He goes missing, his wife marries his best friend

Wife Who Plotted Husband's Murder with His Best Friend, Then Married Him, Gets Life in Prison

Denise Williams is not eligible for parole and will spend the rest of her life behind bars


In the months before Mike Williams went missing, Mike's wife took out a million-dollar life insurance policy on her husband. And making thing even more suspicious was the man who helped her sign the papers.

A Florida woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after being found guilty of helping to mastermind the murder of her husband in 2000.

Last month, a jury found Denise Williams guilty on three counts, including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, in the death of her husband, Jerry Michael “Mike” Williams. On Wednesday, she was sentenced to life in prison without parole, PEOPLE confirms.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony that the 48-year-old woman conspired to kill her husband with help from his best friend, Brian Winchester, whom she married five years later.

According to testimony, Mike Williams packed up his boat on Dec. 16, 2000, to go duck hunting on Florida’s Lake Seminole. The 31-year-old father had planned to spend a few hours out on the water and then return home for a weekend anniversary trip with his wife.

But he never made it back — beginning a 17-year mystery that was only recently solved. (The case was featured in a December 2018 episode of People Magazine Investigates.)

When Mike first disappeared, his father-in-law searched for him and found his abandoned boat. His vehicle was still on the shore. Police speculated that he had fallen into the water and been eaten by alligators.

Denise and Winchester, who married in 2005, had Mike declared dead after he vanished and collected on three life insurance policies worth more than $1.75 million.