Dobie Williams was executed by the State of Louisiana for the murder of Sonja Knippers
According to court documents Williams would break into a home where he attempted to sexually assault Sonja Knippers before stabbing her repeatedly with a knife and fleeing
Dobie Williams would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
WIlliams would be executed by lethal injection on January 8 1999
Many believe that Dobie Williams was not responsible for the murder of Sonja Knippers until this day
Dobie Williams Photos
Dobie Williams Case
Dobie Gillis Williams, who stabbed a woman to death during an attempted rape in 1984, was executed by lethal injection Friday, prison authorities said.
Williams, the first prisoner executed in Louisiana in more than a year, was convicted of stabbing Sonja Merritt Knippers eight times in the bathroom of her home in Many, La., as her husband Herbert tried to break through the locked door to help the screaming woman.
Williams, who never admitted guilt for the crime, was on furlough from another prison sentence at the time.
Williams’ attorneys won an 11th-hour stay of execution last autumn after saying DNA testing on a drop of blood found on the bathroom window could prove his innocence. But the DNA tests concluded it was Williams’ blood.
Herbert Knippers and the victim’s son, Monte Knippers, witnessed the execution
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-01-10-9901100117-story.html