Courtroom Drama

Keller black widow Michele Williams gets bond raised to $850,000 for husband's murder

Judge George Gallagher has raised the bond for accused murderer Michele Williams to $850,000. The more than $300,000 increase came at the request of the Tarrant County district attorney, who felt the previous bond was inadequate in light of the possibility that Williams would flee the country if released.

At a May 28 hearing, a married couple who took fitness classes from Williams offered to help post her bond because they believe she is innocent. Michele Williams is accused of murdering her husband, Greg; cleaning the crime scene with bleach; and staging a home invasion. She is awaiting trial in September.

Assistant district attorney Jack Strickland presented evidence that while out on bond in the past, Williams used false identities, worked at a strip club, removed her GPS ankle monitor and secretly traveled to South Texas. Strickland also argued that Williams faked her entire pregnancy with twins, including a supposed jailhouse miscarriage, for which no official records exist.

Williams had previously been held on a $520,000 bond for first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. She has been in police custody since January 30, when it was revealed that she was not pregnant with twins as she'd alleged to authorities in a successful attempt to delay her sentencing in a 2013 plea deal.

The case has taken a number of bizarre twists and turns since CultureMap first investigated Williams. In 2011, she told police that an intruder killed her husband before changing her story to say Greg committed suicide and she staged the crime scene to hide the truth from their young daughter, who was asleep in the next room when her father was killed.

In 2014, Williams withdrew her guilty plea on charges of deadly conduct and tampering with evidence in a dramatic bout of testimony at her February sentencing hearing. She had been scheduled to begin an 18-year prison sentence. Although Williams once accepted that she had a role in her husband's death, she now says she was pressured to take the deal and is innocent.

Michele and Greg Williams were married in 2008.

Michele Williams and Greg Williams on their wedding day

Photo courtesy of Keller Police Department

Michele and Greg Williams were married in 2008.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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