Killer Comparisons: Benjamin ("Tony") Atkins and Leslie Allen Williams

AtkinsThey killed at the same time in the same metro area of Detroit. One preyed on female sex workers of color who used drugs; the other targeted white teen girls for the most part (one was Hispanic). One roamed Woodward Avenue in the inner city, homeless, drug-addicted, and doing sex work himself. The other prowled the northwestern suburbs, more rural areas, and was out on parole in the midst of a criminal career that spanned decades. He was in his later 30s, while the other killer was young -- only 23. One, of course, was black, the other white.

But in 1991 and 1992, both of these men terrorized Metro Detroit. Both struck fear in females -- everyone, really -- as police investigated their separate crimes. So how else do they compare?

Williams put some time and planning into his crimes -- he studied young potential victims for a while and cased the neighborhoods where they lived. In fact, his biggest failure occurred when he did not plan, when he encountered survivor Carla at a cemetery, became torqued off at their brief small talk, and decided to kill her without any weapon handy. It did not go well; it was essentially what got him arrested. Atkins did not plan that much -- he let his drug-induced haze guide him along Woodward, taking whatever opportunity popped up as he saw a female on that same historic Detroit ave.

WilliamsWhile Atkins confessed freely a day and a half after his arrest, but then later at trial tried to maintain innocence -- and even used his sentencing statement to say how much this case had hurt him -- Williams showed quite a lot of remorse after his arrest and even said they should lock him up and throw away the key. He also said as much later when appearing on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show via satellite from prison.

There M.O.s varied. Atkins was a strangler only -- often manually, but sometimes with ligature. Williams strangled in three of his four murders, but also stabbed a victim in the chest with a knife, and he used a knife to threaten and subdue in general. He carried a gun with him, too.

Both cases have a necrophilia element. Atkins told police he had sex with his victim's lifeless body in at least one of the 11 murders. Williams said he had sex with his two victims who were teen sisters before he buried their bodies in a shallow grave, though some reports say they were not dead at that point and actually died in the grave (another report says he smothered them before burying them, so that goes to M.O. variance, as well).

Perhaps the most striking comparison between these two killers, however, is their childhoods, which were both marked with trauma, neglect and abuse. Atkins never had a father in the picture; Williams had one who beat him and sexually abused his half-sisters. Atkins had a mother who used heroin, did prostitution, and was largely absent through his upbringing. Williams had a mother who also worked prostitution and was then killed by her third husband. There's no indication of drugs in Williams' background, though, and Atkins' story is marked by a lot of drug use. Both killers as boys spent some time in a group home at which they later claimed to have suffered sexual abuse. A good way to cook a killer? Yes, many would agree.

Above photos:
- Benjamin Atkins, from Detroit Police files, image obtained by FOIA. See this blog post for more on this photo and the confusion over photos of Atkins.
- Leslie Allen Williams photo from Michigan Department of Corrections.

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To learn more about the Leslie Allen Williams case, see the episode "The Vanishing Teens," S2E2 of "The Lake Erie Murders."  For a deep-dive of the Atkins case, see "The Crack City Strangler: The Homicides of Serial Killer Benjamin Atkins."

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