Brian Winchester doubled over crying in court tuesday after he described the grisly murder of his best friend 18 years ago                                                                                               

Winchester was testifying against ex-wife Denise Williams Salo  who at the time was married to his childhood best friend, Mike Williams

The pair conspired to commit the murder Jerry Michael ‘Mike’ Williams, then  the conspiring pair went on to wed in 2005, but later divorced in 2016                                                                                                                                  

Denise Williams Salo, Brian Winchester and Mike Williams had all graduated the same class in middle school 

Winchester, an accountant at Florida State University,  allegedly shot his pal Williams during a boat trip on lake Seminole in Jackson County, Fla., on Dec 16, 2000

Denise preferred killing her first husband to leaving him because it was “better to be a rich widow than a poor divorcée”   

The pair have been accused of staging Mike Williams’ death as a boating mishap and cashing in on his two insurance policies worth $2million

One of the policies had been sold to Mike Williams by his best friend Brian Winchester     

Denise , 48, who was arrested last May, has been charged with murder, fraud, conspiracy, and accessory after the fact    

She faces a possible sentence of life in prison on each count if convicted 

• Brian Winchester, [left], testified that he colluded with Dennis Williams to kill her first husband, Mike Williams seen with her [right], on their wedding day

A Florida court heard the tragic tale of greed, blind passion and evil woven by two middle school mates Brian Winchester and Denise Williams Salo which engulfed a third classmate Mike Williams, costing the last his own life.
Brian Winchester from Florida, on trial for allegedly shooting his best friend so he could be together with the pal’s wife doubled over crying in court after he described the grisly murder.
Brian Winchester testified Tuesday in the trial against then-lover Denise Williams Salo for allegedly plotting the death of her first husband, Jerry Micheal ‘Mike’ Williams, who purportedly drowned in a boating mishap during a duck hunting trip on Lake Seminole, Jackson County, Florida, on December 16, 2000.
Winchester and Denise Williams are accused of staging Mike’s death.
Prosecutors allege Winchester and Denise were involved in a three-year affair when they planned to kill Mike, who was her high school sweetheart and Winchester’s close friend from the trio’s days at North Christian Florida School.
The pair have been accused of staging Mike’s death as a boating mishap and cashing in on his $1.75 million life insurance policy.

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Co-conspirators: Brian Winchester [left], and Denise Williams allegedly disposed of their childhood friend , to pave the way for their being together

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Dreams shattered by greed and licentiousness: Michael and Denise Williams on their wedding day

Winchester claimed Tuesday that his romantic feelings for Denise began when he and his first wife, Kathy, started going out with the Williamses on double dates to Tallahassee bars. “One night, in particular, we started talking about sex a lot,” Winchester testified. “I was friends with Denise in middle school and high school, but I never was attracted to her until that point.” But their affair didn’t begin until another night in 1997 when he kissed Denise while their spouses were parking the car, according to Winchester. “We just connected like nobody else,” he said. “It snowballed really fast.” Winchester said Tuesday that he and Denise wanted to be together, but she never considered divorce because it was “better to be a rich widow than a poor divorcée.”

Alleged black widow Denise Williams Salo, [photo], is on trial accused of plotting to murder her first husband with the man she later married. Salo carried on life with the myth that her husband disappeared during a boating trip in 2000

Jerry Michael ‘Mike’ Williams was allegedly murdered by two childhood friends one of whom was his then wife, Denise

“Because of the way [Denise] was raised [and] because of her pride, she didn’t want to get a divorce,” Winchester told the courtroom. “But she wanted to be together, which narrowed the options.” The pair allegedly plotted for months to kill Mike, considering several options, including shooting him at his office, according to Winchester. But he said they ultimately agreed on a plan that would make it look like an accident.

Denise and Mike Williams with their daughter a few weeks before he went ‘missing during a duck hunting expedition on lake Seminole

Winchester described to the jurors Tuesday how he invited Mike on a Dec. 16, 2000, duck-hunting trip at Lake Seminole, then pushed him overboard in an attempt to drown him. But Mike was able to swim to a stump in the lake and stay afloat, he said. “He started to yell and I didn’t know how to get out of that situation,” an emotional Winchester testified. “I had my gun in the boat, and so I loaded my gun and I just made one or two circles around and I ended up circling closer towards him and he was in the water, and as I passed by, I shot him.” Winchester broke down on the stand as he described searching for Mike’s body with the search crews after Mike was reported missing. “I think [my dad and I] were the last ones. My dad didn’t want to give up,” Winchester said. “He loved Mike.” Mike’s body wasn’t located until after prosecutors offered Winchester immunity last year to reveal information about the disappearance. The alleged details Winchester provided led to Denise’s arrest in May on charges of murder, conspiracy and accessory after the fact.

• Denise Williams Salo [right], in her high school yearbook photo

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The day authorities arrested Denise Williams from her fifth-floor office at Florida State University was her daughter Anslee’s birthday. Her only child was turning 19, and the blond accountant had raised her mostly by herself since her husband, Mike Williams, disappeared on a solo duck hunting trip Dec. 16, 2000, at Lake Seminole in Jackson County, Florida. After he vanished, search efforts persisted for 44 days. But with the 31-year-old real estate appraiser’s body still missing, authorities speculated that he likely drowned in a boating mishap and then was eaten by alligators.

Denise Williams, Brian Winchester and Mike Williams in their middle  school yearbook at North Christian School, Florida

The Tallahassee Democrat  has extensively covered the case which has been considered suspicious for years. The alligator prey theory, never sat well with Mike’s family, particularly his mother, Cheryl Williams. She couldn’t fight the nagging feeling that something more sinister happened to her son, according to friends. However, without a body, Denise Williams later petitioned to have him declared dead due to accidental drowning while duck hunting alone and being eaten by alligators. She married Winchester in December 2005, but the relationship soured and they divorced in 2016.  Nearly 17 years later, a bombshell revelation upended the case, turning the probe into a murder investigation and securing Denise’s arrest in May on a grand jury indictment. In 2017, Brian Winchester pled no contest to kidnapping his ex-wife at gunpoint, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The very next day, authorities announced that Mike Williams’ remains were found at the end of a dead-end road after they received “new information.” The body had been discovered two months earlier, but the state’s Department of Law Enforcement needed to confirm through DNA tests that it was actually Mike Williams.

Cheryl Williams never gave up on finding out what happened to her son

Buttressing the prosecution case, Winchester through his lawyer, Tim Jansen, said his client would testify truthfully if subpoenaed or given immunity. Denise Williams Salo, now 48, faces trial this week for allegedly hatching a plot with Mike’s childhood friend Brian Winchester to murder her husband so they could be together. Prosecutors contend Winchester helped write a $1 million life insurance policy six months before Mike disappeared, and later married Denise, with whom he’d allegedly had a three-year affair while his best friend was alive. The lithe widow was charged with murder, fraud, conspiracy, and accessory after the fact. Each of these charges potentially carries a sentence of life in prison, if she is convicted. Her lawyers categorically denied her ex-husband’s allegations Tuesday in opening arguments, claiming Winchester still felt jilted from the failed marriage. “There is no tangible evidence or physical evidence tying Denise Williams to this crime,” attorney Philip Padovano said. “All you will have to go on is the word of the man who actually committed the murder.”

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