Robert E. Williams

Robert E. Williams (October 14, 1936 – December 2, 1997) was an American spree killer who, in August 1977, killed three women: one in Iowa and two in Nebraska.

Early life Williams was born on October 14, 1936, in East Chicago, Indiana. He had five brothers and one sister. Both Williams and his siblings claimed their father was a violent alcoholic who abused his wife and children. When Williams was still young, his mother abandoned the family and he and his siblings were separated by welfare officials. From the age of 14, he lived in a succession of foster homes. He enlisted in the Army and was honorably discharged as a corporal in 1958. In 1971, he arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. A year later, he met Merrily, a white woman, whom he married.

On August 11, neighbors grew concerned when they saw Brooks' 5-year-old daughter wandering alone in the neighborhood. They began searching for Brooks and soon alerted the police. Officers entered the apartment Brooks and McGarry shared and discovered their bodies. Both women had been shot three times in the head and upper torso with a .22-caliber handgun. McGarry was dressed in her housecoat while Brooks was naked, with evidence showing she had been sexually assaulted. Police also found McGarry's 3-year-old son hiding under a bed. It was later determined McGarry's son had been in the house with the dead bodies for around eight hours. Both women were killed in the early hours of August 11. Police theorized that Williams killed McGarry first and then shot and raped Brooks when she came to see what was happening as she was worried McGarry was in trouble. It was later discovered that Shirleen Howard's husband, Donald Howard, had hired a hitman to murder his wife. Both Donald and the hitman were sentenced to life in prison for her murder.

Williams was also questioned in the 1974 murder of Patricia Webb. No link was found between him and her murder; he was questioned solely because he knew Webb. Williams was not charged with Webb's murder, and her case remains unsolved.

Trial On June 30, 1978, Williams was sentenced to death in the electric chair in Nebraska for the murders of Catherine Brooks and Patricia McGarry. The Nebraska Supreme Court later overturned his conviction for McGarry's murder and ordered him to be resentenced. Ultimately, Williams was never resentenced in McGarry's murder but he retained his death sentence for the rape and murder of Brooks.

Execution On December 2, 1997, Williams was executed in the electric chair at the Nebraska State Penitentiary for the rape and murder of Catherine Brooks. While being shaved in preparation for his electrocution, Williams was nicked and required first aid, which he found ironic.

Reactions from the friends and relatives of Williams' other victims were mixed. Brooks' brother, Stephen Rada, said he did not want to discuss his family's position on capital punishment or on Williams' impending execution. He said to reporters, "My family is not vindictive. They just don't want the constant reminder." Linda Ode, a friend of McGarry, said only God could know whether the supposed positive change in Williams was genuine. She also said Williams' execution would not make her feel better. She later said, "It's not going to bring Patty back, or Catherine or Mrs. Rowe. But it is something he has to pay for."

Williams was the last person to be executed in Nebraska by electrocution. In 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court banned the use of the electric chair as "cruel and unusual punishment". The next execution in Nebraska did not occur until over two decades later, when Carey Dean Moore was executed via lethal injection in 2018.