Letter implicates gang member in Darrent Williams shooting

[Man-Goblin]

More info in the link; too long to post.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/new...er-implicates/

The Rocky Mountain News has obtained a copy of a letter believed to be signed by a 26-year-old gang member that says he fired the shots that killed Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams.

The letter is the first piece of evidence known publicly to link a triggerman to the New Year's Day 2007 shooting, the city's highest profile unsolved murder.

It carries the signature "Willie D. Clark."

Clark was arrested on a parole violation days after the slaying and is in jail on pending drug charges.

In the letter, Clark says he is worried someone who saw him shoot "D-Will" - a nickname for Williams - will start talking to police about the killing.

"(The person) seen me with the gun and shoot out the whip," the letter states.

"Whip" is slang for a car. Police have said the shots that killed Williams were fired from a Chevy Tahoe shortly after Williams and a group of friends left a Denver nightclub.

The letter was intercepted in November by a 34-year-old Denver- area man who was being held with Clark at the Federal Detention Center in Littleton. The man has since been released.

He provided the letter to the Rocky, he said, because he believed it was the right thing to do and he wanted to bring Williams' family peace.

He also has talked to prosecutors and contacted the Broncos about a $100,000 reward offered by the team.

The Rocky is not identifying the source because he could be in danger for providing information about Clark and his gang, which authorities have said may be responsible for up to 12 unsolved killings, including the murder of a witness.

At the newspaper's urging, the source this month turned over a copy of the letter to law enforcement, which conducted a handwriting analysis.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey declined to comment on the letter or the investigation Thursday. But a law enforcement source said the writing in the letter matched a handwriting sample police obtained from Clark.

'Same writer, period'

Alaurice Tafoya-Modi, an attorney for Clark, said Thursday morning she couldn't comment without seeing a copy of the letter. After a copy was faxed to her office, she could not be reached and did not return a phone message.

Clark has been previously identified as a suspect in the killing, though no one has been charged.

Last year Clark insisted in a letter to the Rocky that he didn't kill Williams and didn't know who did.

"I was not involved or present," he wrote.

An independent handwriting expert hired by the Rocky confirmed that the writing in the letter implicating Clark matches the letters Clark previously sent to the newspaper and a letter he mailed this month to U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel.

"I think it's all the same writer, period," said Linda Collins James, a document examiner based in

Plano, Texas.

James, who has testified in civil and criminal court and is certified by the National Association of Document Examiners, compared the letter to 14 pages of letters and writing on seven envelopes received from Clark. Most of the letters were in block-letter print. Two were in cursive.

There were so many similarities between the letter provided by the source and those written in block-letter print, it would take "more than several hours to list them all," James said.

She also said there were similarities in the cursive.

James also examined handwriting from the source and determined that he did not write the letter implicating Clark.

Williams, a 2005 second-round draft pick from Oklahoma State, was the Broncos' starting right cornerback and leading punt returner in his second season. In his final season, he made four interceptions, second on the team to All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey.

His homicide received national media attention and quickly became the city's most notorious killing. For more than a week after he died the murder site was a shrine, with fans leaving flowers and notes in memory of the popular player.

The killing also prompted calls for a crackdown on gang activity. Yet, at least one grand jury convened to consider the case has expired with no indictments.