The DEADLY SINS of Manling Williams who killed her own kids and husband!
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One of the most tragic and shocking murder cases I've ever seen is this one -- Manling Williams murdered her children in their beds, and then attacked her husband 97 times with a sword...but she took a break between murdering her kids and killing her husband to go our for drinks with some friends!
Frank GIrardot, award winning journalist, was on this case from day one, and when I proposed writing a mini-book about this case, he was eager to have this story reach a broader audience. We suggested this case to the producers of DEADLY SINS on Investigation Discovery, and on February 1st, 2014, this story will be portrayed and discussed on national TV thanks to Darren Kavinoky and the entire DEADLY SINS production team.
Yes, Frank and I provide commentary for the episode, and yes, we have put together a special true crime ebook for those of you who want to know even more about this shocking story. Both the ebook and the TV episode will debut Saturday February 1st, the same day that Frank is our guest on True Crime Uncensored on Outlaw Radio!
Williams went to trial in November 2010 with Pomona Superior Court Judge Robert M. Martinez presiding. The prosecutor Deputy District Attorney, Stacy Okun-Wiese and Deputy District Attorney, Pak Kouch successfully argued that the murder of the boys and the husband was a ploy for Man-ling Tsang Williams to get back together with her former boyfriend.
The jury deliberated for 8 hours before coming back and finding her guilty on all three counts of murder in the 1st. The jury also found her guilty of the special circumstances of lying in wait and multiple murders.
Lying in wait is a new one for me, but upon reflection it certainly suited the crime. She waited until the boys and her husband were asleep and totally vulnerable before she killed them.
The jury, however, was hung regarding the death penalty versus life imprisonment. They were split 8-4 with more in favor of the death penalty.
Man-ling Tsang Williams had to go back to court on April 18, 2011 for a second penalty phase jury. Her defense attorneys Haydeh Takasugi and Tom Althaus did their very best to portray their client as worthy of being spared the death penalty.
Althaus told the court that the murders were not calculated executions, but a “sudden mistake.” *snort*
“There’s no basis for the prosecution’s contention that these murders were planned,” Althaus said. He went on to portray Man-ling Tsang Williams as being in a state of “extreme mental and emotional disturbance” when she killed her husband and sons.
“There’s no good explanation why it happened,” Althaus said. That is true. But then he continued to say that prior to the killings, Man-ling Tsang Williams was “a kind, generous, troubled woman who loved her husband and children.