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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) HERALD STAFF PHOTO BY DARREN BREEN 051708 Playing cards with photographs of cold case victims issued to inmates to help solve the crimes, photographed Saturday May 17, 2008. Ten of Clubs Jesse Williams.  Photo Gallery: Cold Case Cards   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Unsolved murder devastated family 9/7/08 • Man's 1999 beating death remains a mystery 8/31/08 • Cold case: Family of Monroe woman angry that killer is still out there 8/24/08 • Cold Case: Man, 24, was gunned down during dispute 8/10/08 • Cold case: Father was shot to death at his Lynnwood-area home 8/3/08 • No one would say how inmate was killed 7/27/08 • Cold case: Man's body was found dumped in lot 7/20/08 • Nearly everything about Lake Stickney shooting victim a mystery 7/13/08 • Police seek clues in 20-year-old slaying 6/22/08 • Police seek help in 2005 slaying 6/15/08 • Police seek clues to missing boy 6/8/08 • Police seek clues to 2005 murder 6/1/08 • Detectives hope answers to cold cases lie in a deck of cards 5/25/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, June 29, 2008 Can you help police solve 2005 slaying? By Diana Hefley Herald Writer LYNNWOOD -- The covert exchange blew apart with the crackle of gunfire. Five shots rang out across Lake Stickney. Two vehicles sped away from the boat launch. One driver raced to a hospital. One driver sped off with a secret. In the end, Jesse Williams, 31, was dead of gunshot wounds. His killer remains free. Williams is part of the state's first deck of cold-case playing cards being given to jail inmates. He is featured on the 10 of clubs. In the coming weeks, more than 3,000 decks are expected to be handed out in the state's 15 prisons. Snohomish County sheriff's detectives are trying to drum up new leads for stalled homicide and missing persons investigations. So far, a couple tips have come in from jail inmates, sheriff's cold case detective Jim Scharf said. Williams lived in Renton with his girlfriend in 2005. He made a living dealing dope. Investigators believe he came to Snohomish County to buy marijuana from a new drug connection, nicknamed China. He and a friend met with a group of Asian men near Lake Stickney. The sale turned violent. Williams was shot while he sat in the passenger seat of his friend's car. Bullets ripped through metal, then flesh. Police found five shell casings on the ground in the parking lot. A man boating on the lake heard the gunfire. He gave police a few details. The shooter wore a red shirt. He jumped into a tan and white Ford Bronco that headed west. Police later found the 1981 Bronco in a ditch along Highway 99. They seized floor mats, hair ties, food wrappers, cigarette butts and clothes. Detectives also learned China's identity. They'd like to know who his associates were at the time of the shooting. "Maybe witnesses or someone who knows something was too scared to be forthcoming at the time. Maybe they have information they want to share now," sheriff's cold case detective David Heitzman said. Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com. About this series Snohomish County sheriff's detectives created the state's first deck of cold-case playing cards. Each Sunday for a year, The Herald is publishing a story about a case featured on one of the cards. The 52 cards can be viewed at www.heraldnet.com. Anyone with information about unsolved homicides or missing persons cases is asked to call 800-222-TIPS (8477). Up to a $1,000 reward is offered. Tips also can be left on the sheriff's tip line at 425-388-3845. Callers may remain anonymous, although tips have been more successful when callers speak with detectives, police said.

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