What happens when love makes us so blind that we can’t see the clear warning signs in our partners?
The sad story of Bill Williamson, a retired mailman, will serve as a lesson for everyone. The 82-year-old woman was killed by her former partner for his money after she had used him and stolen from him multiple times.
The show “Deadly Women: DIY Burial” on Investigation Discovery follows the police as they look for his partner, Ann Browning, and finally catch him for killing him. If the case interests you and you want to know everything about it, we’ve got you covered. Then, shall we learn more about Ann Browning?
What is her name?
Ann Browning was a self-employed cleaner who lived on Milton’s Crescent in Ockford Ridge, Godalming, Surrey. She was 54 years old. She had two sons and had been divorced twice. Ann had met Bill Williamson, an 82-year-old retired postman and widower, at a local historical society event in 2007. Bill’s wife, Mary, died in 2004 at the age of 91. He used to live alone in his Milford home on Church Road. He was said to have had no children.
Testimonies in court said that Bill was an old, lonely man who wanted to be with someone. Ann had just gotten divorced from her second husband, and they got along well. Bill had a lot of money, so he helped Ann out by giving her money for gas and dental work, among other things. He may have even changed his will so that she would get most of his money. But things changed when he was said to have caught her stealing money from him.
Bill said that Ann helped him set up an account from which £1,200 was missing. Bill said that Ann had taken out £200 from an ATM six times with a cash card he didn’t know about. She was said to have used that money a few days later to buy Premium Bonds worth £1,000. Ann said that Bill took the money out himself and forgot about it because he was getting old. But she was never charged because there was no proof that she did anything wrong.
Bill’s friends had told him to be careful around Ann, and it was said that he and Ann had broken up. During that time, she also tried, but failed, to get back together with her ex-husband. Even though his friends were worried, Ann and Bill got back together in March 2009. The second time they met, their relationship grew to the point where Ann convinced Bill to sell his home on Church Road, and Bill agreed to do the same with his home on Milton’s Crescent. Bill agreed that they should start a new life together, and he even gave Ann £6,000 so she could buy a new Kia.
Bill sold his house on Church Road for £246,924 and moved out on September 10, 2010. The money went into their joint account, and he moved into Ann’s house. The prosecutors said she killed Bill with a rounders bat just a few hours after he moved in. She then went back to her normal life, going to the theater, playing bingo with friends, and even shopping with his cards. She even put £140,000 from the sale of Bill’s house into her account from the money they had in their joint account, and she registered his red Mazda car in her name.
But Bill’s doctor told the police when he didn’t show up for his flu shot appointment, so the police showed up at her door. She told the police that he was in Ireland to go to a family funeral, which she knew was not true. She also said that Bill’s car had been broken into, but the police found it parked a few blocks away. She was arrested when surveillance footage showed her taking Bill’s money out of the bank and registering his car in her name.
On October 8, 2010, the police found Bill’s battered and naked body buried in a shallow grave in her back yard. His legs were tied together with a belt, and his body was wrapped in a shower curtain. On October 7, 2010, she said she did it. She is said to have told the police, “Yes, I killed him, I confess.” However, she denied that the murder was done for money and said it was all done in the heat of the moment.
How is Ann Browning doing now?
Ann said that she would have turned herself in after his son’s wedding in October 2010. She said, “I love my son so much that I didn’t want to ruin his happiness because he was getting married to the girl of his dreams.” But the court didn’t believe her lies, and she was found guilty of killing Bill.
In August 2011, she was given a life sentence, but she would have to serve at least 25 years. She was also given a Confiscation Order for £250,293 that she had to pay to Bill’s estate in Surrey as compensation. She is now in her mid-60s and doing her time at a prison in Surrey.
Today, a cleaner who killed an 82-year-old widower by beating him to death and burying him in the garden so she could get his money was sentenced to life in prison.
Ann Browning, age 54, was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for the “wicked murder” of William Williamson, a retired postman. A judge at Guildford Crown Court said she planned the killing to make money.
Browning, who was from Ockford Ridge, Surrey, pleaded guilty to murder, but he denied that he did it for money.
Ann Browning made friends with Bill Williamson so she could steal his £250,000. Ann Browning killed Bill Williamson.
Ann Browning, on the left, killed William Williamson with a plastic rounders bat so she could get his £250,000 fortune, on the right.
She said that in a fit of anger, she hit Mr. Williamson with a plastic rounders bat and buried his body in her garden to hide her crime.
At a hearing last week to decide if she planned the murder to get money, the court heard that Browning hit Mr. Williamson in the head and body many times.
She then took off his clothes, tied his legs together with a belt, wrapped him in a shower curtain, and put him head-first into a grave she dug in the back garden of the house they shared.
Under tough new rules, criminals will be locked up at home for up to 16 hours a day.
“Baby P torturer Steven Barker brought food to crossbow killer who ate his own victims”
A bungling iPhone thief is caught when the owner’s tracking app helps police find him.
When he died in September 2010, she moved £140,000 from their joint account to her own account within a few days.
The court heard that when she was asked where Mr. Williamson was, she told “a number of elaborate lies,” like that he was at a funeral in Ireland.
She also forged his signature on papers to close a Royal Mail account in his name, saying he was moving to a care home on the south coast.
The court heard that Mr. Williamson often gave money to Ms. Browning and that he had agreed to sell his house so that he could move in with her and they could buy a house together.
He moved into her house, but he was killed either that day or the next.
But Browning said that she killed Mr. Williamson out of anger and that she was going to turn herself in after her son’s wedding in October.
She said she got angry when he told her he didn’t want to live with her anymore and wanted to move to Ireland instead.
The mother of two, who had been married twice before, said she planned to confess as soon as her son’s wedding was over. She told the court, “I thought that if I could just get through the weeks leading up to his wedding and get that wedding over with, I would confess.”
“I love my son so much that I didn’t want to stop him from marrying the girl of his dreams because I didn’t want to ruin his happiness.”
But Recorder of Guildford Judge Christopher Critchlow ruled today that Browning had planned the murder.
He said, “I’m sure she didn’t kill him in a single fit of rage.” Taking into account all of her lies and how they added up, I am sure that she did plan to kill him.
“The Crown has convinced me that she had planned to kill him, either for her own gain or to help other people financially.
“He was a small man who, at his age, couldn’t fight what she did to him. So, this was a cruel killing of an old man who was easy to hurt for money.’
During the hearing, Browning was clearly upset. He cried and often yelled from the dock.
The 54-year-old woman told the judge, “May God forgive your soul” as she was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 25 years.
The court heard that after meeting Browning in 2007, Mr. Williamson changed his will to leave most of his money to her.
But he changed it back after accusing her of taking £1,200 from an account she helped him set up.
He said she took out £200 six times with a cash card he didn’t know about, and then just a few days later, she spent £1000 on Premium Bonds.
Browning was never arrested, even though he denied stealing and said that Mr. Williamson must have taken the money and then forgotten about it.
The court heard that the couple broke up, but in March 2009, she got in touch with him and they agreed to sell their homes and buy a new one together.
At one point, Browning tried to get back together with her husband, but it didn’t work out. She didn’t tell either man about her relationship with the other, though.
On September 10, Mr. Williamson sold his house and moved in with Browning. That same day, the prosecution said, she killed him. She said that she killed him the next day.
Today, the judge ruled in favor of the Crown because he was sure that Browning had planned the murder ahead of time.
“I’m sure that when he met her for the first time in 2007 and again after 2009, he wanted her to take care of him, cook for him, and clean for him, and he was willing to pay her a lot of money to do so.”
In 2007, she realized that he didn’t spend much time with his family and that she could benefit from getting to know him.
In 2007 and again in 2010, she had more power than he did because he was in love with her and wanted her to care for him.
“I think she worries about money and her future, especially since her hip problems are getting worse,” I said.
He said that Browning’s claim that she moved money from Mr. Williamson’s account after he died because she was worried about the bank’s stability was “incongruent” if she had really planned to turn herself in.