Robert Carl Williams II, who ran property appraisal businesses, is remembered as a man of faith who was quick to help.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published June 27, 2004
TAMPA - About a year ago, Robert Carl Williams II walked across his quiet northwest Hillsborough street to the home of a neighborhood minister, Jerry Brandt. He had a favor to ask.
"Pray for me," Williams implored Brandt. "For our marriage."
As they tell the story, Brandt and his wife, Mariana, shake their heads in silence. Whatever troubles existed between Bob and Kathy Williams, the Brandts never thought their relationship would end as it did Friday - with Bob Williams being shot to death by police following a hostage standoff in Clearwater.
Clearwater officials on Saturday performed an autopsy to identify Bob Williams, 43, who took a man hostage for several hours Friday at the Regal Motel on Cleveland Street. Police say Williams, who was armed with at least two handguns and a rifle, indicated he would force them to shoot him before stepping out the door. They did.
Stories swirled about Bob Williams during the standoff. According to Clearwater police, Williams' wife said her husband had battled drug addiction for years. Williams repeatedly told police he was a former member of the military and would utilize his training if needed. Police negotiators said Williams took his hostage in order to "teach him a lesson," according to Clearwater Police spokesman Wayne Shelor.
Police would not identify the hostage.
Members of Williams' family declined to comment at the couple's Westwood Lakes home Saturday. But as word of the incident began to spread, Williams' neighbors were left stunned.
"It just doesn't sound like something that would happen with them," said next-door neighbor Jeff Dolgos, 35. "I've never seen him angry. I've never heard them argue."
Jerry Brandt, 62, who once worked in property appraisal with Williams, characterized his neighbor as a churchgoing, born-again Christian. Williams has owned at least two property appraisal businesses, with the lastest being Covenant Real Estate Finance & Development Inc.
"They've been really nice people," he said. "I've prayed with him and his wife out on the steps here."
Bob and Kathy Williams were married in Pinellas County in 1998, records show. Kathy Williams is listed with the state as a business associate of her husband.
Shelor said the initial autopsy results used to identify Williams on Saturday would not have indicated whether he had drugs in his system.
"When you do drug screens and all that business, it takes weeks and weeks and weeks," Shelor said. "You can do a blood search, but on an autopsy, all of that takes a long time."
Police could not immediately verify Williams' claims that he was once in the military, but under the circumstances, they took him at his word. Public records list Naval addresses for Williams in San Diego and Virginia Beach, Va. Williams' neighbors in Tampa and former neighbors in Oldsmar remember him as a man who brought food when they were sick or who mowed their lawn while they were on vacation.
"He couldn't have been a nicer person or more helpful," said Jane Bohr, 69, who lived next door to Williams for several years in Oldsmar. "This just doesn't equate to the man that I remember."
