Indictment Handed Down in Clearwater Cold-Case Murder

A 50-year-old man with a lengthy criminal history faces first-degree murder charges in a 2002 murder that occurred at Clearwater’s Fairfield Inn & Suites.

The grand jury indicted Kenneth Robert Missey on Friday in relation to the death of William “Bill” Williams, 64, on Sept. 22, 2006. Clearwater Police say that Williams was shot and killed during an armed robbery.

That robbery unfolded when a man wearing a mask similar to the one worn by “Jason” in the “Friday the 13th” movies walked into the hotel’s lobby at 3070 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. armed with a gun and demanded cash, police wrote in an email to media. Williams, a hotel security guard, heard the disturbance and ran into the lobby.

Missey is accused of opening fire on the New Port Richey man, killing him.

Missey has a lengthy criminal history in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Clearwater police say he’s been arrested 16 times between the two counties and has spent the years since Williams’ death trying to convince police of another man’s guilt in the shooting.

“He even arranged to send Crime Stoppers a package in the mail that contained three live rounds from the murder weapon – the weapon he said the other man had used in the crime,” an email from the agency to media stated. “Missey later arranged to give the gun to detectives, hoping it would lead to a prosecution against the other man. Detectives were able to determine it was the same weapon used in the robbery.”

Unfortunately for Missey, the email stated, the other man he was trying to blame was behind bars at the time of the shooting and “could not have committed the crime.”

“Robert Missey is a career criminal who thought he could direct our investigative efforts elsewhere,” Police Chief Dan Slaughter stated in the email to media. “He’s been duping people all of his life. Thankfully, we were able to put together a case against the real killer, and that’s Missey himself.”

Missey is currently being held in the Gulf Correctional Institution in the Panhandle. He’s been housed there since April 2012 on a charge that originated in Hillsborough County.

Clearwater police detectives have made seven arrests on cold cases in the last two and a half years.

“These older homicide cases don’t sit on a shelf gathering dust,” Slaughter said. “They get a fresh set of eyes from our detectives constantly. They interview witnesses, find new leads and tirelessly seek justice for the victim’s family. Sometimes, that justice takes time.”

Photos of Missey (pictures one and two) and Williams (photo three) courtesy of the Clearwater Police Department

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