Woman claimed husband was eaten by alligators – then she married his best friend

A killer wife married her husband's best friend after claiming he had been 'eaten by alligators' on a hunting trip.

Mike Williams' wife Denise reported him missing after he failed to come home on their sixth wedding anniversary in 2000, triggering a huge search operation. His abandoned vehicle was found by volunteers near Lake Seminole in Florida, while Mike's close friend Brian Winchester told police he had stumbled upon his deserted boat with his shotgun still aboard. Searchers scoured the murky lake waters for a body, wary of the alligators known to inhabit the area, but after 44 days the hunt was called off.

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Mike was officially listed as "missing" and it was speculated that his boat might have capsized. With no body recovered, it was thought he had been devoured by alligators, reports the Daily Star.

Denise, left to raise the couple's daughter alone, applied for his $1.75million (£1.3million) insurance policy, which Brian had helped him set up months before the trip to ensure his family would be financially secure if anything happened to him. But without a body, the insurance companies refused to pay out. Six months after Mike's disappearance, a local fisherman discovered his waders in Lake Seminole, followed by his fishing jacket, hunting licence and torch.

However, suspicions were raised when the waders appeared to have been in the water for only a short amount of time, and the torch was still functional. There were also no signs of an alligator attack in the area. Mike's mum did not believe he had been eaten by alligators and believed he had been murdered – while wildlife experts also told her that alligators do not feed in the cold winter months.

Despite the concerns, the judge declared he had died from a hunting accident and his wife Denise received the insurance pay-out. Cheryl tried to keep Mike's disappearance in the spotlight and made missing posters, writing to the state governor nearly every day for almost a decade.

In the meantime, Mike's best friend Brian divorced his wife and he began dating Denise, before the pair married in 2005. The couple divorced in 2012, but a shock came twist four years later in 2016 when Denise got into a car and found Brian hiding in the back with a gun. Brian was later arrested and charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault. In 2017 Brian pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assaulting Denise. The day after Brian was sentenced, police announced in a press conference that Mike had been murdered and they had found his body.

Brian then pleaded guilty to killing his best friend to escape murder charges. In a shock confession, he was recorded saying: "I met Mike at a gas station. I followed him to the lake. We launched the boat. It was just like a hunting trip was supposed to be – I got him to stand up and I pushed him into the water. He was in a panic, obviously. I was in a panic... I didn't know what to do and I ended up shooting him."

Brian said the murder had been Denise's idea because she wanted to be a widow, not a divorcee, and wanted to claim on life insurance. He explained: "She would not get divorced, so she basically said there's only one solution. We'd end up together, we'd live happily ever after, oh, and as a side note, we've got all this money to enjoy a wonderful life together."

In May 2018, almost 18 years on from Mike's death, Denise was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact. She would later claim alligators ate her husband.

Speaking at her trial in December 2018, Mike's mum Cheryl made an emotional plea for Denise to be locked away for life. She told the judge: "She's already lived 18 years longer than my son. When I try to sleep at night, I will see my son clinging to a tree stump in Lake Seminole in the dark, knowing his best friend is trying to kill him. I hear his voice screaming for help – I wasn't there to help him, it will haunt me forever."

Denise was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Brian will be eligible for parole in 2033, when he will be 63 years old.