Milton, Vermont - June 28, 2011
A Milton man convicted of killing four people in a 1999 arson fire is headed back to court. Eric Williams has been in jail for more than a decade. He pled guilty in 2001 to four counts of involuntary manslaughter after a fire he set ended up killing his upstairs neighbor and her three grandchildren. Williams now says he had a bad lawyer and he's actually innocent. The court has agreed to an evidentiary hearing. It's not a new trial, but it's a second chance for a judge to review the evidence. An opportunity a grieving parent says Williams doesn't deserve.
"My boy don't get a second chance. None of them get a second chance," Bobbie Moulton said.
Moulton visits the cemetery where his 3-year-old son Troy is buried-- the life of the blue-eyed boy cut terribly short by a tragic fire. In 1999, Troy, his two brothers and their grandmother were killed in a blaze at the Sarah Marie apartments in Milton.
Eric Williams, then 19-years-old, later confessed to the arson, but not before playing the innocent neighbor.
"The fire extinguisher is outdated. The detectors didn't go off and things like that. It really hurts," Williams told WCAX News in an interview after the deadly fire.
"The fact that he could say that knowing that he just killed my kid... I don't think he has a heart," Moulton said.
And Moulton says no amount of jail time is going to change that. If he had his way he'd like to see Williams spend the rest of his life behind bars. Instead, a Burlington judge has granted Williams' petition for an evidentiary hearing under the Post Conviction Relief Act. Williams is alleging he had a bad lawyer and he's actually innocent.
"We believe he made a knowing and voluntary plea to this charge at the time of the trial, but we intend to litigate it again," Chittenden County Prosecutor T.J. Donovan said.
The biggest challenge for the prosecution is time-- dredging up 11-year-old evidence. But prosecutors say they've got a team dedicated to the fight.
"I'd like to see justice served," Moulton said.
But this father-- clutching photos of his beloved son-- says he knows this court battle is more likely to reopen old wounds than provide him with the closure he desperately wants.
"The pain never goes away," Moulton said. "I guess over time, I don't know if it gets easier or if you get immune to the pain."
One of three things could happen. The judge could dismiss Williams' petition, declare he deserves a new trial or come up with another remedy, like a change in sentencing. Right now Williams is serving a 40-60 year sentence. The evidentiary hearing is set to start July 7 and is slated to take two weeks.
Jennifer Reading - WCAX News
