Williams found guilty on murder charge

Apr. 3—ANDERSON — An Anderson man has been found guilty on a charge of murder for the stabbing death of his wife in December 2022.

A Madison Circuit Court Division 6 jury returned the guilty verdict Wednesday against Curtis Williams Sr., 62, in the stabbing death of his wife, Claudette, 51.

Judge Mark Dudley set sentencing for May 3. He faces a possible 45- to 65-year prison sentence.

Williams did not testify during the trial.

The state's case was presented by deputy prosecutor Matt Savage and Gabriella Capocelli. Williams was represented by defense attorney Brandon Townsend.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Anderson Police Department detective Travis Thompson, Williams called dispatch and said he killed his wife.

Williams was interviewed by investigators at Ascension St. Vincent Anderson Hospital while being treated for a cut on his left arm.

Williams told investigators when he returned home he found his wife with another man in the bedroom.

Williams said he chased the man from his house and claimed Claudette stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

"She tried to stop me from getting him, and cut me, and I cut her back," Williams said. "I killed her. It was unacceptable. I accepted nothing less than death."

Williams told Thompson he didn't know how many times he stabbed his wife.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators found Claudette holding a kitchen knife in her right hand, but according to the report, blood droplets on the knife were not consistent with being used to cut someone.

"It appears the blue handled kitchen knife was placed in Claudette's hand after her death in order to stage the scene," Thompson wrote in the court document. "I believe that the injury to Curtis Williams Sr. was a self-inflicted wound in order to establish a self-defense claim or to commit suicide."

Williams told investigators he "lost my head, man. I have destroyed my life."

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.