Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Published in
7 min readSep 9, 2024
If you have ever visited or enjoyed pictures of Savannah, Georgia, you may remember the beautiful iconic fountain in Forsyth Park, the multi-cultural architecture surrounding the park, Bonaventure Cemetery or the beautiful park-like squares in the center of old Savannah. Savannah was, and still is, a marvelous presentation of history, diverse cultures, and amazing cuisines. No wonder, in 2021, after the pandemic, fear settled down, 15.2 million people visited the port city of Savannah, Georgia, spending 3.3 billion dollars, according to the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.
In 1996, Warner Brothers Pictures spent 5.5 million dollars filming the local scenes for the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The movie was based on the 1994 novel by the same name, which occupied the New York Times Best Seller list for over 200 weeks.
The story is a real-life happening in Savannah’s historic district when resident and socialite, Jim Williams, killed Danny Hansford (Billy in the movie) in 1980.
As with most sensationalized true mysteries, there are many disagreements and half-truths floating around about events before the murder and after.
There is the book published in 1994, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil written by John Berendt, who moved to Savannah and met Jim Williams around the time of the third trial. His interviews reveal as much truth as Jim Williams wished to make known.
The book was made into a movie in 1997 using the same title, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, directed by Clint Eastwood. Hollywood-style artistic license makes for a beautiful and powerful movie which deviates somewhat from the book.
Since Jim Williams died in 1990, there may be a smidge of the truth somewhere between the original book and the movie, but we will never know.
Recently, I became aware of a third book, Lawyer Games, After Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, written by Deppish (Dep) Kirkland. Kirkland was Chatham County’s Chief Assistant DA who was one of the first to arrive on the murder scene at Mercer House and was present at Jim Williams’ trials. His version doesn’t exactly align with the other two stories.
James (Jim) Arthur Williams was originally from a middle-class family in Gordon, Georgia, near Macon. He moved to Savannah and began building wealth through many doubtful financial investments and acquisitions. The story that seemed to describe Jim Williams’ aggressive approach to economics is recorded in several online sources by the author of the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
In 1966, Jim Williams bought 1,800-acre Cabbage Island for $5,000. People in the financial world, especially in Savannah, ridiculed his investment because only five acres of the island were above water at high tide. Phosphates were discovered under several coastal properties, including Cabbage Island, which made the once worthless properties outrageously priced. Jim sold the island for $660,000. Again, he caught flack, this time for selling so cheap. Just after the sale, the government ruled that no drilling could occur along the coast. Luck or intuition netted Jim Williams just over half a million dollars after taxes and expenses, while others suffered significant losses.
Jim Williams began a campaign to restore much of Savannah’s historic district. Many properties had fallen into deterioration. In the mid-1950s, much of the old Savannah properties were being torn down. Turn of the century history and that of earlier times were lost.
Among other properties, Jim Williams bought the old 7,000 sq ft. Mercer mansion at 429 Bull Street. It was built in 1860 for General Hugh W. Mercer, the great-grandfather of Johnny Mercer, Savannah’s own songwriter, singer, record label executive, and co-founder of Capital Records. The property sat vacant for ten years and, at some time, was used as a temple by the Shriners. Rumor has it they rode motorcycles inside the big rooms.
By the time renovations on the Mercer House were complete, Jim Williams had almost reached celebrity status among art and antique collectors worldwide. In 1970, he threw a black-tie party in his newly renovated mansion that was filled with priceless treasures and invited all the elite of Savannah to enjoy the finer things of his life. Soon, invitations to his elaborate parties, especially those around Christmas, were desired by anyone who wanted to maintain or elevate their social status. He kept two stacks of note cards with names on each. One was his “in” group, meaning those who would receive invitations for various social events he was planning. The other cards represented the ones who had made him mad socially or disappointed him in business and would not be receiving an invitation; he called this his “out” group. When a name was moved to the “out” stack, Jim Williams made sure all of Savannah society was made aware.
Twenty-year-old Danny Hansford was referred to as Jim Williams’ assistant. Later, it was revealed that Danny Hansford (Billy in the movie) was also fifty-year-old Jim Williams’ sexual partner. Hansford was a hot-tempered young man, and on one occasion, Jim Williams called the police reporting Hansford for firing a bullet through the floor during an argument.
On May 2, 1981, at almost 3 in the morning, Jim Williams called the police again and confessed to shooting Danny Hansford, dead in self-defense. He was indicted for murder. Sonny Seiler defended Jim Williams in three of the four trials that ensued.
In February 1982, Jim Williams was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, although he remained free until his appeal process was concluded. In January 1983, the Supreme Court of GA overturned the conviction.
In September 1983, Jim Williams was again brought to trial, and he was convicted in October 1983 and sentenced a second time to life in prison. As before, the GA Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
In the Spring of 1987, he was tried a third time. In June of that year, 11 jurors voted guilty, and one disagreed. The trial ended in a mistrial.
In 1988 after being denied a “double jeopardy” ruling, the fourth and final trial held in Augusta, GA, resulted in Jim Williams’ acquittal.
As far as Savannah society was concerned, the “in” and “out” notecards of potential guests no longer mattered. On January 14, 1990, just eight months after his acquittal, Jim Williams died of pneumonia and heart failure.
Danny Hansford is buried in Greenwich Cemetery in Savannah; Jim Williams is buried in Ramah Church Cemetery in Gordon, GA. Neither are buried in Bonaventure Cemetery. Johnny Mercer is buried in Bonaventure in his family plot.
The haunting melody played at the end of the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” accents the mood as the camera runs while showing the “Bird Girl” statue in the beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery. The movie drew such attention to the statue by tourists that the family moved the 1936 statue, originally known as “Little Wendy,” to the Telfair Academy Museum for all to see without disturbing the permanent residents of Bonaventure.
