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Dana WILLIAMSON
Classification:
Homicide - Murderer
Characteristics: Juvenile
- Robbery
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: 1975 / 1988
Date of arrest:
May 1990
Date of birth:
September 18, 1959
Victims profile: A four year old kid / Donna Becker
Method of murder:
Beating with a baseball bat / Stabbing with knife
Location: Broward
County, Florida, USA
Status: Convicted of
manslaughter in 1975. Sentence unknown. Sentenced to
death on July 15, 1994
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit,
Broward County, Case #90-9560CF10B & 92-15642CFA
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
Richard D. Eade
Attorneys, Trial: Charles
Johnson & Steve Hammer – Special Public Defenders
Attorneys, Direct Appeal: Scott
A. Mager, Robert E. Hodapp & Carl Schoeppl – Private
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:
Kevin Kulik – Registry
Date of Offense: 11/04/88
Date of Sentence: 07/15/94
Circumstances of Offense:
Dana Williamson was convicted
and sentenced to death for the 11/04/88 murder of Donna Becker.
On the evening of 11/04/88,
Robert Decker went out for dinner with his father Clyde and his
two-year-old son Carl. They arrived home a few minutes before 9:00 p.m.
and found Charles Panoyan, a long-time acquaintance and co-worker,
waiting for them in their driveway. Panoyan accompanied the family
inside to watch Dallas on television.
Shortly after 9:00 p.m., Panoyan went to his truck to retrieve some venison that he had brought
as a gift for the Deckers. Moments after Panoyan returned, a masked
gunman (later identified as Dana Williamson) entered the house and put a
gun to Clyde’s head.
Williamson ordered Clyde and Robert to lie on the
floor and demanded their wallets. Robert told Williamson that he did
not have his wallet. It was locked away in the safe. Meanwhile, Robert
asked Panoyan if he knew the identity of the gunman, but Panoyan said
nothing.
Williamson then restrained all
three men with handcuffs and ordered Robert to show him where the safe
was located in the master bedroom. After inspecting the safe and
deciding that it may be connected to an alarm system, Williamson
instructed Robert and his son Carl, who had followed his father into the
bedroom, to lie on the floor.
He then tied Robert’s feet together to
prevent him from escaping. Robert managed to free himself and peered
into the living room where Williamson was whispering something to Panoyan. Williamson noticed Robert in the doorway and returned to the
bedroom to again restrain him.
Williamson then began rummaging
through the house in an apparent search for valuables. Meanwhile,
Robert freed himself again. Upon noticing, Williamson hog-tied Robert
and demanded to know where he kept the drugs and money.
Even though
there was an estimated $2,000 in cash in the house, Robert responded
that he had none. After the ordeal, police reports indicated that the
cash was gone, along with several others items of value.
While Williamson continued to
search the house, Donna Becker arrived home. As she walked to the
bedroom, Williamson grabbed her and pulled her into the hallway.
Williamson stabbed Donna several times. After being stabbed, Donna
managed to call 911 from a closet in the house. She alerted police to
the robbery and expressed concern for her husband’s and son’s safety.
Williamson continued to search
the home and then returned to the bedroom with a piece of paper asking
Robert for a copy of his signature. Robert noticed that his wife Donna
had already signed the paper. Williamson then shot Robert, his father
Clyde and his son Carl all in the head. The men and the boy survived;
however, Donna Decker was found dead in the closet when police arrived
at the scene.
Months later, Charles Panoyan
identified Dana Williamson as the perpetrator of the robbery and
murder. According to his testimony, Panoyan knew Williamson through
Williamson’s father, Charlie, who was a good friend of Panoyan’s.
Panoyan testified that Williamson approached him on several occasions
and inquired whether Robert Decker dealt drugs. Panoyan adamantly
insisted that Robert Decker was not involved in drugs. Williamson again
asked about Robert Decker’s drug involvement the night before the
murder.
Panoyan testified that, on the
night of the murder, as he went to his truck to retrieve the venison for
the Decker’s, he was held at gunpoint by Dana Williamson and his
brother, Rodney Williamson. They told him they were going to rob the
Decker’s.
The Williamson brothers allegedly threatened to kill Panoyan
and his family if he said anything to Robert or Clyde Decker when he
went back inside the house. Panoyan informed police that he recognized
the gun that Dana Williamson was carrying as his own and that Williamson
must have stolen it from his truck.
Panoyan testified that during the
robbery and murder, Williamson told him to go outside, where he was held
at gunpoint by Rodney Williamson. Rodney Williamson instructed him to
get in his truck and drive a short distance down the road. Panoyan
claimed that Rodney Williamson repeatedly threatened his life and the
lives of his family members. While the two men were stopped in the
truck, Dana Williamson approached the truck without his mask. Williamson
ordered Panoyan to leave and not to tell the authorities anything about
what had happened that night. He then reiterated his original threats
against Panoyan and his family.
Panoyan claimed that, after he
was released by the Williamson brothers, he went to a nearby shopping
mall and asked a security guard for some money to call his wife. The
security guard called a police officer, who escorted Panoyan to the
Decker household and then to the police station where he was questioned
concerning the crimes. It was during this interrogation that Panoyan
acknowledged the crime that was committed at the Decker’s household but
that he was unaware of the assailant’s identity.
At trial, Panoyan
acknowledged that he did not come forward with the Williamsons’ identity
right away because of the threats they had made against him, and Dana
Williamson’s reputation of having previously killed a child.
Dana Williamson and Charles
Panoyan were both indicted for the crimes 08/13/92; however, due to his
testimony against Williamson, the charges against Panoyan were dismissed
and he was released.
NOTE: In 1975, Williamson was convicted of manslaughter for killing
a small child.
Codefendant Information:
Rodney Williamson was convicted of First-Degree Murder and multiple
counts of Armed Burglary, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping and Extortion.
Williamson was sentenced to 30 years for extortion and to life
imprisonment on all other convictions.
*****
Trial Summary:
08/13/92 The defendant was indicted on the following charges:
02/19/94 The
jury found the defendant guilty as charged.
06/03/94 Upon
advisory sentencing, the jury, by an 11 to 1 majority, voted for the
death penalty.
07/15/94 The defendant was sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder - Death
Count II: Attempted
First-Degree Murder - Life
Count III: Attempted
First-Degree Murder - Life
Count IV: Attempted
First-Degree Murder - Life
Count V: Armed Burglary
(Dwelling) - Life
Count VIII: Armed Robbery - Life
Count IX: Armed Robbery -
Life
Count X: Armed Robbery -
Life
Count XI: Armed Robbery -
Life
Count XII: Armed Kidnapping -
Life
Count XIII: Armed Kidnapping -
Life
Count XIV: Armed Kidnapping -
Life
Count XV: Armed Kidnapping -
Life
Count XVI: Armed Kidnapping -
Life
Count XVII: Extortion – 30 years
*****
Case Information:
On
08/18/94, Dana Williams filed a Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme
Court. In that appeal, he argued that the trial court erred by
admitting testimony regarding his 1975 conviction for manslaughter.
Williamson next argued that the trial court erred in failing to sever
his extortion charge from the trial and for allowing erroneously
admitted evidence. Williamson also contended that the trial court erred
in its consideration and application of aggravating and mitigating
circumstances. On 09/19/96, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Dana
Williamson’s convictions and sentence of death.
On
02/28/97, Williamson filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the
United States Supreme Court, which was denied on 04/28/97.
On
03/24/98, Williamson filed a 3.850 Motion in the State Circuit Court
that is currently pending.
