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Richard Williams, right, talks with defense attorney Stephen Munkelt in court Thursday.
NAPA - The combination of a bad reaction to an anti-depressant drug and his "complicated" situation made Richard Williams kill his wife, Williams' lawyer said in court during his closing argument Thursday.
"He's not a homicidal maniac," lawyer Stephen Munkelt said. "He's a good man at a loss to explain the terrible thing he did."
But Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Francis dismissed the defense as a nonsensical explanation for a killing inspired purely by anger.
"(Hendrika Williams) died at the hands of a man who could not accept rejection - a man whose emotions had not matured, a man who cannot comprehend why she wanted to leave," Francis said. Williams "is the one who chose to extinguish the light in her eyes. Don't let him point the finger somewhere else."
Jurors are set to begin deliberating today on whether Williams is guilty of first- or second-degree murder as well as the special circumstance of lying in wait.
Munkelt urged the jury Thursday to consider Williams' situation and state of mind in the days and weeks leading up to the Oct. 22, 2005, killing, when he allegedly strangled his wife, then shot her three times with a nail gun before turning the construction tool on himself.
Munkelt paused and appeared to choke back tears when he told the jury he "does not want to imply Hetty Williams did anything wrong."
"It suits the prosecution to say this is black and white, that Hetty is wonderful and Richard is terrible," Munkelt said. "But it's complicated. People are complicated. Relationships are complicated. Life is complicated."
"He's not a homicidal maniac," lawyer Stephen Munkelt said. "He's a good man at a loss to explain the terrible thing he did."
But Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Francis dismissed the defense as a nonsensical explanation for a killing inspired purely by anger.
"(Hendrika Williams) died at the hands of a man who could not accept rejection - a man whose emotions had not matured, a man who cannot comprehend why she wanted to leave," Francis said. Williams "is the one who chose to extinguish the light in her eyes. Don't let him point the finger somewhere else."
Jurors are set to begin deliberating today on whether Williams is guilty of first- or second-degree murder as well as the special circumstance of lying in wait.
Munkelt urged the jury Thursday to consider Williams' situation and state of mind in the days and weeks leading up to the Oct. 22, 2005, killing, when he allegedly strangled his wife, then shot her three times with a nail gun before turning the construction tool on himself.
Munkelt paused and appeared to choke back tears when he told the jury he "does not want to imply Hetty Williams did anything wrong."
"It suits the prosecution to say this is black and white, that Hetty is wonderful and Richard is terrible," Munkelt said. "But it's complicated. People are complicated. Relationships are complicated. Life is complicated."
Threats made
In earlier testimony, Hetty Williams' brother, Peter Reynen, told jurors that Williams had talked about using cocaine.
A friend of the victim, Jacki Webber, also testified she heard Williams threatening to kill his wife during a violent outburst after he overheard a telephone conversation between Webber and the victim that confirmed his suspicions that Hetty Williams was seeing another man.
At the time, Hetty Williams had filed for a legal separation, but continued to live in a basement apartment of the Grass Valley-area house the couple had shared for years.
Munkelt suggested that testimony was tainted by an agenda to put Williams in prison.
He reminded jurors of previous testimony from Williams' mother, Candy Williams, and a former client of Williams' landscaping business, in which both described him as a good, nonviolent, honest man.
"(Williams) is a nice man who inflicted such a dose of chemicals on his brain that he was present without being there," Munkelt argued.
He summarized testimony from psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Shipko, who had offered explanations for Williams' behavior, including mental disorders that could have resulted from side effects of withdrawal from the antidepressant Paxil.
In her rebuttal, Francis reminded the jury that Shipko had never interviewed Williams and had never actually diagnosed him with any of the proposed conditions.
Munkelt read from letters and e-mails between Hetty and Richard Williams in which they discussed details about remodeling their home and their pending divorce.
"These were respectful communications with no indication of anything out of the ordinary," Munkelt said. "They were working together."
Strange behavior
After having taken and quit Paxil in 2004, Williams resumed taking the anti-depressant in August 2005, Munkelt said.
Williams then lowered the dosage and, three weeks before the killing, increased the dosage, Munkelt said. That's when he began engaging in strange behavior: Williams rubbed poison oak all over his wife's undergarments and spray-painted the bumper of her boyfriend's car in the middle of the night, Munkelt and Williams said.
A week before the killing, Williams quit Paxil cold turkey, and the sudden drop in medication caused "homicidal ideations," Munkelt said.
Munkelt read from letters and e-mails between Hetty and Richard Williams in which they discussed details about remodeling their home and their pending divorce.
"These were respectful communications with no indication of anything out of the ordinary," Munkelt said. "They were working together."
Strange behavior
After having taken and quit Paxil in 2004, Williams resumed taking the anti-depressant in August 2005, Munkelt said.
Williams then lowered the dosage and, three weeks before the killing, increased the dosage, Munkelt said. That's when he began engaging in strange behavior: Williams rubbed poison oak all over his wife's undergarments and spray-painted the bumper of her boyfriend's car in the middle of the night, Munkelt and Williams said.
A week before the killing, Williams quit Paxil cold turkey, and the sudden drop in medication caused "homicidal ideations," Munkelt said.
In addition, Williams was taking sleeping medication, Munkelt said.
If jurors think it were possible Williams was unaware - or legally "unconscious" - of his actions during the killing as a result of Paxil withdrawal, they must conclude he is not guilty, Munkelt told them.
Special circumstance?
Francis urged the jurors to convict Williams of first-degree murder plus the special circumstance of lying in wait.
"This case is not about whether Richard Williams was a bad guy in life, whether Hetty Williams had a good reason to leave, whether she had an affair or that she chose to leave an empty, loveless marriage," Francis argued. "This is about someone who killed another person because he was angry."
Jurors are set to begin deliberating at 9:15 a.m. today.
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To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@theunion.com.
If jurors think it were possible Williams was unaware - or legally "unconscious" - of his actions during the killing as a result of Paxil withdrawal, they must conclude he is not guilty, Munkelt told them.
Special circumstance?
Francis urged the jurors to convict Williams of first-degree murder plus the special circumstance of lying in wait.
"This case is not about whether Richard Williams was a bad guy in life, whether Hetty Williams had a good reason to leave, whether she had an affair or that she chose to leave an empty, loveless marriage," Francis argued. "This is about someone who killed another person because he was angry."
Jurors are set to begin deliberating at 9:15 a.m. today.
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To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@theunion.com.
