Surveillance Video Captures Hotel Slaying and Robbery
CLEARWATER - Hoping to generate new leads, police Wednesday released chilling images from surveillance video of a robbery last month in which a 64-year-old unarmed hotel security guard was shot to death.
So far, detectives have no suspects in the Sept. 22 robbery and slaying of William T. Williams at the Fairfield Inn & Suites.
The video, which can be seen at , includes grainy images shot from two cameras and runs about 100 seconds. It does not have sound, nor does it show the shooting, which occurred out of view of the cameras, police said.
Instead, the tape shows the robber entering the 3070 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. hotel lobby about 5:30 a.m., brandishing a handgun.
On the video, the gunman initially confronts a front desk clerk and dashes out of camera range where police said he approached a hotel housekeeper, who locked herself in another room. He returns to the front desk and drops a white bag on the counter, where the clerk takes it and begins filling it.
Detectives think someone might be able identify the gunman on the tape by his unique gait and posture.
"Somebody's going to recognize him," police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.
The video also shows the robber switching the gun between his left and right hands. Police were unsure what significance, if any, that might have.
"We don't know if his actions constitute pose or panic," Shelor said.
The robber is described as a white man believed to be in his 20s or 30s, 6 feet tall and weighing around 200 pounds. He was wearing dark clothes - including a long-sleeve T-shirt - a dark baseball cap with a light-colored emblem, and light-colored hockey mask similar to a mask worn by the villain Jason in the Friday the 13th movies.
Williams, who went by Bill, moved to Pinellas County in 1987 from Warren, Mich. He lived in Oldsmar for three years before moving to Clearwater in 1990 and to New Port Richey six years later.
He worked for Janas Security Services in Tampa for the past three years and was subcontracted by the hotel.
