In the previous episode of Netflix’s Mindhunter, the authorities caught Wayne Williams while staking out the river. In the season finale of Mindhunter, Holden, Bill, and Barney investigated Williams in connection with the Atlanta child murders.
Hubris
While they questioned Wayne in the back of the police car, an officer was taking note of his station wagon. There was dog hair on the seats and knotted rope on the floor. However, he didn’t retrieve the rope, so when Holden and Barney came around to his family’s house to question him again, the backseat was clean.
Wayne claimed that he had been meeting a singer at 3AM. His job was to find the next Jackson 5 and develop the talent. The phone number he provided was a dead end for his story. Though he seemed suspicious, they had nothing to tie him to the murders. This appeared to embolden him. While Bill and Holden were tailing him, he stopped to buy food for them.
Access, Means, and Motive
A body turned up just downstream of where they had stopped Wayne. Through interviewing people in Wayne’s life, Holden, Bill, and Barney believed they had the right guy. He spent his days hanging around young boys wanting to make money as part of his job. Though he had family who supported him, he still wasn’t successful. They hypothesized that Wayne took out his insecurities on young boys who he felt made him look bad. A man he worked with supported the theory, since the thought of donating to the fund to support the Atlanta murder victims angered Wayne.
Victory Lap
Wayne now had the authorities and the press following him. He led them to the mayor’s house to make a scene. Barney had someone tailing his father, who had gone to inquire about chartering a plane to South America. Now that Wayne was a flight risk, it made it easier to get a warrant.
However, it was all moot as the Justice Department believed they had enough to tie him to two of the murders. Fibers that they collected matched those found on two of the adult victims. However, they couldn’t tie him to the rest of the cases. Barney had flagged a sixty-year-old black male who had pedophilia charges as a possible suspect. Unfortunately, they were closing all of the cases and relegating them back to local authorities. They were taking their victory lap early since it was a win for the FBI. According to Ted, it was up to the district attorney to prosecute the cases.
When Bill arrived home, his house was empty. Nancy had taken Brian and moved away.
What did you think of the season finale of Mindhunter? Let us know in the comment section below!
