#criminal investigation

On Dec. 16, 2000, Mike Williams (1º picture), 31, went missing following an early morning duck hunt at Lake Seminole on the Florida-Georgia state line. A search effort was organized by land, water, and air.

In the middle of the night the following day, Brian Winchester, Mike Williams’ best friend, and his father, Marcus Winchester, discovered Williams’ boat. By daybreak, authorities were able to take photos of the boat and the scene.

By January 2001, search efforts were reduced and by June of that year, Williams’ wife, Denise Williams, requested for her husband to be declared dead. Leon Circuit Judge John E. Crusoe complied with the request, declaring Williams dead by “accidental drowning.”

Denise Williams then collected on two life insurance policies totaling more than $2 million, one of which had been sold to her late husband by Brian Winchester. Almost five years after Mike Williams’ disappearance, Brian and Denise married. But the union didn’t last forever.The marriage officially ended in 2017, a year after Brian kidnapped Denise at gunpoint. Court documents showed Brian’s fear of what his wife may tell authorities concerning Mike’s disappearance were what drove him to kidnap her.He was sentenced to 20 years for that crime in December 2017, but two months earlier, Brian struck a plea deal for immunity in the death of Mike Williams with authorities in exchange for details about the case.

(his confession in audio format)

Brian said that he and Denise had been having an affair long before Mike’s death. In discussions with authorities, he said Denise “had two million reasons for this to happen,” suggesting the pair plotted the crime together, with plans to make it look like a boating accident.

“We would be together and live happily ever after and, as a side note, we’d have all this money and enjoy a wonderful life together,” Brian said from his prison cell at the Wakulla Correctional Institute. “Stupid, stupid 30-year-old.”

In May 2018, Denise was arrested.

if you want better and more details on the case this is a great video on it.