SGF standoff suspect was once 'an excellent police chief'

William R. Williams, who police say killed himself and his two young children, was the former police chief of Bourbon, a small city of 1,500 where he was liked, respected and where two of his marriages failed.

Two former mayors of Bourbon who worked with Williams on a daily basis said they were shocked that the professional and emotionally composed former chief they knew was the same man who on Monday took his own life after killing his children.

Police say Williams shot 4-year-old son Brodie and 2-year-old daughter Marley.

Williams, 51, had been involved in a custody dispute with his wife — apparently at least his third wife, according to Bourbon sources.

"I was really surprised — actually I was surprised that anybody would do that," said Mark Nilges, mayor of Bourbon in 1996 when Williams was hired as a patrol officer. "He was a personable guy, really friendly."

Nilges said that when Williams first came to Bourbon he was married to a woman named Christie. Nilges said he socialized with Williams and Christie.

Cathy Bremer, Bourbon's city clerk since 1992, called Williams "polite and cordial." When Williams first started in Bourbon, she said, he commuted from Warrenton, in Warren County.

Mary Heywood was mayor of Bourbon from 1997 to 2006 — which is the year Williams left Bourbon.

Heywood said Williams married a woman named Stacey while in Bourbon. Stacey had two older children. Williams had an older son from a prior marriage. The couple had a daughter together.

Heywood said Williams worked hard in Bourbon and improved the five-officer department through training.

"He had a very strong wish to make the police department very professional — and so did I," she said. "We worked very well together professionally.

"He was an excellent police chief and he was an excellent officer," Heywood said. "He did a great job for us. He got along with the people. He did a very good job in a small town where it's important to know people. He knew people. He called them by name."

Heywood said she found it hard to believe Williams had killed himself and his children.

"We were all in shock," she said. "He loved his kids — the kids I knew. He loved his step-children, too."

Heywood said Williams was popular enough in Bourbon to be elected "city marshal" — the equivalent of police chief in the small town. While she was mayor, she said, the position was made an appointed one.

Heywood said she worked with Williams on a daily basis during her nine years as mayor.

She does not believe Williams ever fired his weapon while on the job in Bourbon but he often issued citations along nearby Interstate 44, where he saw more than his share of horrific crashes.

She said she had not talked to Williams in five years.

Williams took his life after a nearly 24-hour standoff with negotiators from the Springfield Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Heywood said Williams was someone who was not rattled in crisis.

She recalled a time when a man believed to be mentally ill threatened another officer with a knife.

"He was very good at negotiating," Heywood said. "Bill talked that man down. He impressed me that he was able to end that situation without violence."

Soon after Heywood left office in 2006, she said, Williams left Bourbon.

"Bill had continuing problems in his personal life," Heywood said.

She said that Williams' wife at the time — Stacey — left the state with the couple's three children: Stacey's two children and the couple's young daughter.

Heywood does not know if Williams knew where they had moved.

"His marriage was failing," she said.

When Williams left Bourbon, she said, she believes he moved to the Lebanon area to work for a private security company.

Heywood said none of the charges involved Williams' tenure as a police officer in Bourbon.

Williams worked for the Missouri State Highway Patrol from 1988 to 1991, according to a spokesman. He was a civilian employee, not a trooper.