More than a week after reporting her husband missing, a Greenwood woman has been arrested on a charge of murder in connection with his death.
Police report the body of Steven D. Williams, 52, who had been reported missing in Johnson County, was found rolled in a carpet under an Indianapolis bridge late last week. Now, police have arrested Williams’ wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend’s cousin on charges of murder, according to a Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department news release.
Opal Williams, 35, her boyfriend Ricky King, 56, and Charles Lehman, 20, were all arrested on a charge of murder.
Police said Opal Williams planned the murder, and King and Lehman stabbed Steven Williams to death.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office began looking for Steven Williams of Greenwood after his wife reported him missing, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Col. Randy Werden said.
Opal Williams first called police on March 11, and said she and her husband had gotten into an argument after he had hit her in his sleep. Steven Williams was not there when deputies took the report, Werden said.
The next day, Opal Williams called police again and asked if she could file a missing person report because Steven had not returned home the night before. But the sheriff’s office does not take missing person reports that soon in the case of adults who are missing and not believed to be in danger, Werden said. Opal Williams told police she would call back again in a few days if her husband had not returned home, Werden said.
On March 14, Opal Williams called police again and filed a missing person report, and police began looking for her husband and checking into whether anything could have happened to him, Werden said.
Last week, Indianapolis police officers found a vehicle that Opal Williams said her husband would be driving parked next to a bridge at Raymond Street and Bluff Drive. On Thursday night, police found a body rolled in carpet underneath that same bridge, the news release said.
The coroner’s office and investigators identified the body as Steven Williams, the release said.
Opal Williams, King and Lehman were all arrested and taken to the processing center in Marion County.
No charges have been filed. Prosecutors asked for a continuance to continue the investigation, Marion County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Peg McLeish said. The three are set to have an initial hearing in court later this week.
