by Judy Frank
posted February 11, 2009
Michael Montel Williams’ claim that he took 78 sleeping pills in an attempt to complete his 2006 suicide pact with Sherry Smith is not borne out by the condition he was in after he was discovered by police, a jury was told Wednesday that medical records indicate.
According to emergency room records from June 17, 2006 – the date Williams was found in the hotel room where Mrs. Smith’s body lay on a bed – he was disoriented and slurring his speech. For example, records showed he talked to a clock on the wall.
However, a physician said, had Williams taken 78 Unisom tablets, “I would think that would cause a near-comatose state, if not death . . . I cannot imagine that the person would be awake.”
Unisom, an over-the-counter antihistamine, has different effects on different people, testimony indicated. In some cases it causes hyperstimulation; in others, it slows people down.
Williams told investigators that he suffocated Mrs. Smith, at her request, when the pills she took in an attempt to kill herself did not work. He admitted having sex with her after she was dead, and said he tried to kill himself to make the suicide pact complete.
Tuesday, Mrs. Smith’s husband testified that she would never have willingly attempted suicide.
“Sherry didn’t believe in suicide,” Travis Smith told jurors. “She was dead against suicide.”
Also on Wednesday, Dr. Frank King said the listed cause of death of Ms. Smith was "apparent smothering."
He said he did not perform the autopsy himself because at the time he did not have an assistant and was overworked. The body was shipped to Nashville, where a fellow (examiner in training) did the autopsy.
Dr. King said several wounds on Williams would have caused bleeding, but it would not have been significant and not been enough to cause death. He said most of the wounds were superficial.
Williams claimed the Cowan, Tn., couple had a suicide pact and were prepared to carry it out during a stay at the Hampton Inn on Shallowford Road.
It was testified that Williams bought 10 feet of hose and duct tape at Lowe's. District Attorney Bill Cox said the duct tape was found in his car, still unopened.
The medical examiner said there was injury to the victim's anal area, but he said the area was dry and there was no reaction to the wound - indicating she was dead when it occurred. It was also testified that semen was found in her anal area.
Williams said on a tape that Ms. Smith had agreed that she would die first and he could have anal sex with her afterwards.
James Holloway, the lead detective in the case, said Williams told him after he got out of the hospital several days after the incident he was "still messed up on the medicine. My mind's not right."
He said Williams stated that "we planned to do this together, but I could not die."
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