turned to stealing from the local merchants, for which he punished by working a year on the chain gang. His hatred of the system seems to have been passed down through the generations and Pud’s son, James, ended up as a robber, a kidnapper and even a child molester. In turn, James’ son Butch also ended up a murderer.
As for Willie, Butch’s son, he is the child of violence. Having been raised on the streets of Harlem, Willie was known to be volatile and his killings were merely a way of earning ‘respect’ from his fellow beings.
WILLIE’S SECOND KILLING
Willie had a cousin called Herman Spates. Herman called round to see Willie on the morning of Thursday, March 23, 1978, to find him still asleep. When his cousin arrived Willie climbed out of bed, got dressed, and instinctively strapped his gun and holster to his leg.
‘Let’s go get some money,’ Willie said to his cousin. Willie was feeling tough and empowered, since it was only four days since he had actually killed a man.
The pair walked to the Number 3 subway train on 148th Street and Lexington Avenue. As they were crossing the station yard they noticed a man, Anthony Lamorte, carrying a CB radio. The boys knew that this radio would bring them in quite a lot of cash if they sold it on the streets, and so they followed the man.
Lamorte noticed the two boys hanging around the yard and yelled at them to get out as they were not supposed to be in there. This, however, incensed Willie – he wasn’t going to be told what to do by a white man – and so he challenged him. Lamorte climbed down from the steps of the train carriage and started walking towards the boys. He thought Willie looked far too young to be hanging around, but as he got closer Willie pulled out his gun and demanded money and the man’s CB radio.
Fearing that something bad was about to happen, Lamorte turned his back on the two boys and started to walk back to the carriage. As he walked away he heard a loud bang and felt a numbness creep over his back and right shoulder. He then heard the boys run away, and staggered to the dispatcher’s office where he told them that he thought he had been shot.
Willie and his cousin fled the scene of the shooting as fast as their legs would carry them. Undeterred by the fact that they could have been caught, over the course of the next three nights the pair were involved in three more violent assaults and robberies. They stole $12 from a man they had kicked down the stairs at a train station. They shot a 57-year-old man called Matthew Connolly in the hip, when he was foolish enough to try and resist them.
On Monday, March 27, Willie and Herman were out looking for trouble once again. They jumped over the turnstile on 135th Street and climbed onto the last carriage of the uptown train. There was only one other passenger in the car, a Hispanic man in his late thirties. Willie instructed his cousin to stand guard at the front of the carriage, while he demanded money from the passenger using his gun as an added threat. The man told Willie that he didn’t have any money, but that was the wrong thing to say, and it made the boy very angry. Without any hesitation Willie pulled the trigger and the man slid to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around his inert body. Willie quickly went through the man’s pockets but only found $2 in his wallet. Willie tossed the wallet into a rubbish bin and walked back home with Herman, laughing about what he had done. Willie now felt like a big-time killer and when it made front page news the next morning, he proudly showed his sister his newfound fame.
What Willie didn’t know, however, was that on that same day the courts had finally given approval for him to be adopted as a foster child by the couple he had been looking forward to living with. But of course all of this was to change, as there was shortly to be a huge turnaround in Willie’s fortunes.
THE CASE AGAINST WILLIE
Police
As for Willie, Butch’s son, he is the child of violence. Having been raised on the streets of Harlem, Willie was known to be volatile and his killings were merely a way of earning ‘respect’ from his fellow beings.
WILLIE’S SECOND KILLING
Willie had a cousin called Herman Spates. Herman called round to see Willie on the morning of Thursday, March 23, 1978, to find him still asleep. When his cousin arrived Willie climbed out of bed, got dressed, and instinctively strapped his gun and holster to his leg.
‘Let’s go get some money,’ Willie said to his cousin. Willie was feeling tough and empowered, since it was only four days since he had actually killed a man.
The pair walked to the Number 3 subway train on 148th Street and Lexington Avenue. As they were crossing the station yard they noticed a man, Anthony Lamorte, carrying a CB radio. The boys knew that this radio would bring them in quite a lot of cash if they sold it on the streets, and so they followed the man.
Lamorte noticed the two boys hanging around the yard and yelled at them to get out as they were not supposed to be in there. This, however, incensed Willie – he wasn’t going to be told what to do by a white man – and so he challenged him. Lamorte climbed down from the steps of the train carriage and started walking towards the boys. He thought Willie looked far too young to be hanging around, but as he got closer Willie pulled out his gun and demanded money and the man’s CB radio.
Fearing that something bad was about to happen, Lamorte turned his back on the two boys and started to walk back to the carriage. As he walked away he heard a loud bang and felt a numbness creep over his back and right shoulder. He then heard the boys run away, and staggered to the dispatcher’s office where he told them that he thought he had been shot.
Willie and his cousin fled the scene of the shooting as fast as their legs would carry them. Undeterred by the fact that they could have been caught, over the course of the next three nights the pair were involved in three more violent assaults and robberies. They stole $12 from a man they had kicked down the stairs at a train station. They shot a 57-year-old man called Matthew Connolly in the hip, when he was foolish enough to try and resist them.
On Monday, March 27, Willie and Herman were out looking for trouble once again. They jumped over the turnstile on 135th Street and climbed onto the last carriage of the uptown train. There was only one other passenger in the car, a Hispanic man in his late thirties. Willie instructed his cousin to stand guard at the front of the carriage, while he demanded money from the passenger using his gun as an added threat. The man told Willie that he didn’t have any money, but that was the wrong thing to say, and it made the boy very angry. Without any hesitation Willie pulled the trigger and the man slid to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around his inert body. Willie quickly went through the man’s pockets but only found $2 in his wallet. Willie tossed the wallet into a rubbish bin and walked back home with Herman, laughing about what he had done. Willie now felt like a big-time killer and when it made front page news the next morning, he proudly showed his sister his newfound fame.
What Willie didn’t know, however, was that on that same day the courts had finally given approval for him to be adopted as a foster child by the couple he had been looking forward to living with. But of course all of this was to change, as there was shortly to be a huge turnaround in Willie’s fortunes.
THE CASE AGAINST WILLIE
Police
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