Prosecutor to the jurors: Williams is facing murder charges and lied on the witness stand
Defense attorney Daniel Russo to deliver his closing closing argument today
In her closing argument Wednesday afternoon in the Kristofer Michael Williams murder trial, Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro repeatedly told jurors that the defendant’s statements to investigators after fatally knifing a man in 2018, outside a rural Vacaville home and his testimony on the witness were inconsistent and, essentially, lies.
At one point over her nearly 90-minute summation, Shapiro, standing and, at times, pacing in front of the jury box, conceded “alcohol was a theme” in the case, with Williams facing murder charges for stabbing and killing Jonathan “Jonny” Russell, 30, on Oct. 23.
She later characterized much of the witness testimony as “consistent,” thus allowing the jurors to know “who was telling the truth and who was lying,” clearly suggesting the defendant was not, and, at that moment, cast her eyes and emphatically pointed toward Williams at the defense table in Department 11 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
Shapiro noted that Williams, during his time on the witness stand, could not recall, for example, who told him that Gary Nofuentes, the father of a girl at a Fry Road home whose contested custody goes to the heart of the case, and Russell were allegedly molesting the child.
Toward the end of her argument, she also pointed out that Williams, 35, wearing a white shirt and tie, his hair slicked back, neck tattoos visible above his shirt collar, “did not say” in the interview that he believed the child, 9 at the time, was being molested.
Shapiro continued to assail Williams’ credibility, saying “I lost track” how many times he said “self defense” and “I feared for my life,” statements Williams did not make during the interview with Hendrix.
Further, Williams “lied about being remorseful,” asserted Shapiro, adding, “He lied so many times, he could hardly be remorseful.”
At the outset of her remarks, Shapiro told jurors that criminal defense attorney Daniel Russo, who represents Williams, wanted them to believe his client’s actions were justified, that Nofuentes and Russell were child molesters.
She conceded that Nofuentes, in his early 30s at the time of Russell’s death, was intoxicated after returning from a funeral reception for a friend.
While recuperating at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville
Medical Center, Nofuentes, whom investigators believe Williams stabbed in the abdomen, requiring surgery, may have made inconsistent statements to the Sheriff’s officials, but, Shapiro noted, he was emerging from anesthesia and pain medication and was “going to be a little groggy” and made “errors of omission.”
She characterized statements by witnesses Jonathan McCommon and Drue Hundley as “consistent” with the testimony of other witnesses.
Of Williams’ entering the Fry Road home to retrieve the girl, Shapiro said that he took the girl from her bedroom and into the parking lot outside the home, where the girl, apparently frightened, screamed and Williams told her to be quiet “Or I’ll shoot you in the head.”
The prosecutor called the girl, now 12, “a credible witness” during her testimony, and Shapiro acknowledged that the girl did not want to be in the courtroom.
The girl also did not minimize that her father was drunk on Oct. 23.
Shapiro also noted that what was believed to be the knife Williams used to stab Russell in the neck was found in a nearby slough.
She also said Russell did not hit Williams as arguments and passions escalated outside the house, which Williams said that he did.
“He was lying,” Shapiro told jurors, adding that Williams, if he were so upset about allegations of child molestation or the condition of the home’s interior, never called 911 or Solano County Child Protective Services.
“He lied and perjured himself,” she said.
Court records show Williams was disturbed by an ongoing child custody battle and believed the girl belonged with her mother, Kailyn Scarlett Gibson, 32, of Vacaville, who was seeking to gain custody rights in Solano County Family Court.
In addition to the murder charge, Williams faces kidnapping of a minor under 14; assault with a deadly weapon; child endangerment; and burglary of an inhabited dwelling. He remains without bail in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield.
During a held-to-answer arraignment in late October 2019, Williams pleaded not guilty to all charges. If found guilty of them all, however, he may face more than 50 years in state prison.
Russo will begin his closing argument at 8:30 a.m. today in Department 11 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
Shapiro will begin her rebuttal afterward, Judge William J. Pendergast, who has presided over the five-week trial, will issue final jury instructions, and the jury will begin deliberations.
Pendergast previously severed the trials of people connected to the crime.
Gibson was initially charged with dissuading a witness; cruelty to a child by inflicting injury; and eavesdropping by recording confidential information. After her arrest on Nov. 16, 2018, she posted a $75,000 bond and was released from custody. She is represented by Fairfield criminal defense attorney Denis Honeychurch. If convicted at trial, Gibson, who returns to court at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 8 to set a preliminary hearing, may face as much as three years in prison.
Jessica Anne Weirich, who reportedly drove Williams to the Fry Road home, was initially accused of being an accessoryto murder after the fact. After her arrest, also on Nov. 16, she posted a $25,000 bond and was released from law enforcement custody. She is represented by defense attorney Barry K. Newman. If convicted at trial, Weirich, who also returns to court on Dec. 8 for the same proceedings, likewise may face as much as three years in prison.