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HBO show sheds light on murders

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anthony Terrell believes an imprisoned man currently serving two life sentences may not have been the person who murdered his brother as part of a killing spree that rocked Atlanta four decades ago.

Terrell hopes new light can be shed nationwide on the murders that terrorized the African American community in the city within a two-year time span with the HBO documentary “Atlantaís Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children.” The five-part series, which begins Sunday, will explore how the victimsí family members and others remain skeptical about Wayne Williams being the sole killer, despite evidence linking him to those murders and 10 others.

“I really want them to find out who did it,” said Terrell, whose 12-year-old brother, Earl, was one of the 29 abducted and killed between 1979 and 1981. “It would be closure to a lot of parents and others who want answers. It’s more than just blaming Wayne Williams. His name was embedded in everybody’s heads. Let us be focused on something else. He was convicted of two adults, but the rest were children. What about them?”

Williams was convicted in 1982 in the deaths of two adults, who were thought to be among 29 black children and young adults killed by the same person. After Williamsí conviction, police closed the rest of the cases, blaming them on Williams without formally charging him.

The 61-year-old Williams says in the documentary that he never killed anyone. He has appealed his convictions, but they have been denied several times.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Police Chief Erika Shields are leading a charge to reopen the investigation. The series kicks off with Bottoms’ announcing the city’s effort to re-examine evidence.

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