Williams lawyer: DNA tests inconclusive

DNA tests that lawyers for a convicted killer hoped would help clear him of two dozen murders were inconclusive, the man's defense attorney said Monday.

The dog that belonged to convicted killer Wayne Williams can't be excluded as a possible source of animal hairs found on the bodies of some of the victims, attorney Jack Martin said. Nor could the tests conclude the hairs came from Williams' dog.

Williams was convicted of killing two people and blamed for 22 other murders in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the "Atlanta Child Murders" case.

Martin dubbed the results "inconclusive," saying he believes testing of other evidence currently being done by the FBI could be more significant to his client's effort to clear his name after more than 20 years in prison.

District Attorney Paul Howard had no immediate comment on Martin's statement, a spokeswoman said. He has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to discuss the results.

The report by the laboratory at the University of California, Davis was not made public.

In February, a Superior Court judge ordered the testing at the request of lawyers for Williams.

Between 1979 and 1981, 29 blacks, mostly boys, were killed in the Atlanta area, sparking fear throughout the region.

Williams, who is serving two consecutive life terms, has always maintained his innocence, but has lost numerous court battles.

Williams' lawyers say the DNA tests they were seeking were not available when Williams went to trial in 1982.

Williams, who is black, has contended that he was framed.