azathoth777
07-25-2006, 06:54 PM
July 25,2006
Last month a hotel housekeeper found Sherry Lynn Smith's body inside one of the rooms at the Hampton Inn on Shallowford Road.
Investigators believe she and Michael Montell Williams made a murder-suicide pact.
Williams is now being held without bond in the Hamilton County Jail charged with first degree murder.
After a premilinary hearing in Hamilton County General Sessions Court Tuesday the case now goes to the grand jury. It will hear a very bizarre story about Williams and the shy, quiet young woman he brought to a hotel.
Witnesses in court said four days before the incident Williams and Smith seemed happy and in love. They checked-in to the Hampton Inn at 5:00 a.m. and paid cash on a nightly basis.
But during the stay Williams' behavior changed, according to Hampton Inn clerk Christy Berman.
"He was a little bit strange. He was jumping around and wanted to know if I had noticed anything different about him," Berman said.
Berman added Williams bragged about being in the Army and on leave from Iraq. She said he told her he had no problem killing women and children and was already facing trouble.
"He said that when he went back, that more than likely he would be facing court marshal because he fired into a mosque," Berman testified.
Testimony shows that on June 17 the couple didn't check out and left no messages with the front desk. A housekeeper tried to get inside room 128 but couldn't get the door to open.
She called her boss and maintenance, and they found the inside lock closed. So they had to break into the room by popping open the inside security latch.
Hampton Inn Assistant General Manager Tammy Harrison said "I saw blood and saw something wrapped up on the bed. And I saw a foot in the middle of the two beds."
Harrison said she called police, who found Williams' bloody but alive on the floor and Sherry Smith dead, covered with sheets.
Chattanooga Police Detective James Holloway said Williams' story reflects what he said on a cassette tape he left inside the hotel room.
"He elaborates they had a suicide pact, and they had attempted numerous means to to commit suicide but they were unsuccessful. So Sherry Smith agreed to allow him to smother her," Holloway testified.
Holloway said Williams tried to use pills, carbon monoxide and a sharp object to kill himself, but stopped when he said it hurt too much.
The major crimes detective said Williams "confessed to performing anal sex, or anal intercourse with Sherry Smith after her death."
Last month a hotel housekeeper found Sherry Lynn Smith's body inside one of the rooms at the Hampton Inn on Shallowford Road.
Investigators believe she and Michael Montell Williams made a murder-suicide pact.
Williams is now being held without bond in the Hamilton County Jail charged with first degree murder.
After a premilinary hearing in Hamilton County General Sessions Court Tuesday the case now goes to the grand jury. It will hear a very bizarre story about Williams and the shy, quiet young woman he brought to a hotel.
Witnesses in court said four days before the incident Williams and Smith seemed happy and in love. They checked-in to the Hampton Inn at 5:00 a.m. and paid cash on a nightly basis.
But during the stay Williams' behavior changed, according to Hampton Inn clerk Christy Berman.
"He was a little bit strange. He was jumping around and wanted to know if I had noticed anything different about him," Berman said.
Berman added Williams bragged about being in the Army and on leave from Iraq. She said he told her he had no problem killing women and children and was already facing trouble.
"He said that when he went back, that more than likely he would be facing court marshal because he fired into a mosque," Berman testified.
Testimony shows that on June 17 the couple didn't check out and left no messages with the front desk. A housekeeper tried to get inside room 128 but couldn't get the door to open.
She called her boss and maintenance, and they found the inside lock closed. So they had to break into the room by popping open the inside security latch.
Hampton Inn Assistant General Manager Tammy Harrison said "I saw blood and saw something wrapped up on the bed. And I saw a foot in the middle of the two beds."
Harrison said she called police, who found Williams' bloody but alive on the floor and Sherry Smith dead, covered with sheets.
Chattanooga Police Detective James Holloway said Williams' story reflects what he said on a cassette tape he left inside the hotel room.
"He elaborates they had a suicide pact, and they had attempted numerous means to to commit suicide but they were unsuccessful. So Sherry Smith agreed to allow him to smother her," Holloway testified.
Holloway said Williams tried to use pills, carbon monoxide and a sharp object to kill himself, but stopped when he said it hurt too much.
The major crimes detective said Williams "confessed to performing anal sex, or anal intercourse with Sherry Smith after her death."