Excite News

Woman in W.Va. torture case now says she lied
Email this Story

Oct 21, 7:14 PM (ET)

(AP) In a Monday, Oct. 22, 2007 file photo, Megan Williams, 20, of Charleston, W.Va., stands...
Full Image

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An attorney for a black woman who claimed torture by a white group in West Virginia says his client fabricated the story to get back at a boyfriend who had beaten her up.

Megan Williams' attorney, Byron Potts, said at a news conference Wednesday that Williams came forward because she no longer wants to live a lie. Potts encouraged West Virginia authorities to re-evaluate the case.

Williams told authorities in 2007 that she had been beaten, raped, forced to eat animal feces and taunted with racial slurs for days. She now lives in Columbus.

Seven white men and women were convicted in the case, and most are serving long prison terms.

Prosecutors in West Virginia have dismissed Williams' new claim, and lawyers for the defendants aren't discussing their plans.




Click here to email this page to a friend  


Articles From AP
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.