Burlington, Vermont - July 7, 2011
"He's a baby killer and he deserves to not have life," Bobbi-Jo Perreault said.
Perreault is back in court to face a man who caused her unimaginable pain. In 1999 a fire swept through the Sarah Marie Apartments in Milton killing her mother and three young sons.
"The fire extinguisher is outdated. The detectors didn't go off and things like that. It really hurts," Eric Williams told WCAX News at the scene of the deadly fire in 1999.
Three days later Williams confessed to setting the deadly blaze. And now, after 11 years, he says he had a bad lawyer and he's actually innocent. A claim that's devastating families of the victims. They packed the courtroom wearing T-shirts of the little boys lost, bracing themselves to relive their nightmare.
"For us it's not fair," Perreault said. "It reopens the wounds. I don't think he has any remorse for what he's done to our family."
"More than once Mr. Williams admitted that he set the fire," Deputy Chittenden County State's Attorney Pamela Johnson said.
During this post-conviction relief hearing, William's new lawyer will try to discredit that confession. An admission he alleges was coerced and has paid an interrogation expert to tear apart.
"It is at best a persuaded statement. I would not classify it as a confession under any circumstances," said Richard Ofshe, a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley who studies interrogation techniques.
Williams must prove his previous lawyer didn't do his job and because of that, damaged his defense. Among his claims, he says his attorney didn't fight to get his confession tossed, didn't hire an independent fire expert or expert in false confessions. And he gave him bad advice when he told him to plead guilty. But the state wasn't fazed.
"The state's confident that the evidence presented and that from the District Court record will show that his attorney's representation was reasonable and competent and that there was no prejudice," Johnson said.
Kayla Francis, Perreault's one surviving child, made a last-minute decision not to visit her grandmother that fateful night. She only wants one thing from this hearing.
"I want the truth," she said. "I want answers and I hope he gives us at least that."
A family still seeking closure and praying for justice.
Bobbie Moulton, whose son died in the fire, said, "I'd like to see him resentenced and spend the rest of his life in jail because none of them four innocent people are going to get a second chance."
The hearing is slated to take two weeks. Old evidence will be examined and witnesses recalled. At the end the judge could dismiss William's petition, grant him a new trial or modify his sentence.
Jennifer Reading - WCAX News
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Convicted arsonist headed back to court after a decade behind bars
