Summary

• The Atlanta child murders were a real series of slayings in the late 1970s and early 1980s that primarily targeted young children in the Black community.
• FBI Agent John Douglas played a significant role in the investigation of the case, using profiling methods and identifying the killer as a young Black man.
• Wayne Williams was arrested and convicted for some of the murders, though there are doubts about whether he acted alone. The case was reopened in 2019 for further investigation and scrutiny.

This article contains discussion of violence

Most of the second season of Netflix's Mindhunter was dedicated to investigating the notorious Atlanta child murders case, but how much of the story was true? Debuting in 2017 and co-produced by David Fincher, Mindhunter follows FBI Agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) who interview serial killers in order to pioneer the new science of criminal profiling. The series was based on the titular book by retired FBI icon John Douglas whose personal experiences serve as the basis for the Holden Ford character. Likewise, the gruesome tales seen in the show are also drawn from real-life cases that Douglas investigated.

Despite the fact that Mindhunter was a critical darling throughout its entire run on the air (via Shows like Mindhunter are unique because of their daring approach to true crime, and the brilliant writing which ties everything together. The Atlanta child murders were a quintessential part of John Douglas' rise as a superstar in the crime prevention community, and it was only natural that season 2 of Mindhunter would choose to emphasize the case so much. Nevertheless, the real-life case was even more complicated than in the series and even more terrifying.

What Were The Atlanta Child Murders

As the name suggests, the Atlanta child murders were a series of slayings in and around Atlanta, Georgia that largely targeted young children from the Black community. Beginning in 1979 and ranging until 1981, 30 victims were discovered in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. The slayings featured a variety of methods that vexed authorities at a time when serial killing investigations were still in their infancy. It took until 1980 for the story to gain widespread media attention (via History News Network), but it was discovered at the time that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) still wasn't taking the case seriously despite a growing number of casualties.

Eventually, a task force of over 100 agents was assembled at the height of the investigation, and the city of Atlanta was gripped with terror as a curfew was imposed (via The New York Times). Eventually, the FBI did assist in making an arrest using their new methods of criminal profiling, though some doubt lingered about the conclusiveness of their findings. Officially, the Atlanta child murders ended in May 1981, with the death toll well above two dozen victims from a community that was only beginning to recover from the racial strife of the previous decade.

How John Douglas Got Involved In The Case

As he laid out in his classic true crime book, Mindhunter, FBI Agent John Douglas was called in to assist in the investigation in 1980 after the ninth victim, a 7-year-old girl named LaTonya Wilson, went missing. Douglas wasn't a known quantity at the time, and his behind-the-scenes profiling magic wasn't yet revealed to the public. Douglas was tasked with creating a specific profile for the perpetrator in the Atlanta case, and as he explained in his book, he went in a rather radical direction for the time.

John Douglas' profile was based on countless case studies that he had collected by interviewing notorious killers like Edmund Kemper and Richard Speck. However, Douglas shocked everyone by declaring that the killer was most likely a young Black man (via Men's Health). At the time, and still today, a myth persists that all serial killers are Caucasian though that is not ed by the facts (via Scientific American). As such, Douglas' profile came as quite a shock to many, and the myth has since been used as erroneous evidence to cast doubt on the investigation.

Nevertheless, Douglas was on hand when a suspect was apprehended in the slayings, though he himself wasn't entirely sure that the crimes were committed by one man alone. As he recounted in his book Mindhunter, he was sure that the apprehended suspect was guilty, which he claims landed him in hot water with the brass at the FBI. Regardless, Douglas was launched into the spotlight thanks to his work on the Atlanta child murders case, and it lent credibility to the new science he was in the process of developing and perfecting.

Wayne Williams Was Arrested For The Crimes

After years of pressure from the public to nab the suspect in the Atlanta child murders case, a major break came in May 1981 when a stakeout caught someone in its net. According to Time Magazine, the FBI predicted that the next victims would be dumped in bodies of water because it fit the pattern that had begun to emerge. Therefore, bridges over rivers and large streams were monitored by the investigators in hopes of catching the killer in the act of disposing of the evidence.

On the night of May 22nd, investigators at a bridge over the Chattahoochee River heard a mysterious splash and witnessed a white station wagon turn back and return the way it had come from. The driver was Wayne Williams who worked as a music promoter and photographer who was a native of Atlanta. Several days later, the body of another victim was found in the river near the bridge, which pointed suspicion even further toward Williams. Williams' alibi for where he was going that night didn't hold up to scrutiny, and the officer who pulled him over claimed to have seen a rope and gloves in Williams' car.

According to CNN, Williams was seen handing out fliers in a predominantly Black neighborhood that called for young people to audition for a band he was supposedly assembling. Additionally, and perhaps most conclusively, carpet fibers from Williams' home matched those found on two of the victims (via The New York Times). Williams was eventually found guilty of the murder of Jimmy Ray Payne and Nathaniel Cater, two of the adults who were killed during the spree, and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Was Williams The Only Culprit?

From the outset, Wayne Williams' guilt in the Atlanta child murders case was questioned. John Douglas was sure Williams was guilty of some of the crimes, but he reiterated in his book Mindhunter that he was convinced he wasn't the only killer. Williams was circumstantially linked to 28 of the murders and though he was only convicted of two slayings, authorities closed the book on the majority of the cases. Georgia Supreme Court Justice George T. Smith reviewed the case after the fact and determined that most of the evidence was actually inissible due to its overwhelmingly circumstantial nature (via The New York Times).

Mindhunter season 2 hinted at the true story, and somewhat addressed the implied racial underpinnings to the case that actually became much more explosive after the GBI declared things closed. In an investigative piece by Spin Magazine, journalists Robert Keating and Barry Michael Cooper reported that the GBI was looking into the possibility of Ku Klux Klan involvement in the killings. Klan member Charles T. Sanders, according to the investigation, took credit for the killing of Lubie Geter and could be linked to many more slayings. The entire enterprise was allegedly a ploy to start a race war, though no action has been taken by authorities to investigate these claims.

The Case Was Reopened In 2019

Partially in response to Mindhunter, the Atlanta child murders case was reopened by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms in a t effort with Chief of Police Erika Shields (via Rolling Stone). With advancements in DNA testing technology, Mayor Bottoms hoped to finally shed light on many of the doubts that have lingered regarding the case since the 1982 conviction. As of 2021, Mayor Bottoms reported that the investigation had collected enough DNA to conduct a thorough test (via CNN), but no additional updates have come in the years since. In 2023, plans were announced for the city of Atlanta to erect a memorial for the victims (via Fox Atlanta).

How Accurate Was Mindhunter Season 2?

During its woefully brief run, Mindhunter was noted for its accurate depiction of killers and season 2 did a pretty thorough job of telling the true story of the Atlanta child murders case. Of course, accuracy is a rather subjective phrase considering the divisive nature of the case, but the season conforms to the prevailing theories. Holden Ford (Douglas' fictional surrogate) does express his belief in a multi-killer theory and the series incorporates a bit of the racial component which was a bit of speculation on the writers' part. Though the narrative aspects were obviously devised for the series, Mindhunter captured the Atlanta child murders case pretty succinctly.