Author: Steven B. Epstein
Publisher: Black Lyon Publishing, LLC
Release Date: June 15, 2020
Genre(s): True Crime
Page Count: 350
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
I'd heard about this case often on shows like Dateline and 20/20 so I welcomed the opportunity for a deeper dive into the death of Mike Williams at Lake Seminole on that December morning in 2000.
Epstein, in his second true crime book, carefully sets out the case over the 18 years from Mike's murder until the case comes to trial and Denise Williams is finally convinced. It's a long road for Mike's mother who never believed Mike died on Lake Seminole that day. She wrote 2,600 letters to Florida Governor Rick Scott asking him to investigate the case without any success. She picketed on the streets, placed newspaper ads, bought billboards, and finally got justice for her son. Epstein does an excellent job of honoring her love for her son, and her commitment to the case.
It was an arduous process as well for law enforcement as they tried to put together the very slim trail of clues, with no body, and no cooperation from Denise Williams or Brian Winchester. As the years went by, they waited and hoped for a break in the case, and when it finally came, they were ready to file charges against Denise.
Except .... as Epstein points out often in his recounting of the trial, the State missed many opportunities to definitely nail down this case. The prosecution did not bring up the discrepancies between Denise and Brian's accounts of that morning. For example, Denise said that Mike was going hunting with Brian, and later claimed she had never said that. Brian went back and forth between explanations for that morning. The State also did not introduce the damning tape of Denise's questioning in 2016 when she exhibited no emotion or interest.
It was an arduous process as well for law enforcement as they tried to put together the very slim trail of clues, with no body, and no cooperation from Denise Williams or Brian Winchester. As the years went by, they waited and hoped for a break in the case, and when it finally came, they were ready to file charges against Denise.
Except .... as Epstein points out often in his recounting of the trial, the State missed many opportunities to definitely nail down this case. The prosecution did not bring up the discrepancies between Denise and Brian's accounts of that morning. For example, Denise said that Mike was going hunting with Brian, and later claimed she had never said that. Brian went back and forth between explanations for that morning. The State also did not introduce the damning tape of Denise's questioning in 2016 when she exhibited no emotion or interest.
At times, the witness box was a revolving door as investigators who had spent years on this case were questioned for just a few minutes. For example Detective DeVaney, who devoted more than a decade to the case. was afforded 23 minutes on the witness stand. I like to imagine that Epstein, a practicing attorney for 30 years, would have chomped at the bit to present evidence and question witnesses.
Epstein's writing style is immently readable and the story unfolds in a logical manner as we get insight and background on the major players .... with the exception of Denise Williams, who remains a riddle to us readers, as well as the court and prosecutors. She's an enigma wrapped in a mystery (to paraphrase Churchill) and she came within a hair's breath of not being charged for Mike's murder.
4.5 stars of "Evil at Lake Seminole" and I am pleased to have discovered Steven Epstein.
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