Man charged in hammer slaying of WWJ anchor convicted of murder, assaults

The man accused of killing WWJ radio overnight anchor Jim Matthews by bludgeoning him with a hammer and slitting his throat will go to prison for the rest of his life for the murder and related assaults.

During a hearing Thursday in Macomb County Circuit Court, Arthur Williamson, 55, who was a friend of Matthews’ girlfriend, pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree premeditated murder; two counts of assault with intent to murder; and three counts of unlawful imprisonment.

A felony murder charge will be dismissed. Prosecutors will not bring any additional charges in connection with the attack nearly seven months ago on Matthews, his girlfriend and their two young children.

"It thankfully resolved the case in a way that there is a certainty of conviction. Mr. Williamson is no longer a threat," Assistant Prosecutor Steve Fox, chief of the major crimes unit for the prosecutor's office, said after the hearing.

An hourslong ordeal with attacks on girlfriend, children

"Mr. Williamson is no longer someone that's going to put Nichole (Guertin, Matthews' girlfriend) and family members through the trauma of trial. The good news is not only that justice has been served at this point; but they can move further along, hopefully, in that healing process."

Authorities say Williamson hit Matthews in the head more than two dozen times with a hammer and slit his throat in a brutal attack on the family in their Chesterfield Township home in September, according to prior testimony in district court.

Guertin and the couple's 5-year-old daughter escaped hours after the ordeal began. Williamson also bound the couple’s 10-year-son and hit him in the head with a hammer. The boy, found in a closet by responding police officers, survived.

The children are living with their aunt in Port Huron. No one from the victims' families were present in the courtroom Thursday.

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Williamson is to be sentenced to life in prison on the murder charge on May 31, as well as additional sentences on the other offenses. Fox said a no-contest plea is treated the same as a guilty plea for sentencing in criminal court.

Donning a blue jail jumper, Williamson said little during the 10-minute hearing before Chief Judge James Biernat Jr., except to answer yes and no questions from the judge and his attorney, assistant public defender Joan Morgan. Biernat accepted Williamson's no-contest plea.

Fox told the court that Williamson, whose lawyer said his client does not remember the attack, "to our knowledge, (has) never had a declaration of mental incompetence. There's no mental condition or treatment that myself or defense counsel are aware of."

Authorities previously said Williamson, who had a nearly 30-year criminal record that included convictions for assault with intent to commit murder and kidnapping, was found in the basement of the home with self-inflicted wounds and apparently was overdosing in what they believed was an attempted suicide.

Plea rare, 'it's not the norm'

After the hearing, Fox said he did not know what led Williamson to ultimately make the decision to plead no contest, but there was "always the potential for other charges."

He said any additional charges, however, "would not have added anything to his punishment. They would not have increased his sentence. Obviously, he's doing life without parole on the homicide case. And we certainly didn't want to further victimize those witnesses and have to testify and go forward."

A defendant pleading to a first-degree murder charge has happened before, Fox said, but "it's obviously more rare."

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"There are a number of homicide cases and the vast majority never plea or if they plea, there is some sort of a reduction of the charges for whatever reason, whether legal reasons or request of either party," Fox said.

"So yeah, this is fairly rare to plead as charged to first-degree murder. ... It's not unheard (of), but ... it's not the norm."

'When Jim gets home, I’m gonna kill him'

Guertin provided gut-wrenching testimony in district court about the ordeal and Matthews’ horrific last moments during a preliminary exam in February.

She testified that Williamson said he was going to kill Matthews when Matthews returned home from work. Matthews, 57, whose legal last name was Nicolai, died in the home during the Sept. 23 attack.

Guertin testified that she was bound with zip ties, duct tape and USB cords and was assaulted; that her son was assaulted; and how her daughter, who also had been harmed, got scissors to help free her mother. The two then fled the house for help.

Guertin said she considered Williamson “my best friend at the time” before the attack and testified that he called her in the middle of the night asking to come over.

She said when the night began, she "didn't think anything bad would happen" and Williamson had not been violent toward her or the family before. During her testimony, however, she recounted that after she asked him to leave to get the children ready for school, things took a turn.

She said they had smoked a little crack cocaine and she had a little heroin before Williamson cut her neck with a knife and told her, “When Jim gets home, I’m gonna kill him.”

Guertin recounted Matthews' death after he came home from work and how she could hear her son, Hunter, crying and whimpering and how Williamson, who she knew as Smokey, hit the child in the head with the same hammer that was used on Matthews.

Guertin testified that she had known Williamson about two years, that they did drugs together and had an intimate relationship in the past of which Matthews was aware. She said she met Williamson through a friend, who was later killed in an apparent drug deal gone bad on New Year's Day 2022 in Port Huron.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Man charged in killing of WWJ anchor Jim Matthews headed to prison