KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Police Department has closed a decades-old unsolved murder that ended the life of an off-duty officer.
On July 7, 1989, someone shot and killed off-duty officer Tony Williams while he was riding his motorcycle on Cherry Street near Interstate 40. He was 24.
No one ever was convicted in Williams' killing, but a Maynardville man long was considered a suspect. Now a Knox County grand jury has affirmed that suspicion.
The likely killer was Johnny, or Johnnie, Edgar Warwick, the grand jury found after meeting in December. Warwick died in November 2023, a sick man who spent 27 years in federal custody on marijuana and firearms convictions.
"The finding stated that the Grand Jury 'finds that Johnny Edgar Warwick, on or about the 7th day of July, 1989, did unlawfully, intentionally, deliberately and with premeditation kill Anthony Williams,'" KPD said Tuesday in a statement.
KPD said Warwick's death effectively closed the case. It also brings closure for the department.
Warwick for years was a suspect in Knoxville. He himself admitted he knew authorities were looking at him in the case, federal court records show.
In November 1996, he sold an undercover KPD officer marijuana on multiple occasions.
On the morning of Nov. 11, 1996, during the course of meeting with the officer, "Warwick displayed newspaper clippings reporting that he had been a suspect in the murder of a police officer in 1989," federal court records state.
Records also show a gun owned by Warwick had been used to kill the policeman -- Williams.
Warwick ended up pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Knoxville to eight federal marijuana counts and being convicted by a judge of several weapons counts -- all connected to his 1996 transactions with the undercover KPD officer.
U.S. District Judge James Jarvis sentenced Warwick to 544 months in prison That's about 45 years.
Upon his petition, the court agreed in 2020 to let him out because of declining health.
KPD said an officer in its Homicide Unit, Sgt. Rodney Patton, revived the Williams homicide investigation roughly five years ago. Patton was helped by OCU detective Brandon Stryker and retired FBI Special Agent Paul Hughes over the past few years to gather evidence and prepare the grand jury presentment.
“I am so proud of Sergeant Patton, Detective Stryker and Special Agent Hughes,” KPD Chief Paul Noel said. “Their persistence paid off, bringing needed closure to our department and those who loved Tony. Their efforts are admirable and reflect our collective commitment to justice, regardless of how long it takes.”
In September 2023, KPD conducted a forensic scan of the area where they found Williams' body. The scans captured 3D images that could be used to prosecute someone.