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Richard Williams, right, sits with his attorney, Stephen Munkelt, in Napa County Superior Court on Monday as the guilty verdict is read.
NAPA - After a three-week trial and about seven hours of deliberation, jurors found Richard Williams guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the killing of his estranged wife.
Williams, now 53, was accused of shooting Hendrika "Hetty" Williams twice in the head with a nail gun on Oct. 22, 2005, in their home just outside Grass Valley. She would have been 50 this year.
"I'm thankful that he will have a cinderblock tomb to spend his many years suffering," said Peter Reynen, Hetty Williams' brother.
Reynen, of Seattle, Wash., was not able to attend the verdict reading Monday but gave his statement last week in anticipation of a conviction.
While none of Hetty or Richard Williams' family members were in court to hear the verdict, Reynen and his wife, Ena, and his brother Derek Reynen and his wife Joanne Reynen attended much of the trial.
Peter Reynen said it was difficult for him to see his brother-in-law in court every day. He and Ena Reynen said they plan to attend Williams' sentencing hearing, scheduled for Jan. 3 in Nevada County Superior Court.
Williams showed no emotion Monday while the jury foreman, a blonde woman in her 50s, read the guilty verdict.
Williams' lawyer, Stephen Munkelt of Nevada City, asked the jury to be polled: All 12 said they think Williams was guilty.
During the trial, Munkelt argued that Williams killed his wife because of a bad reaction to withdrawal from the anti-depressant drug Paxil.
Williams, now 53, was accused of shooting Hendrika "Hetty" Williams twice in the head with a nail gun on Oct. 22, 2005, in their home just outside Grass Valley. She would have been 50 this year.
"I'm thankful that he will have a cinderblock tomb to spend his many years suffering," said Peter Reynen, Hetty Williams' brother.
Reynen, of Seattle, Wash., was not able to attend the verdict reading Monday but gave his statement last week in anticipation of a conviction.
While none of Hetty or Richard Williams' family members were in court to hear the verdict, Reynen and his wife, Ena, and his brother Derek Reynen and his wife Joanne Reynen attended much of the trial.
Peter Reynen said it was difficult for him to see his brother-in-law in court every day. He and Ena Reynen said they plan to attend Williams' sentencing hearing, scheduled for Jan. 3 in Nevada County Superior Court.
Williams showed no emotion Monday while the jury foreman, a blonde woman in her 50s, read the guilty verdict.
Williams' lawyer, Stephen Munkelt of Nevada City, asked the jury to be polled: All 12 said they think Williams was guilty.
During the trial, Munkelt argued that Williams killed his wife because of a bad reaction to withdrawal from the anti-depressant drug Paxil.
Williams stopped taking the drug cold turkey a week before the killing, and he began suffering "homicidal ideations" as a result, Munkelt had argued.
After the verdict Monday morning, Munkelt shook Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Francis' hand as they prepared to leave the courtroom.
"Congratulations," Munkelt said. "Richard said to tell you no hard feelings."
Later, Munkelt said he would file an appeal.
"Of course I'm disappointed," he said, adding the jury worked diligently. "Whenever there's a death involved, it's a very difficult case."
Francis said she is "enormously relieved justice was done," and Hetty Williams' family would get some closure after two years of waiting.
"They've been through the ringer, a roller-coaster ride," Francis said.
Peter Reynen said he hopes people could learn something from his sister's violent death.
"No man owns a woman," Reynen said. "Women have a right to leave."
After the verdict Monday morning, Munkelt shook Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Francis' hand as they prepared to leave the courtroom.
"Congratulations," Munkelt said. "Richard said to tell you no hard feelings."
Later, Munkelt said he would file an appeal.
"Of course I'm disappointed," he said, adding the jury worked diligently. "Whenever there's a death involved, it's a very difficult case."
Francis said she is "enormously relieved justice was done," and Hetty Williams' family would get some closure after two years of waiting.
"They've been through the ringer, a roller-coaster ride," Francis said.
Peter Reynen said he hopes people could learn something from his sister's violent death.
"No man owns a woman," Reynen said. "Women have a right to leave."
Williams strangled Hetty Williams and shot her three times with a concrete nail gun in the bedroom they formerly shared.
The two had been going through a divorce: Hetty Williams filed for legal separation July 11, 2005, and Richard Williams later filed for dissolution of marriage.
On the morning of her murder, Hetty Williams kept a 9 a.m. appointment with her husband at the home in which the two had raised their children on Alta Street, just outside Grass Valley.
She wanted to discuss moving some furniture into the small house on nearby Dolores Drive she had begun renting a few days before.
Williams testified he ambushed Hetty Williams, strangled her with his hands and dragged her into the bedroom where he had stashed a loaded concrete nail gun.
He shot her twice in the head, picked her up, laid her on the bed and shot her through the heart, he testified in court.
Williams turned the construction tool on himself and later recovered from two nail wounds to the chest and abdomen.
On the bedside table was a suicide note Richard Williams had written less than an hour before Hetty Williams arrived at the house.
Hetty Williams left behind two daughters, Sarah and Briana.
The two had been going through a divorce: Hetty Williams filed for legal separation July 11, 2005, and Richard Williams later filed for dissolution of marriage.
On the morning of her murder, Hetty Williams kept a 9 a.m. appointment with her husband at the home in which the two had raised their children on Alta Street, just outside Grass Valley.
She wanted to discuss moving some furniture into the small house on nearby Dolores Drive she had begun renting a few days before.
Williams testified he ambushed Hetty Williams, strangled her with his hands and dragged her into the bedroom where he had stashed a loaded concrete nail gun.
He shot her twice in the head, picked her up, laid her on the bed and shot her through the heart, he testified in court.
Williams turned the construction tool on himself and later recovered from two nail wounds to the chest and abdomen.
On the bedside table was a suicide note Richard Williams had written less than an hour before Hetty Williams arrived at the house.
Hetty Williams left behind two daughters, Sarah and Briana.
"I'm a one-woman man," Williams told his sister-in-law, Ena Reynen, by telephone the night before the murder, Francis said in court.
A month before he killed his wife, Williams confirmed his suspicions that Hetty Williams had begun a romantic relationship with another man, he testified.
The first-degree murder part of the conviction brings a mandatory prison sentence of 25 years without the possibility of parole, Francis said.
The jury Monday also found Williams guilty of the special circumstance of lying in wait, which adds another mandatory 25 years to his sentence, she said.
An additional mandatory year will also be tacked on to Williams' sentence for the use of a deadly and dangerous weapon, bringing the possible sentence to 51 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Francis said.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours Friday and 90 minutes Monday morning. They asked for every piece of evidence to be delivered to them during their deliberations Friday, Francis said.
"I think they were just being very careful," she said.
Nevada County Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderson thanked the jurors Monday for their service.
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To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@the union.com or call 477-4236.
A month before he killed his wife, Williams confirmed his suspicions that Hetty Williams had begun a romantic relationship with another man, he testified.
The first-degree murder part of the conviction brings a mandatory prison sentence of 25 years without the possibility of parole, Francis said.
The jury Monday also found Williams guilty of the special circumstance of lying in wait, which adds another mandatory 25 years to his sentence, she said.
An additional mandatory year will also be tacked on to Williams' sentence for the use of a deadly and dangerous weapon, bringing the possible sentence to 51 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Francis said.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours Friday and 90 minutes Monday morning. They asked for every piece of evidence to be delivered to them during their deliberations Friday, Francis said.
"I think they were just being very careful," she said.
Nevada County Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderson thanked the jurors Monday for their service.
ooo
To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@the union.com or call 477-4236.
