Ken Williams
Appearances
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
They said, you can still be the journalist hero while being an actual hero and help us catch him. Nobody needs to know that you helped us.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
I would never sell out my profession by helping cops catch somebody who called a journalist to tell their story.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
No, they would definitely not care about the importance of media in society. That was not these guys vibe.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
And I'm Ken Williams with the FBI here in Phoenix.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
Are you willing to discuss what you hear about the criminal damage? Without an attorney? Yeah. Yeah.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
I had a leaked message calling off the dogs. Are you part of the dogs? No, sir.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
You would not put yourself in that area. I care about the environment.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
You went to journalism school? A long time ago. Have you done any journalism work? Any reporting work? Right out of college. Well, I was a radio newsman.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
Are you calling me a suspect in all those fires? Well, I'm telling you that we're going to investigate... You're not my suspect in all those fires.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
Is it possible that you are a member of the group and maybe this is your signal to us that, you know, you're done doing things? I'm not done doing anything except doing stupid pranks like this. Okay, well, I'm just asking. I'm trying to understand, like you said yourself.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
Sometimes you think maybe you're being followed. I remember saying to friends that I thought something might be up. And then you wonder if you're just being paranoid.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
By this point, it's safe to say that James Hibbard is really feeling the heat. I'll never forget a column in the Arizona Republic slamming the interview, which said, the next time this guy burns down a house, it's Hibbard's fault.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
Every morning I would wake up with this pit in my stomach, this dread of wondering if he burned down another house, if he hurt someone during the night. Because if that happened, look, I would still be able to defend what I did professionally, but privately as a human being, you know, I would have felt horrible.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 4: The Bait
The headline was, Exclusive Interview with the Preserve's Arsonist.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
It's not a democracy. You know, you got to do what the boss tells you to do.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I have a confidential human source who was a member of a terrorist organization.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
This guy was making a pretty substantial chunk of change a month because he would give us good information.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
He told me about these two individuals that were going to school at Embry-Riddle University up in Prescott, Arizona.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
My informant told me that these two guys were very much active in recruiting young Muslim males around the world.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I remember the informant telling me specifically, he said, these guys are the real deal.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
He's standing by his door and he says, come on, I need to talk to you. He pulled me into his office. Ken knows immediately where this is going. These fires were getting out of hand. We thought it was an eco-terrorist group, and it was like all hands were called on deck.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
If I'm a heart surgeon, don't ask me to perform lung surgery. I communicated that to the bosses, but it wasn't the boss. I wasn't calling the shots.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
My brain's fried, man. The heat's getting me. I said the same thing.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I had to go do what I had to do on the arson case.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
When I saw the composite sketch, I said, you know, that's me. This witness is describing me. And it stands to reason because I was one of the first ones on the scene.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I'll tell you, I don't know if it was one of our artists or one of the PD artists that did it, but it was a very good picture.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
We got contacted about this particular female firefighter.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
This could be it. When either a bunch of cops get together or a bunch of firefighters get together and they're going to point the finger at one of their own, you've got to take that very seriously.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
She's made comments about they shouldn't be building along the preserves, that type of stuff. She was off on a lot of the days that these fires took place. So it all started to build up. Sounds promising.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
She kind of had like a goofy reputation, outdoor enthusiast, mountain biker. That gets you excited.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
She gave us some alibi stuff. We told this is a very serious matter. If you're lying to us, we'll put you in jail.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
My wife was used to it. Her dad was a cop. But she's now an ex-wife, so maybe she didn't get used to it.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
— He catches a guy semi-naked in this building under construction masturbating. — Ken rushes down to the station. — When you get something like that, you don't even care about sleeping. Sleep goes out the door. You can go 48 hours without sleep, you know?
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
It was his fiancée, and it was a suspicious drug overdose. They thought maybe he had something to do with it, but they never proved anything there.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
Obviously, as an investigator, when you see that a person was masturbating in a house that's under construction in the middle of the night, yeah, you take that really serious.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
He gets sexually excited when he smells fresh cut wood. And he says it's an issue for him.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
And according to her... Apparently this wasn't the first time he's ever done anything like that.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
He's still a problem, but he's not the arsonist.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
We can make your life miserable. Nobody wants to be under the microscope of the FBI, trust me. It is ruthless. I take that responsibility very seriously. So before I unleash the Kraken on you, you know, I got to be very certain that I really think that you're the bad person.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I want to say it was closer to Christmas, you know, like maybe the 20th of December, somewhere around there.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
My wife and kids were concerned about this. Who are these people? Where are they coming from? It's got to be one of our community members. I mean, they know the neighborhood. It was terrorizing the community. There's no question about it.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I was just cooking up some chicken, some steaks on the grill for family, and I see an orange glow reflecting off my backyard window. And I turn around, I go, oh my God, a fire. And I could see the flame shooting up into the sky. And so I called the wife. I said, hey, take over.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
This person to the right of me or to the left of me or behind me or in front of me, I'm sure every other member of the community was having those type of thoughts too. You see somebody filling up their gas can, where are they going with this bucket of gasoline, you know? How do I know they're going to be putting it in their lawnmower?
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
So I leave this gate here, and I run up the street here.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
Keep going straight. Yeah, keep going straight. So it was up here? Yeah, it's up over here by the red car.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
And as I'm running up this hill, I can see this thing's really igniting pretty fast.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
And I can hear sirens coming. And you could feel the heat as you were approaching it. Are you running? Yeah, I'm running. Now, other people from the neighborhood are starting to head this way.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
I mean, it's going up like a Roman candle. This thing is burning, like, real fast. Acrid black smoke fills the air. There's no way you were going to be able to salvage any part of that thing.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
This is Ken Williams. He was a local at the time of the arson spree, and still lives in the area.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
Do you want to hear something funny? When my kid brother first visited me out here, and we're getting into the mountain preserves area, he goes, what is this? He goes, is this the landfill? I call it landfill. Oh, my God. No, that's a real mountain, kid.
The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer
The Arsonist Next Door | 2: Smoke and Mirrors
We gave them a good shake. I mean, we went through their knickers big time.