Records, police body camera video show timeline leading up to Mount Dora double murder

MOUNT DORA – Police had a routine call about Vickie Williams on Dec. 30 and issued a trespass warning banning her from a local hotel. Later that day, she allegedly stabbed a couple to death in their Waterman Village home.

Timelines are crucial to investigators. They place suspects at or near the scene of crimes. In Williams’ case, the timeline and some related police body camera footage showing the hotel encounter provide valuable context as the investigation continues.

Interim Police Chief Mike Gibson initially told reporters that his agency had no dealings with Williams before she was arrested Jan. 2 in Savannah, Georgia, in connection with the deaths of Darryl and Sharon Getman. At the time of arrest, Williams was driving the Getmans' 2019 Kia Soul.

Gibson apparently did not know that Williams had used an alias when she was rousted from the Hampton Inn, 19700 U.S. 441. The call came in at 1:13 p.m. on Dec. 30, “in reference to a suspicious female,” according to a police report.

It would not be the final call about the person later identified as 50-year-old Williams, according to records in the case that the Daily Commercial has reviewed.

Persistent intrusions

At 3 p.m. on Dec. 30, just a few hours after the encounter with police at the Hampton Inn, a woman “dressed in a particular way” entered the Waterman complex, interim Police Chief Gibson told reporters on Jan. 3. Security escorted her out of the complex through an entry point at the rear of the complex.

At 4:14 p.m., she was seen again on security video at Lake Margaret Circle, wearing the same outfit. “Very distinctive,” Gibson said, without elaborating. Among the items seized when Williams was arrested in Savannah were a pink wig, pink Puma “slides,” black Spandex leggings, black mesh underwear with pink fibers and a teal-colored cardigan.

Mount Dora Police received a call at 4:26 p.m. on Dec. 30 about a “strange” woman walking around the complex. “Security does not know her,” according to communication records. At 5:13 p.m., security told police that she left and was headed toward Limit Avenue and “advised they want a well-being check done.”

Police reported that they were unable to find her.

Hours later, at 10:40 p.m., a woman with a “dark complexion and short hair with twists” walked up to the security gate at Waterman Village, looked at a clipboard and walked away. “The female was observed on camera walking through a patio area and then into [redacted],” according to court records.

At 11:13 p.m., a resident called security and police about a suspicious woman asking permission to take a shower and charge her cellphone. The woman asked if the homeowner had a husband. Alarmed, the homeowner hit the security button and called out to her husband. The woman snatched the resident's keys and ran out of the apartment.

Police were also called but officers could not find her.

At 2:03 a.m. Dec. 31, security cameras show the Getmans’ car being driven off the property. The car turned right on North Donnelly Street toward U.S. 441.

Between 2:10 and 2:14 a.m., the mystery woman was recorded on surveillance video walking southbound on North Donnelly from the direction the Kia had traveled minutes before.

“She turned east from North Donnelly Street, past the gatehouse, and north on Lake Margaret Circle in Waterman Village. Two security officers intercepted her, a verbal exchange occurred, and the female turned and walked past the guardhouse toward North Donnelly Street and appeared to turn and walk north on North Donnelly Street," a police report says.

"One of the security officers that engaged the female was observed getting into a black car, turning right on North Donnelly Street, and appearing to drive slowly in the direction of the female,” the same report says.

Details of the “verbal exchange” were not included in a report obtained by the Daily Commercial. Nor is it clear if police were called at that time. Security officials at Waterman Village have not returned phone calls from the Daily Commercial. Gibson has referred all inquiries to the State Attorney’s Office.

Double murder

The awful truth began to unfold with two 911 calls beginning at 4:03 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31, requesting police and ambulance. There was a flurry of radio communication, according to court records, including one at 4:08 p.m.: “Security is the caller, does not want to provide information.”

Earlier coverage: 'Person of interest' arrested in deaths of Mount Dora couple

At 6:10 p.m. there was communication that security had been asked to enter the home at 161 Lake Margaret Circle. At 4:30 there was a report about a dead person and “unable to make entry completely.”

Six minutes later came this notation: “Change to double S5 (Signal 5, homicide)”

A resident later told police that she walks her dog every morning, and that she noticed the garage door open and the car missing at about 6 a.m. Dec. 31.

A bulletin was issued about the couple’s stolen car. At about 4:30 p.m. Dec. 31, a license plate reading device detected the car had passed through Greenville, South Carolina.

On Jan. 1, license plate readers detected the Kia in Savannah at 6:44 p.m. and again at 7:36 p.m.

On Monday, Jan. 2, at 10:40 a.m., Savannah police arrest Williams. At the time, she was driving the Getmans’ Kia.

What happened at the hotel the day before the killings?

On Dec. 30, the manager of the hotel had complained that a woman was spotted sitting in a stairwell, and then went into one of the rooms that was scheduled to be cleaned.

There was no answer at the door to that room, so officers did some double-checking and sent an officer for the manager and a master key.

“I called the front desk and they said I had 10 minutes,” she told the two officers standing outside the door, according to the officers' body camera footage.

“You have the wrong room,” she said on the other side of the door. “Who are you looking for?”

“Were you the woman in the stairwell?” the officer asked. “They don’t want you here.”

“Ma’am can you open your door so we can talk?” another officer asked.

When the door finally opened, a soft-spoken, polite, 5-foot-6, 120-pound woman emerged. The only time she showed a flash of anger was when she thought someone was trying to talk over her. “I don’t like to be interrupted,” she said.

The officers explained that they were just going to issue a trespass warning and escort her from the property.

In these kinds of cases, arrests are made only if the person returns. “A person may not be detained for the sole purpose of issuing a trespass warning unless there is separate reasonable suspicion of probable cause to detain that person apart from the issuance of the warning,” the written police policy states.

Police can’t even force someone in these circumstances to identify themselves.

The officers asked for identification, but the woman said she didn’t have any (she actually has both a Georgia and a Florida’s driver’s license). She said her name was Ebony Coffee. Coffee is one of Williams' known aliases.

They then asked her date of birth. That stumped her for a moment. She rubbed her head for a few seconds and said it was April 10, 1999. In fact, it is Nov. 27, 1972.

The investigation continues

Detectives continue to pile up lists of witnesses, records and evidence, including what was described as a pair of “white” Puma slides that can be seen in security camera videos. Williams, who identified herself to detectives in Savannah as “Vicgtoreyah Coffee,” said she is not the person shown in photos from the complex.

Detectives, determined to make sure, traveled to Canton, Ohio. According to police records, her mother, Favor Williams, positively identified her in photos taken in the Waterman Village lobby and the parking lot. Another person at the interview, Frederick White, added more information. Vickie Williams is his mother, he said.

Williams has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. No trial date has been set.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Police body camera video shows encounter with suspect hours before deaths