williams took a guard and a receptionist hostage but was unable to get in and eventually surrendered peacefully.

The state's parole board described the murders of the four men as "wanton, calculated, horrific, cold-blooded."

Williams "did not request executive clemency and has shown no remorse for his crimes," Ohio Gov. Bob Taft said in ordering the execution to proceed.

Condemned killer saw himself as a gangland don

Ohio News Network

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- In a city once called the nation's crime capital, drug dealer Willie J. "Flip" Williams Jr. pictured himself as a modern-day successor to the underworld bosses. Short but proud, authorities say Williams brought a formidable persona to Youngstown's streets: smart, brash and vicious. A felon the city couldn't ban, he once walked into police headquarters, pronounced himself reformed and asked for information on drug rivals, getting none.

Williams, 48, was convicted of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated burglary in the Sept. 1, 1991, slayings of three suspected drug dealers and a fourth young man who had recently been discharged from the Air Force. He is to be executed Tuesday by lethal injection. State and federal appeals courts rejected Williams' appeal of his conviction and death sentence. Williams did not ask for clemency from Gov. Bob Taft.

The evidence against Williams included the eyewitness testimony of three accomplices who pleaded guilty. In addition, when Williams was arrested shortly after the deaths a test showed he had recently used a gun. Williams escaped soon after his arrest and three months later broke into a juvenile detention center, taking hostages before surrendering with no one hurt. Police think he wanted to kill his three cohorts for testifying against him. Williams was kept out of the juvenile detention cellblock when a quick-thinking employee, on her fifth day on the job, lied to him, saying she didn't have the keys.

Williams, who turned down interview requests, earned notoriety at a time of rising street violence in Youngstown, with drug dealers flashing Uzi submachine guns and the murder rate ballooning. "This was a big fish. It's very unusual for you to get somebody on the top of the food chain," said Kenneth Bailey, who handled the Williams trial in Akron as a Mahoning County prosecutor and now works in the Trumbull County prosecutor's office.

Youngstown police detective William Blanchard thinks the top was always where Williams wanted to be seen. Williams' short stature _ about 5 feet, 6 inches _ made him aspire to seem bigger, Blanchard said. Williams' role models were the dons of the Youngstown underworld who had battled for control of rackets as part of a feud between the Cleveland and Pittsburgh mobs. "He wanted to be the black Joey Naples," the city's one-time crime boss, Bailey said.

According to Bailey and Blanchard, Williams may have killed up to 10 other people in his career but never was charged. Williams typically would insist that his buddies also shoot a victim to make sure they were equally responsible, they said. Williams had a criminal record before he turned 18. He later was sentenced to five years in prison in California for cocaine trafficking and, upon release, decided to return to Youngstown. The city tried and failed to block his return by asking California to limit his parole to the West Coast.

Williams' request to the police chief for information to "get these guys" dealing drugs amounted to asking for police intelligence on his drug rivals, said Blanchard, laughing at the brazen tactic. Police said Williams used trusted associates to gather his top rivals, including William Dent, 23, Alfonda Madison, 21, and Eric Howard, 20. The fourth victim, 23-year-old Air Force veteran Theodore Wynn of nearby Coitsville, was visiting Madison and Howard. The victims were variously bound, shot and strangled, the coroner ruled.

Police at first said all four victims had been dealing drugs. Authorities backed off that contention, but the extra hurt had been done, Wynn's parents said. "What we're looking for is closure," said Theodore Wynn Sr., 65, a retired postmaster. His wife, Donna, 62, nodded in agreement. Their other children, Monica, 39, and Jason, 31, whose goal was to serve in the Air Force alongside his brother, also plan to witness the execution at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

Williams' defense attorney, J. Gerald Ingram, said Williams didn't get a fair trial because the judge didn't adequately respond to allegations that some jurors heard rumors about the case. Williams claimed there was insufficient evidence to convict him and said prosecution witnesses were inconsistent and biased. The defense also said testimony about the juvenile detention center hostage-taking should have been excluded from the murder trial. The Ohio Supreme Court said the hostage-taking showed Williams wanted to kill his accomplices _ an indication that Williams was aware of his guilt.

Ingram described Williams as polite, cooperative, likable and smart enough to submit questions to his attorneys during trial testimony.

Williams' relatives _ his mother, Joyce; a sister; and a son and daughter _ couldn't be contacted. Ingram said he didn't know how to reach them. The only phones listed in Youngstown under the name Joyce Williams are unpublished. At the time of his surrender, Joyce Williams was supportive of her son. "He's my child and I love him. I'll go down with him to the end," she told reporters. "He's going to face it like a man, very stoic," Bailey, the prosecutor, predicted of Williams' final moments. "With honor and dignity," Ingram agreed.

State v. Williams, 79 Ohio St.3d 1, 679 N.E.2d 646, (Ohio 1997). (Direct Appeal)

Defendant was convicted in the Court of Common Pleas, Summit County, of 12 counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary with each aggravated murder charge including two felony-murder death specifications and one death specification for multiple murder. Defendant appealed. The Court of Appeals Slaby, J., affirmed. Defendant appealed as of right. The Supreme Court, Lundberg Stratton, J., held that: (1) defendant failed to establish any juror misconduct; (2) defendant was not entitled to challenge for cause a prospective juror on ground that she was overly concerned about possibility of parole; (3) denial of defendant's challenges for cause were not an abuse of discretion; (4) evidence sustained convictions; (5) other acts evidence was admissible; (6) officer had probable cause to arrest defendant; (7) accomplice's motion to suppress his statements in connection with arrest and investigation into murders was not admissible; (8) grand jury commissioners' failure to file a certified duplicate of jury list with clerk's office did not materially affect a substantial right of defendant and did not require reversal; and (9) mitigating factors did not outweigh aggravating facts with respect to death penalty. Affirmed. Douglas, J., concurred in the judgment only. Moyer, C.J., filed a dissenting opinion in which Pfeifer, J., concurred.

Defendant-appellant, William J. Williams, Jr., controlled the drug trafficking at the Kimmelbrooks housing project in east Youngstown, Ohio. After an extended absence from the area, appellant returned to find that Alfonda R. Madison, Sr., William L. Dent, Eric Howard, and others had taken over the drug trade at the Kimmelbrooks project. Appellant wanted to regain control of the drug business, so he decided to rob and kill Madison and the others.

Appellant had three juvenile accomplices: his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Jessica M. Cherry; her sixteen- or seventeen-year-old brother, Dominic M. Cherry; and Dominic Cherry's seventeen-year-old "cousin" (i.e., best friend), Broderick Boone. On August 27, 1991, the appellant bought walkie-talkies at a Radio Shack store. The devices had a combined microphone-earphone earpiece that left the user's hands free. The appellant also bought batteries and duct tape. The appellant, Dominic, and Broderick later tested the walkie-talkies.

Before the murders, the appellant outlined his plan to his three accomplices. During this meeting, the appellant drew interior and exterior diagrams of Madison's house. The appellant later ordered Dominic to burn these, but Dominic burned only one diagram. In addition, the appellant supplied each accomplice with a gun. The appellant purchased Jessica's gun from a neighbor.

On September 1, 1991, Jessica met with Madison and discussed a drug deal. Later that night, the appellant and his three accomplices arrived at Madison's home by car. The appellant armed the three juvenile accomplices with guns and a walkie-talkie and sent them inside, while he waited outside with a walkie-talkie.

Once inside, the three accomplices drew their guns on Madison. Then, after receiving word via walkie-talkie that the situation was secure, the appellant, armed with a semiautomatic, entered the house carrying a duffel bag containing handcuffs, duct tape, and gloves. Inside, the appellant handcuffed and bound Madison and put tape over his mouth.

Thirty to forty-five minutes later, Theodore Wynn, Jr., a recently discharged Air Force sergeant, came to the door, looking for Madison and Howard, who were roommates. Jessica answered the door and told Wynn that Madison was not home and Howard was asleep. As Wynn walked back towards his car, the appellant told Jessica to call Wynn back into the house because Wynn could identify them. Inside the house, the appellant held Wynn at gunpoint and handcuffed him.

Upon the appellant's orders, Jessica walked to a pay phone and called and asked for Dent for the purpose of luring him to the house. When Dent arrived with Howard, the appellant and his accomplices ambushed them and forced them to lie down in the bathroom. The appellant strangled Madison and Wynn, and then instructed Jessica to turn up the stereo. Going from room to room, the appellant shot each of the four victims in the head with Madison's gun.

The group left Madison's home, but the appellant, according to Jessica, went back in "to make sure they were all dead." Later, back at the appellant's apartment, he embraced his juvenile accomplices and rewarded them with drugs. The appellant warned them not to tell anyone what they had done or he would kill them.

The next day, September 2, 1991, the appellant and Jessica were driving to pick up appellant's son in Youngstown when another car rammed theirs and the people in the other car shot at them. Jessica and the appellant fled the scene.

When Jessica and the appellant returned to the vicinity of the accident, officers transported them to the Youngstown Police Department and later released them after questioning them about the traffic accident. Later that night, the appellant, Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick fled to **651 Pennsylvania. The appellant and the three juveniles returned to the Youngstown area and parted company.

On September 24, 1991, Dominic turned himself in, and gave a statement about the murders. Later, officers arrested Jessica and Broderick, and the latter also gave statements. Following their arrests, Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick were held at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center ("JJC").

The appellant was arrested in connection with the murders. Shortly after being arrested, he escaped from jail on October 15, 1991. While the appellant remained a fugitive from justice, a Mahoning County Grand Jury indicted him on four counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary.

On January 12, 1992, the armed appellant and two other accomplices, Paul R. Keiper, Jr., and a juvenile named Eric Fields, appeared at the JJC. The three deceived a receptionist and were permitted to enter. Once inside, the appellant held the receptionist and a deputy sheriff hostage, demanding to see Jessica, Dominic, and Broderick. After lengthy negotiations, the appellant surrendered to authorities. At trial, Keiper testified that the appellant planned to kill the three juveniles because he knew that they had made statements to the police regarding the murders.

The Mahoning County Grand Jury reindicted the appellant on twelve counts of aggravated murder, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of aggravated burglary. In addition, each aggravated murder charge included two felony-murder death specifications and one death specification for multiple murder. On the appellant's motion, the court transferred venue to Summit County.

A jury convicted the appellant on all counts and specifications. The trial court merged the twelve aggravated murder counts into four and the three specifications per count into a single multiple-murder specification. Following the sentencing hearing, the jury recommended death for each aggravated murder. The trial judge sentenced the appellant to death, and the court of appeals affirmed.

The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right. James A. Philomena, Mahoning County Prosecuting Attorney, and Michele G. Cerni, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee. John Juhasz and Mary Jane Stephens, Youngstown, for appellant.

LUNDBERG STRATTON, Justice.

We have reviewed the appellant's nine propositions of law, independently weighed the evidence relating to the death sentence, balanced the aggravating circumstance against the mitigating factors, and compared the sentence to those imposed in similar cases. As a result, we affirm the convictions and sentences of death.

* * *

In Proposition of Law III, the appellant argues that his convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence and that the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. In our review of the evidence, our standard is "whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492, paragraph two of the syllabus, following Jackson v. Virginia (1979), 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560. After a thorough review of the evidence, we find it to be sufficient.

The appellant's accomplices in the murders all testified against him at trial. The appellant challenges their testimony as inconsistent, inaccurate, and biased due to their plea agreements with the state. All three testified that they saw the appellant shoot Dent and Howard. None of the accomplices saw the appellant shoot Wynn, but all three saw the appellant walk into the bedroom where Wynn was held, and all three then heard a shot.

Jessica testified that she saw the appellant strangling Madison in the kitchen. Later, Jessica heard the appellant say that he was going to kill Madison, saw him enter the kitchen where he was restraining Madison, heard the appellant say to Madison, "I'll see you in hell," and heard a gunshot. Jessica testified that the appellant told her to turn up the stereo to drown out the shots.

During the planning stages, Broderick heard the **656 appellant state his plan to kill Madison. During the murders, Broderick, who was guarding Wynn in the bedroom, also heard the appellant shoot Madison. Dominic testified that he saw the appellant walk into the kitchen area and shoot Madison in the back of the head.

This testimony, if believed, was enough by itself to convict. Further, the events that occurred on the evening of January 12, 1992 at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center are strong evidence of the appellant's guilt. After the appellant escaped from the Mahoning County Jail, he purchased a police uniform, armed himself, and used deception to gain entry to the JJC, allegedly with the intent to kill his three juvenile accomplices to the murders.

Paul Keiper, one of the appellant's accomplices on January 12, testified that the appellant told him that he planned to kill the three juveniles. Further, Jerome E. Gibson, a fellow prisoner while the appellant was awaiting trial at the Summit County Jail, testified that the appellant told him he had intended to kill his three juvenile accomplices with "explosives and guns" at the JJC. Physical evidence included duct tape and electrical cord recovered from the victims, the recovered murder weapon, slugs removed from the victims, and spent shell casings.

While it is true that there were inconsistencies in the testimony of the three juvenile witnesses, this evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the state. This court will not resolve evidentiary conflicts or determine credibility. State v. Waddy (1992), 63 Ohio St.3d 424, 430, 588 N.E.2d 819, 825.

The jurors had the opportunity to fully observe and hear the testimony of each witness. The defense pointed out inconsistencies in their testimony during cross-examination and in closing argument. It was up to the jurors to weigh these inconsistencies and assess the witnesses' credibility. When all the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the jury could reasonably have found the evidence sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant committed the crimes charged. Accordingly, we reject Proposition of Law III.

The appellant pled guilty before trial to an escape from the Mahoning County Jail and to the unlawful entry into the JJC. At trial, the prosecution introduced evidence about the appellant's armed entry into the JJC. In Proposition of Law IV, the appellant argues that this evidence violated Evid.R. 404(B) because the evidence was not needed to prove motive or intent and because it was offered solely to inflame the jury and to bolster the credibility of the three juvenile witnesses. Further, the appellant argues that the evidence should have been excluded under Evid.R. 403(A) because the prejudicial impact substantially outweighed its probative value. Ohio Evid.R. 404(B) provides:

"Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident."

Other acts may prove identity by "establishing a modus operandi applicable to the crime with which a defendant is charged." State v. Lowe (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 527, 531, 634 N.E.2d 616, 619. In this case, the incident at the JJC is evidence of modus operandi. It established a "behavioral fingerprint" linking the appellant to the crime due to the common features shared by both events. Id.

In both instances, the appellant sent others into the building first to create a diversion and to hold the victims at gunpoint, while the appellant waited outside until his accomplices had secured the situation. In both instances, he used at least one juvenile accomplice. In both instances, the appellant dressed in dark clothing from head to toe and wore a mask and gloves.

In both instances, the appellant carried automatic firearms. In both instances, the appellant handcuffed some of his victims' hands behind their backs and confined them in the bathroom. These examples demonstrate a similar **657 method of operation, thereby establishing identity.

Further, we find that the evidence of the appellant's entry into the JJC showed the appellant's intent to kill the three juvenile witnesses. Evidence of conduct designed to impede or prevent a witness from testifying is admissible as showing consciousness of guilt. See, e.g., United States v. Cirillo (C.A.2, 1972), 468 F.2d 1233, 1240; 2 Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn Rev.1979) 133, Section 278. The three juveniles were the only eyewitnesses to the crime. The appellant had discovered that the three juveniles had agreed to testify against him. The appellant had told at least two persons, Keiper and Gibson, that he planned to kill the juveniles.

Thus, evidence of the incident at the JJC was admissible to show consciousness of guilt. " 'It is today universally conceded that the fact of an accused's flight, escape from custody, resistance to arrest, concealment, assumption of a false name, and related conduct, are admissible as evidence of consciousness of guilt, and thus of guilt itself.' " State v. Eaton (1969), 19 Ohio St.2d 145, 160, 48 O.O.2d 188, 196, 249 N.E.2d 897, 906, vacated on other grounds (1972), 408 U.S. 935, 92 S.Ct. 2857, 33 L.Ed.2d 750, quoting 2 Wigmore, Evidence (3 Ed.) 111, Section 276.

In addition, the appellant argues that it was error for the trial court to refuse to give a limiting instruction. However, because the entry into the JJC presented substantive evidence of modus operandi and consciousness of guilt, we do not find that the court was required to give a limiting instruction. Finally, we find *12 that the probative value substantially outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury pursuant to Evid.R. 403(A) and State v. Morales (1987), 32 Ohio St.3d 252, 258, 513 N.E.2d 267, 274. Accordingly, we reject Proposition of Law IV.