For plenty of us, Tallahassee is a haven of peace. Enclosed with lush greens, numerous serene lakes, and a community that welcomes with open arms, the city offers great tranquility. However, we scarcely are aware of the stories concealed within the plentiful woods, or the secrets resting below the gleaming lakes. This directs the conversation back to a 20-year-old narrative of one of the city’s most shocking crime cases. A tale that was kept alive in the minds of citizens for years by Jennifer Portman, the then News Director of the Tallahassee Democrat, proving its incessant appeal to crime enthusiasts in the form of podcasts, TV shows, and most recently, the release of the ‘true crime’ account, ‘Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida’ on July 23.
Penned by Mitika Brottman, a crime writer based in Baltimore with a Ph.D. credential from Oxford University, this work of non-fiction stays true to her craft in dissecting stories of crime. As a professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art and an esteemed psychoanalyst, much of her work has been appraised as top-tier nonfiction practice. Brothman’s writing expertise lies in meticulously curating the specifics of a crime and its consequences, simultaneously delving into the psyche of those involved.
‘Guilty Creatures’ propels us back in time to the year 2000. Mike Williams, a real estate agent, went on a solitary hunting expedition on Lake Seminole. Back home, his wife, Denise, was taking care of their infant daughter. However, Mike didn’t make it back home that day, leaving no traces of his whereabouts near Lake Seminole.
In a surprising turn of events, it was revealed that Mike had taken out a life insurance policy worth $2 million just six months prior to his disappearance. As no sign of Mike’s whereabouts were found, he was declared deceased a year later. It was assumed that he fell from his boat and was devoured by alligators. With Mike declared dead, the substantial insurance policy seemed like a blessing for Denise and their child.
Nonetheless, Mike’s mother, Cheryl Williams, contested the ‘simple’ narrative surrounding her son’s disappearance. Across the span of years, she instigated for a profound investigation, suspecting that foul-play led to her son’s death. In 2005, Denise remarried Brian Winchester, a long-time family friend and the insurance agent responsible for selling Mike his $2 million life insurance policy.
Cheryl, however, remained adamant about the need for further scrutiny into her son’s death. She lobbied vigorously to government officials and placed advertisements in the Tallahassee Democrat to maintain public interest in the investigation. These actions distanced her from her granddaughter and often had her labeled ‘insane’ by Denise. However, things were not as they seemed.
Fast forward to 2012, cracks begin to emerge in Denise’s marriage with Brian Winchester. Denise files for divorce in 2016. Following this, in a fit of rage, Brian abducts Denise, hinting at a potential murder-suicide scenario. However, Denise manages to escape this horrifying situation and instantly reports to the police. Soon after, Brian Winchester was apprehended for his criminal act of kidnapping and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Following his imprisonment, the once missing body of Mike Williams was finally discovered, untouched by alligators but laying rest in the muddy swamp near Lake Carr. With this shocking revelation, Denise found herself under arrest and charged with the murder of her erstwhile husband, Mike Williams.
During Denise’s trial, Brian Winchester, now her ex-spouse, testified against her, confessing to shooting Mike as he clung to a tree stump in the lake. He later moved Mike’s body to its resting place near Lake Carr. In a compelling narrative, it was revealed that the sinister plan was to eliminate Mike and claim the insurance. Subsequently, Denise was given a life sentence, which was later reduced to a 30-year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder.
In the course of her exploration, Mitika Brottman interviewed with various figures and perused through countless files related to the case during her visits to Tallahassee, which was made convenient by Florida’s open public records law. Brottman noted that Steven Epstein’s previous book, ‘Evil at Lake Seminole,’ offered vital insights into the case. Brottman herself had tried to reach out to both Denise and Brian during her research but to no avail.
Often, questions arise about the intrigue a true crime writer might derive from such narratives. According to Mitika Brottman, it’s a quest to understand the human mind and the psychological processes that lead people to commit unfathomable crimes. Deeply engrossed in this case, she expressed her fascination over how a murder could remain concealed for 16 years.
She analyzes how Brian and Denise justified their actions to themselves over the years, despite swearing by their devout Baptist faith. Brottman makes a concerted attempt to enter the minds of such criminals in her books, expressing the belief that even the darkest deeds stem from emotions that anyone could experience under certain circumstances.
Despite being engrossed in a genre filled with chilling narratives, Brottman maintains a fondness for ‘prewar women’s fiction’. Brottman’s latest book, commended as ‘catnip for true-crime aficionados’ by The New York Times, made it onto their ’19 Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer’ list, urging the readers to uncover a crime that baffled the entire city of Tallahassee for decades.