The third trial, held in the spring of 1987, resulted in a mistrial. In June 1985, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the conviction again, stating that the sheriff should not have been allowed to testify as an expert, and that the prosecutor waited until his closing argument to demonstrate some evidence. Little else differed from the first trial: on October 8, Williams was again found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Sonny Seiler assumed Williams' defense at the second trial beginning in September 1983 and decided to have Williams openly bring up his sexuality. The hole in the floor had been unimportant in the trial the main points of evidence in Spencer Lawton's case against Williams still remained intact.' As Berendt wrote in his book: 'The ruling appeared to be little more than a temporary reprieve. The verdict was overturned in January 1983 by the Georgia Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered. Cook later anonymously received a copy of the police report showing that the arresting officer had contradicted himself about a bullet hole in a floor in Mercer House. Williams was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Bobby Lee Cook defended Williams during the first trial in 1982, presided over by Judge George Oliver. Williams was tried four times, a record for the state of Georgia. He is buried beside his mother, who died in 2005 at age 65. Hansford, 21, was buried in Greenwich Cemetery, which is adjacent to Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah. Gadsden set Williams' bond at $25,000, which he soon posted. He was taken into custody and charged with murder. to report the shooting, just over half an hour after the incident occurred. Prosecutors claimed Williams then proceeded to stage the crime scene to make it appear as if Hansford had actually fired at him. The gun jammed upon firing, however, and Williams pulled a 9mm Luger pistol from his desk and shot Hansford in what he claimed was self-defense. Williams was in his study at the time, and Hansford soon entered, whereupon he drew a gun on Williams.

During the argument, Hansford, of whom Williams had been a sexual partner for about two years, pushed over an 18th-century English grandfather clock. In the early hours of May 2, 1981, Hansford and Jim Williams had an argument at Williams's residence at Mercer House, in Monterey Square, Savannah, Georgia. He was one of three sons, the others being John and William. After four trials, Williams was acquitted of Hansford's murder.ĭanny Hansford was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Emily Bannister.

His death was documented in John Berendt's 1994 non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and its 1997 film adaptation. Daniel Lewis Hansford (Ma– May 2, 1981) was an American shooting victim who was killed by his employer, historic preservationist and antiques dealer Jim Williams, at Williams' home in Savannah, Georgia, United States.

Jon berendt