Naman Shrestha
When Steven Williams was found dead on the shore of an Indianapolis river in 2015, the entire community was left shell-shocked and grief took over his family and friends. During the investigation, the detectives uncovered tension in his personal life and a murderous plot that resulted in his untimely demise. The entire ordeal is covered in a detailed manner in Investigation Discovery’s ‘Fatal Vows: Bored to Death,’ which also features exclusive interviews with Steven’s loved ones and officials who helped solve the case.
Steven Williams’ Van and Remains Were Found Under a Bridge on the Bank of a River
Born on September 22, 1963, in Fort Worth, Texas, Steven Doyle Williams was the beloved son of Darrell and Linda Williams, who raised him alongside his sister, Vivian Williams. After graduating from Cassata High School, he joined the US Army and served the nation for several years. Steven had a passion for music, so much so that he made his own piano once. By 2005, he divorced his first wife, with whom he shared a son named James Ray Williams and two daughters, Amanda Bryan and Kelli Rene Williams. His life took a turn when he crossed paths with Opal Skidmore, a divorced woman who had recently gotten out of an alleged abusive marriage, at a karaoke bar in one evening in 2005.
Since her children were in her ex-husband’s custody, Steven decided to help her regain the custody of her kids, Steven and Takota Ross, and succeeded. What started as friendship turned into something more as they began dating. Two years after they met, they tied the knot and made their relationship official in the eyes of the law. Soon, Steven landed a job as a computer engineer at Salesforce in Indianapolis. Everything seemed to be going well in the couple’s life when fate intervened and shattered Steven’s future plans. On March 11, 2015, he failed to show up at work, which was very uncharacteristic of him. When he couldn’t be contacted, Opal reported him missin on March 14, claiming that he had been missing since 2 am on March 11. She told the authorities that she last saw him in their van at a Wendy’s restaurant in Indianapolis.
Three days later, the police located Steven’s van under a bridge near the White River and towed it to a holding facility in Whiteland. Upon inspecting the van’s interior, they found blood on the seat. Around 10 pm on the night of March 19, the authorities spotted a rolled carpet along the riverbank, in the 2200 block of Bluff Road. Inside the carpet was the remains of 51-year-old Steven Williams. It turned out that the blood found inside his van belonged to him only. The medical examiner performed an autopsy and determined that the cause of his death was a stab wound to the chest and several lacerations to the throat and neck. Thus, a homicide investigation was immediately launched.
Jealousy Led to the Tragic Killing of Steven Williams
In order to paint a clearer picture of Steven William’s death, the detectives tried to piece together aspects of his personal and professional life. They learned that his marriage with Opal Skidmore Williams was far from ideal. A couple of years after Steven began working as a computer engineer, she became bored of her lifestyle as a homemaker. Thus, she decided to go open-road trucking with her ex-boyfriend, Rickey King, something that didn’t particularly sit well with Steven. The couple began getting into heated arguments frequently, deteriorating their marriage. Soon, when Lisa, Opal’s ex-husband’s wife, and her daughter, Montana, needed a place to stay, Steven welcomed them into his home.
By the end of 2014, the Williams household was filled with Lisa, Montana, Rickey, and Charles Lehman Jr., Opal’s cousin. At some point, Steven also allegedly caught Opal and Rickey having a shower together. In December 2014, Opal asked him for a divorce and got out of his house with his two sons to live with her family in Oklahoma. A while later, Steven reportedly asked her to come back. However, she got into a serious accident, which resulted in a back injury and restricted her to a wheelchair. When his daughter, Amanda, became a mother, Steven and Opal decided to quit the divorce and give the marriage another try. With the couple still involved with Rickey and Lisa, things didn’t really improve for them.
Steven Williams’ Wife Teamed Up With Two Others to Have Him Killed
It all worsened on the night of March 10, 2015, when Opal’s son had a middle school choir contest, which Steven didn’t attend and stayed home with Lisa. During her initial interview, Opal claimed that she was physically abused by Steven Williams frequently, showing them a few marks of the alleged violence. She told the detectives that she exchanged punches with him on that night, after which he drove off in the van. Keeping in mind all the possible motives for Opal to want her husband’s death, the authorities brought her in for questioning again. This time, she confessed to her crimes and admitted to hatching a plan with Rickey and Charles to kill Steven.
According to investigative reports, Rickey and Charles lured Steven Williams into the van on the fateful night by claiming that Opal had been hurt. The two men drove him to a secluded area under the bridge, where they held Steven at knifepoint. Before killing him, they allowed him to talk to Opal, who allegedly told him that he should not have had an extramarital affair before instructing Charles to kill him. While Rickey held him down, her cousin stabbed him to death. They rolled Steven’s remains in a carpet they found nearby and disposed of it in the White River, before fleeing the scene. Finally, on March 21, 2015, all three individuals involved in the stabbing death of Steven Williams — Opal Williams, Rickey King, and Charles Lehman Jr. — were taken into custody and charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Opal Williams, Rickey King, and Charles Lehman Jr. Are Currently Incarcerated at Different Indiana Prisons
In February 2016, Opal Williams pleaded guilty to murder in connection with her husband Steven William’s killing and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Several months later, in December, Rickey King also pleaded guilty to murder. On April 7, 2017, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his involvement in the gruesome crime. Lastly, Charles Lehman Jr. reportedly pleaded guilty to murder in June 2017 and in August of the same year, he was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Opal is currently incarcerated at Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her earliest possible release date scheduled for August 2051. Meanwhile, Rickey is serving his sentence at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, Indiana, with his possible release date set for November 2048. As for Charles, he is held at Pendleton Correctional Facility in Madison County, Indiana, as he awaits his earliest possible release date, which is scheduled for October 2052.
