07x01 - The Cheater

[bunniefuu]

the song is called the cheater here Bob

Cuban and the in men in the 1960s or

lead singer Walter Scott the cheater

became both his signature song and a hit

single but like so many others Walter

Scott was a one-hit wonder never able to

repeat the success with another song

after 14 straight years of performing on

the road mostly one-nighters Walter

Scott disappeared many believed that the

lyrics watch out for the cheater

weren't just words but an omen

the famous arch in st. Louis Missouri

stands as a symbolic gateway recalling

its role as the last stop for pioneers

before heading west later st. Louis

became a well-known stop along America's

music corridor which included Memphis

and New Orleans pop legends Chuck Berry

and Tina Turner launched their careers

here as did a local boy Walter Scott

Walter Scott was the lead singer for the

rock and roll band

Bob Cuban and the in men in 1966 the

group started recording and gained

national attention thanks to Walter his

stage presence and vocal range wall he

could have been doing the showrooms in

Las Vegas let's put it that way his

chops were so good

that last rehearsal we had I couldn't

believe it I mean a guy just blew me

away had no idea his voice it got him

good

eventually the band's signature song the

cheater reached number 12 on the

Billboard chart along with the notoriety

came the women he'd take a good-looking

guy and he's like a like a movie star

back then you know to a lot of women I'm

sure and you know he he liked the ladies

throughout the 1970s and 80s

Walter continued to sing with various

fans throughout the United States doing

what are called one-nighters this kept

Walter away from home for most of the

time

the song sold over main copies in my way

of saying thank yous the singing boy it

wasn't long before Walters life mimicked

the lyrics of this hit song watch out

for the cheetah

while water was married to his first

wife Doris he was having an affair with

a girl he met while on the road Joann

Calcutta it wasn't long before Walter

divorced Doris and married Joann

although his family didn't approve Joann

was false

she was false from day one everything

was jo-ann jo-ann jo-ann I still didn't

feel like I could trust her and I didn't

think she was good for a Wally but like

what could I do with Walters travel

schedule his second marriage didn't work

out any better than his first and he got

involved in a sexual relationship with

one of his dancers

Suzanne Flynn not surprisingly Walter

wasn't the only one cheating his wife

Joanne was having an affair with an

electrician Jim Williams whom she met

while he was doing some work in her home

she was really bad that thought to be

she was only about 10 12 weeks out of

the year Jim Williams was cheating too

he had been married to his wife Sharon

for 20 years it was like Peyton Place

everybody was running around with each

other's wives husbands in October of



terrible news Sharon Williams had been

in a serious automobile accident her car

had run off the road and down an

embankment just a few miles from her

home

when help arrived there was a grass fire

a foot high Berni beside the car bigger

Sharon was on the floor of the car she

was unconscious and barely alive

so around 7:30 that evening I get a call

from the Sheriff's Department told me

that my wife had been in a bad car

accident not to leave the house an

officer would come out and pick me up

there was only minor damage to the car

but Sharon had received a serious head

injury she was rushed to a local

hospital there wasn't much that could be

done her skull was fractured she never

regained consciousness the doctor comes

to me he said we can pull the plug let

her go or you can lay the plug plugged

in and keep her like this for years well

what are you gonna do

Jim Williams took her off life support

the following day no autopsy was

performed

two months later it was more bad news

this time for Walter Scott's family it

was Christmastime and Walter Scott had

just returned home from his concert tour

to spend the holidays with his wife and

children friends said that Walter didn't

appear to be himself that he was

distracted two days after Christmas

Joann Scott called police to report

Walter missing she said he had left for

a garage to get a new battery for his

car and that he had not returned home

the owner of the garage said Walter

never arrived

the next day the police found waters

automobile abandoned in a parking lot at

the st. Louis Airport but none of the

flight manifests listed Walter Scott as

a passenger

when Walter Scott was first reported

missing his father wasn't terribly

concerned Walter had a reputation for

taking quick trips out of town I didn't

figure him nothing wrong with it but my

wife says something wrong with water hi

Haley he'll be home here coming here we

come showing up the next day

Walter's parents visited their sons home

and was surprised by what they saw there

Jim Williams was sitting at the kitchen

table going through Walters jewelry case

he looked as if he was evaluating the

quality of Walters jewelry two of waters

g*ns were sitting on the edge of the

table

his third a 22 caliber p*stol was

missing and police learned the Jim

Williams car had been parked in front of

Joanne's home the entire night before

jo-ann insisted that Jim had slept on

the sofa

water was missing for only 24 hours

before Joanne called

Walter's manager canceling his

performances for the next nine weeks two

days later Jim Williams and Joanne Scott

drove to Pennsylvania where they looked

through the band's trailer for any

personal items Walter may have left

behind while there they shared a motel

room

we stay in a hotel together she was in

this bed and I was in this bed she never

to hurt rose up I took my shirt off I

have a t-shirt on

the search for water Scott continued

throughout the spring and summer no

family member or fellow musicians had

seen or heard from him the trail had

turned cold I had doubts I really did I

had doubts that we would ever find him I

held out I thought that Wally had taken

off the last thing in my mind was that

something had happened to him

desperate for any help she could find

Walters mother even consulted a psychic

and he told me that he's in cold cold

water it's not moving water and there's

a big red barrel or something red by the

side of the road where he said and he's

not far from home it was then that mrs.

notice had an inkling of

err Walter might be and Jim William said

a red door on his house police searched

Jim Williams property but found nothing

suspicious nine months after Walter

disappeared Joanne filed for divorce

citing abandonment and adultery Joanne

then married Jim Williams at about the

same time there was some big changes

being made at the medical examiner's

office in st. Louis a forensic

pathologist was hired to conduct

autopsies on all suspicious deaths dr.

Mary case was the new forensic

pathologist so they asked me if I would

look at an old case that they had and

they brought me this was like a two-foot

stack of material

it was the Sharon Williams automobile

accident case the car accident was

rather a minimal front-end collision and

there was no explanation for why she

should have any kind of impact injuries

to the back of her head there were a

number of suspicious elements in this

accident the driver's side door was wide

open the driver's seat pushed back as

far as it could go yet Sharon Williams

was not a tall woman there was no damage

to the car's fuel line yet a grass fire

burned near the car and in the emergency

room nurses reported a strong smell of

gasoline on Sharon's body

with so many unanswered questions dr.

case ordered Sharon Williams body

exhumed for an autopsy

the body told a far different story than

the accident report there were two blunt

impacts to the back of her head

that caused vertical lacerations and

very massive skull fracture

this is not consistent when they had on

collision of a very minor nature so her

death was then considered a homicide

dr. case believes that a pipe or crowbar

caused these head injuries not the

automobile accident but who had

orchestrated Sharon's death to look like

an accident

I didn't k*ll Sharon Williams but police

weren't too sure

once Sharon Williams death was ruled a

homicide her ex-husband Jim became the

prime suspect police also suspected that

Walter Scott's disappearance was somehow

connected by this time Walter had been

missing for three years when police

heard that Jim Williams estranged son

Jimmy was serving time in a Florida

prison for an unrelated crime they

decided to pay him a visit during

questioning

Jimmy jr. made some provocative

statements about the 3-year search for

Walter Scott's whereabouts he was kind

of sarcastic he I guess was kind of

making fun of the police making comments

like you guys aren't smart enough to

figure this out it was cold rivers were

frozen the lakes were frozen you

couldn't the ground was frozen where

would my dad get rid of a body he was

very very suspicious that his father

built a flower box over the cistern and

that cistern has been exposed his whole

life police took out a warrant to search

Jim Williams home the cistern was in the

backyard covered with concrete there was

a flower box on top

upon taking the cover of the flower box

we immediately notice that the cistern

was full of water

after looking down inside the cistern we

could see what appeared to be a body

floating on top of the water in the same

type of jogging suit that Joann had

reported Walter wearing the last time he

was seen after the body was removed the

cistern was drained

there were several large concrete blocks

at the bottom along with a sealed

plastic bag with Walters credit cards

and driver's license Walters body was

bound with a yellow rope the wrists were

bound the knees were bound and the

ankles were bound and there was a length

of that rope extending from the body

that had a large loop tight in surmising

that it was tied to some bricks that

were in the bottom of the cistern

Walter Scott's autopsy revealed he had

been shot in the back because of the

severe decomposition it was impossible

to determine what type of w*apon was

used

I didn't k*ll Walter Scott if I'm gonna

k*ll a man I'm assuming right between I

ain't gonna take a chance of missing the

heart sh**t him in the back

Walter's family believes that he was

m*rder*d at home I'll tell you the

reason why every time he'd come in the

house he took off his shoes when they

found his body he was fully clothed

even his socks were still on his feet

but no shoes

Jim Williams was arrested and charged

with the m*rder of both Walter Scott and

his wife Sharon Joanne Williams was also

charged in Walters m*rder kay and Walter

no Tyson tuned their son at the valhalla

mausoleum in st. Louis after three years

and a cistern under water they wanted to

keep his body above-ground with Kim

Williams and their ex-daughter-in-law

awaiting trial they believed the worst

was behind them or so they thought

you

kim williams and joanne williams were

tried separately for m*rder Jim Williams

trial was first prosecutors believe that

on October 19 1983 Jim and Sharon

Williams got into some kind of argument

possibly about Jim's affair with Joanne

the argument at some point turned

violent she was hit twice in the back of

the head fracturing her skull causing

massive internal bleeding

to make the death look like an accident

prosecutors say Jim placed Sharon's body

in her car and drove down the embankment

he then set fire to the grass nearby and

fled the scene before police arrived

with Sharon out of the way the only one

standing between Jim and Joanne was

water

the forensic evidence shows that water

was shot in the back with a

high-velocity pistols Walter's body was

placed in the cistern on Jim Williams

property there were no eyewitnesses the

m*rder w*apon was never identified the

rope which bound Walter Scott did not

match rope in the Williams garage

however witnesses saw Jim Williams

pouring concrete over the cistern and

building the flower box a few weeks

after Walters disappearance in 20-degree

weather during a snowstorm no one knows

how Walter Scott's car found its way to

the airport or how Williams got home

after his wife's accident

Kim Williams said he was innocent and

took the stand in his own defense for

the first time you revealed he had seen

Walter on the night he disappeared I

went on in the Ken doll supply come in

and I seen Walter standing over there

with some guy big guy and our big black

clothes and black hat you know they were

talking about the guys in the coat got

in a in a Cadillac black Cadillac and

Walter pulled a trotline but Williams

had no explanation for how Walters body

mysteriously found its way into the

cistern Jim Williams was convicted of

two counts of capital m*rder and was

sentenced to life in prison without

parole

with only circumstantial evidence

against joanne williams

her trial never made it to court in a

plea agreement prosecutors dropped the

m*rder charge against joanne in exchange

for a guilty plea to the felony charge

of hindering the prosecution joanne was

sentenced to five years in prison and a

$5,000 fine she was released after

serving only 18 months in his first

television interview since his arrest

Jim Williams still maintains his

innocence and now says his son may have

had something to do with Walters m*rder

how did my son know he was back there

Jimmy says it was a guess awful good

guess Kay and Walter no ties are

appalled but their former

daughter-in-law served only 18 months in

prison

there's only one person that would ever

get close enough to avoid to k*lling

without him even suspected it and that

would be joy and that's the reason I

think that Joanne was so in the shot was

Walter Scott is missed by his family

friends and those who loved his talent

his wit and his spirit I listen to his

records of time and golly when you walk

in the stores and it playing the songs

that he sang a long time it used to

bother me but it doesn't now makes me

feel good he really made it good in the

music business and but I still don't

understand how he can remember all those

words

you