A Dossier
American Honor Killings
Get the Book
The following are mostly photographs, but also a few links and texts, which should be considered integral to American Honor Killings. I’ve arranged the dossier so the material matches up to the chapters of the book (except for the last, the conclusion, which needs no illustration. Instead, I’ve put a Reader’s Guide at the end.) The items can’t stand alone and in many instances won’t make complete sense without reference to the book. Yet, besides adding visual and documentary depth to the story (“surface” might be a better word), there are details in the accompanying commentary that didn’t make it into print.
I’ve listed an abbreviated table of contents first for orientation. Then photographs, commentary and other material have been posted chapter by chapter.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Species and Reality
Besides introducing the entire subject of men killing men where a sexual issue was at play, and doing it in the most open-ended way possible so that what I write will be more a window on the world than a political argument, I also briefly review the famous “Jenny Jones” case from 1995. This was one of the early, galvanizing “gay panic” cases.
Here’s Scott Amedure, the victim, by all accounts a friendly, outgoing guy. Ex-military. I don’t know the provenance of this photo, but it’s the most widespread and was probably provided to newspapers/TV by friends or family at the time. To me, Scott looks a bit younger here than in the screen shots from the Jenny Jones Show.
Below is a picture of the killer, Jonathan Schmitz, in court. It captures his striking looks but not his green eyes. This picture and the following shots from the Jenny Jones show all originally appeared on Court TV, which covered the trials extensively. Court TV is now part of TruTV.
Scott Amedure
Jonathan Schmitz
Here are three interesting shots that epitomize the action on the fateful Jenny Jones “Secret Admirer” show that was never broadcast.
Donna & Scott
An Embrace
Jonathan on the show
Jonathan then sits and covers his face with his hands in what appears to be good-natured surprise and embarrassment. He tells Jenny he’s definitely not gay. As you can see in this shot, he doesn’t appear upset. He was a tightly wound young man, however, and a lot must have been going on in his head between this moment and the killing several days later. Note the collarless shirt he’s wearing. One of his first complaints after the show was that he’d wasted “six hundred dollars” on new clothes. Much earlier, while shopping for these TV clothes with a co-worker, Kelly Glenn, he mentioned to her that if the “secret admirer” turned out to be his ex-girlfriend Kristen Joyce, as he dearly wished, he could see proposing to her on air.
Finally, this is a more recent (2008) photograph of Jonathan from the Michigan Department of Corrections. He’s obviously changed greatly and adopted prison style to some degree.
Jonathan Schmitz in prison
2. Matson, Mowder, and the Williams Brothers, 1999
Here (below) is a shot of the lovely countryside around Sutter Buttes near where Matthew and Tyler Williams were raised. Below the photo is a watercolor view of Sutter Buttes painted by Sally Donner Williams, the boys’ mother. She took up painting around the time Matthew returned from the Navy in Seattle. His daughter was born out of wedlock there (to the Williams family, "out of wedlock" mattered a great deal). Sally had a website devoted to her paintings of flowers, chickens, fish, landscapes and more until relatively recently.
Sutter Butes
“Sutter Butes after Rain”
This is a painting Sally Williams posted on her website along with a rather mysterious note about her family. “Monterey Cypress near Seal Rock near San Francisco. From a family trip there. The birds make me weep; one is joining two others after a long absence, winging their way together. Like the reunion of all our loved ones.” I don’t know when the painting was done, so I can’t guess what stage of her family’s tragic history she might be referring to.
“Reunion”
Below are two shots of Matthew from his University days in Moscow, Idaho. He was majoring in Biology. They’re courtesy of Jeff Monroe. In one Matthew mugs as Groucho Marx at Monroe’s home. In the other he’s giving a reading of his poetry. (According to the poster behind him, he’s reading at “A night of the spoken word” at the Vandal Café, which identifies the scene as a University of Idaho campus building, since the school is home to the “Vandals.”)
I’ve studied these two pictures at length looking for some clue to Matthew’s emotionalism and increasingly wild ideas at the time, but I find them unremarkable, even impenetrable, except for the interesting fact that he’s “performing” in both of them.
Matthew as Groucho
Matthew reading poetry
Vulture in Eagle’s Clothing
Here’s the cover of Vulture in Eagle’s Clothing, Lynn Meredith’s anti-tax tract and one example of the many, many extremist fads Matthew took up during his time in Idaho. Meredith is now in federal prison, incidentally.
Glock 9 mm handguns
Here are some Glock handguns. One of these was Matthew’s favorite weapon, though it wasn’t used in the killings. He had it with him when he was in the Navy in Seattle. He had it in Idaho. Ann Monroe once found it hidden under his pillow when he was staying at her and Jeff’s house in Moscow. Jeff was outraged. Matthew also had the Glock with him when he was arrested.
These are shots of the fire-bomb damage to the B’nai Israel library from a tenth anniversary issue of the congregation newsletter, Koleinu. This was Matthew and Tyler’s first attack. For a while services had to be held in a courtyard. Synagogues from all over the country contributed books to reconstitute the congregation’s lost library. The third picture shows the restoration.
The burned-out library
The interior destroyed
Reconstruction
This Sacramento Bee photograph shows an ATF agent examining the garbage bin where Matthew threw his last Molotov cocktail the night he and Tyler attacked a Medical Center that housed an abortion clinic. One reason investigators were slow to connect this attack to the synagogue attacks and to the murders was that jurisdictions didn’t overlap. Local police handled the murders, the FBI dealt with the synagogue fire-bombings and the ATF was called in on this case in which insurance fraud was briefly suspected.
Firebomb
The victims (below), Gary Matson (AP photo) and Winfield Mowder. From an obituary of Gary in Fremontia, a local horticultural newsletter: “Throughout his life Gary was a teacher. Besides his popular classes at Shasta College, he led hundreds of field trips and nature walks . . . Going on a casual hike with him was an adventure; inevitably one would learn something new. He was a teacher at all levels. For many years he made time to roam the Trinity Alps with a noted Dutch botanist. He maintained correspondence with plant specialists all over the world, and his expertise was sought by many horticultural and botanical professionals in the region. One of his unfinished projects was a field guide to the native flora of the area.”
Gary Matson
Winfield Mowder
And here are newspaper photographs of Matthew and Tyler. These were posted on Salon to accompany Sam Stanton and Gary Delsohn’s excellent article on the case. A link to the Salon article is below the photographs.
Matthew Williams
Tyler Williams
This is a picture of the Shasta County Jail where Matthew and Tyler were transferred and held for the murders after pleading guilty to the federal charges in Sacramento. Matthew made an escape attempt with Paul Gordon Smith Jr. Matthew was afterwards moved to “AdSeg” (Administrative Segregation) where he killed himself.
Shasta County Jail
This is an interesting PDF of an article by Faye Springer of the Sacramento DA’s office reviewing forensic evidence in the case. Note that Matthew and Tyler are referred to by their “proper” names “Benjamin Matthew Williams” and “James Tyler Williams.”
Below is a legal summary of events connected with the escape excerpted from an unrelated appeal of his own death sentence by Paul Gordon Smith Jr. (Please excuse the poor image quality. You'll have to click to expand each page to make it legible. And, again, Matthew’s “proper” name “Benjamin” is used.)
The incredible drain cover weapon Matthew constructed in haste in the shower before the attack on Timothy Renault and the attempted escape. (Please excuse the poor image quality and the blood.)
Matthew's handiwork
Here’s a picture of the kind of cell sink/toilet behind which Matthew’s body was found.
Prison Furniture
Before his death Matthew engaged in a voluminous correspondence from prison. He wrote many letters to newspapers. The following drawings were (I think) sent to R. Downey who, along with Garth Powell, compiled a collection of “letters and artwork from folks in the BIG HOUSE,” especially notorious killers. Playroom Press published the collection as Manson Family Picnic. (There’s now a Brooklyn Band with the same name.) I found Matthew's pictures among those posted on the book’s website, mansonfamilypicnic.com, and I've linked below to that site and to the book on Amazon.
I’ve studied these drawings of Matthew's in detail and have looked up every reference I can make out. They’re an incredible window into his confused, hyper-allusive engagement with the world.
(Below, click to expand) In “The Destruction of the Magog MATRIX” I’ll simply note that Satan looms at the vanishing point, and the clusters of buildings seem to represent “Jewish” New York, “Catholic” Rome, some Islamic capital, Moscow and two others, one generically labeled “State Churches.” The levitating pyramid, which bears allusions to the Tabernacle, flames with the Tetragrammaton YHWH (in English letters) meaning Yahweh. The spiky objects floating around the “matrix” look a lot like the diagrams of anti-bodies often published in articles about AIDS at the time (1999). The meteoric little triangle or pyramid is labeled “Dan 2.44,” a verse which reads in the King James Version: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” The drawing is a fantasia of symbolism too personal to signify anything clearly.
(Below, click to expand) Here Matthew has written (with hints of racist typography) song lyrics from Nine Inch Nails and RaHoWa as well as an Ayn Rand quotation (from Dagny Taggard in Atlas Shrugged) along with musical notes—indicating it, too, should be sung? The computer mouse-like/spermatozoon design is indecipherable to me. Is it a bomb containing Uranium 239 and a cross? Matthew did attend the Navy’s “Nuke School” in Florida.
This picture shows how Matthew, who’d started going by “Ben” in prison, turned his own signature into an arcane allusion. Note that he signed "The Destruction of the Magog MATRIX" “Benjamin XIV Williams.” “Matthew XIV” doesn’t seem pertinent. Revelations XIV.12 reads (KJV): “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
3. Bad-Good, Not Good
This brief chapter alludes to the Shangri-las, in particular, their lyric, “He’s good bad, not evil.” Oddly enough, the song Leader of the Pack was briefly banned by the BBC for promoting motorcycle gang culture.
I mention the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” finally passed and signed by President Obama. Here’s a Senate Version of the bill back when it was known as “The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.” It’s substantially the same as the final bill.
4. Domer, Qualls and Madden 2007
This is a picture of Darrell Lynn Madden, Chaos Squad General, gang traitor and murderer. It’s an Oklahoma Department of Corrections photograph from December 2005, taken after Darrell was arrested for impersonating a police officer. It’s very difficult to imagine how different he looks today with very long hair and many tattoos he says he’d like to have covered up.
This Department of Corrections picture was taken following his repatriation after an internet fraud and a wild flight to Mexico with a friend. It’s from later the same year.
Below is Madden as he looked after his capture for the murder of Bradley Qualls, his partner in crime. Note the black sling. Darrell’s right shoulder was hit during a shootout and his radial nerve severed. He underwent seven surgeries but still has only limited use of his arm. Also notice the many additional tattoos he got in prison after the Mexican interlude. Some of them are specifically related to Chaos Squad. Though Darrell already had some tattoos which aren’t visible in the photographs above, a description and complete list of body marks by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections now reads as follows (NCIC stands for “National Crime Information Center” which keeps standardized lists of body marks and tattoos):
Darrell soon after his capture
White Male; 5 ft. 9 in. tall; 170 pounds; Brown hair; Green eyes;
Body Marks
HEAD: TAT C BACK BURNING SPADE
SC L ARM: NCIC GUNSHOT WOUND
SHL: TAT R TRIBAL BAND
TAT BACK: NCIC "NEO NAZI", SWASTIKA
TAT CHEST: NCIC "GOD'S GRACE IS THE WHITE RACE", NAZI EAGLE
TAT L ARM: NCIC "HEAD"
TAT L CALF: NCIC SYMBOL, SKULL
TAT L LEG: NCIC COVERUP, PENTAGRAM
TAT LF ARM: NCIC IRON CROSS, FLAMES, EYES
TAT NECK: NCIC "SO CAL", "KI SQUAD SKINHEAD", "SS"
TAT R ARM: NCIC "HEAD", SKULL, "666", IRON CROSS
TAT R CALF: NCIC CLOWN
TAT R CHK: NCIC TEARDROP
TAT R LEG: NCIC CLOWN
TAT R SHLD: NCIC SWASTIKA
Here’s a closer view of Darrell during the trial for Steve Domer’s murder. You can make out “Skin Head” on his eyebrows and the teardrop “wet and lined” on the right side, which he explained stood for a gang murder.
Darrell leaving Court
Here’s Badley Qualls, the man Darrell was inducting as a “foot soldier” in Chaos Squad and whom he later murdered. This picture is from a prison stint of Bradley’s a few years before he met Darrell. He eventually got his own “Skin Head” tattoo across his eyebrows, exactly like Darrell’s. It was just a day or so before he was killed, and the tattoo resulted in a staph infection.
Bradley Qualls
And here is Steve Domer, the man Bradley and Darrell kidnapped, beat and murdered. The murder was supposed to be Bradley’s gang initiation. Steve’s brother, Mort, recalls that Steve was rather tall and on the trim side. This photo may give the misleading impression that Steve was heavier than he was.
Steve Domer
The picture below shows Darrell in court during the trial for murdering the man he now calls “Mr. Domer.” Susan Domer, the victim’s cousin, wrote an article for the Fort Wayne Reader in 2009, while she was performing, ironically, the part of Sister Prejean in Dead Man Walking. Her interesting article discusses Darrell at length and reads in part: “Forgive?!? I can’t see that happening for me. I cannot see me extending the gift of forgiveness to someone so contemptible. And now, I’m confronted with this pesky forgiveness dilemma every night at rehearsal for the play Dead Man Walking . . .” Later she writes about the remarkable denouement of the trial: “And then in Oct. 2008, in a courtroom in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he decided to own up to his role in Steven Domer’s death. He was actually participating in his own redemption. Just when the family was hunkering down for a trial of denial, he turned the tables on us. Darrell Madden surprised everyone; the judge, the prosecutor, our family and the media by confessing to the murder of Steven Domer. Mort Domer, Steven’s brother refused to allow Madden to plead guilty until they sat down across the table from each other. Seasoned, jaded, law enforcement officials stood around slack-jawed as Darrell Madden answered all of Mort’s questions about the murder. All of Oklahoma City watched in amazement as these two men talked about the details of Steven Domer’s murder, with the event topping the evening news throughout the region.” Susan, however, writes that she’s still not ready to forgive. There's a link to her article below the photo.
Darrell in Court
”Billy”
Now, going back a couple of lifetimes, this is a picture of Darrell, at about eighteen, in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. When I sent it to him he said he remembered the occasion well, a photo shoot for a magazine called In Touch.
Here’s what the picture was ultimately used for—the cover of one of Darrell’s porn films.
Here are the covers of two other films Darrell starred in. “Billy Houston” was Darrell’s porn name. The Devil and Danny Webster (left) was his first picture. Though he looks heart-breakingly young in it, he asserts that when the film was made he’d already murdered a man in Houston, Texas, where he’d first become enamored of skinheads.
