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Suspect in killing of WWJ anchor and attack on his family has 30-year criminal history

By and David Komer online producer
Published  September 26, 2022 11:13pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Suspect in killing of WWJ anchor and attack on his family had criminal history spanning 30 years

Arthur Williamson has a violent past and lengthy criminal record.

CHESTERFIELD TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) - Arthur Williamson was arrested for the fatal Friday stabbing of WWJ NewsRadio 950 overnight newsman Jim Matthew. It was an attack that also saw Matthews girlfriend, and their two kids seriously injured.

Williamson was in court Monday. He’s charged with First degree murder, felony murder…assault with intent to murder and unlawful imprisonment.

State records show Williamson with a criminal history dating back nearly 30 years. According to data from the Michigan Department of Corrections. He has convictions for:

  • Assault.
  • Kidnapping.
  • Assault with intent to commit murder.
  • Illegal weapons possession along with drugs
  • Assaulting, resisting, and obstructing a police officer.

Chesterfield Township police say officers found him in the basement of the terrifying murder scene, overdosing and suffering self-inflicted wounds. He was brought back around with Narcan.

A family member of 55-year-old murder suspect Arthur Williamson was genuinely surprised when FOX 2 told them of Monday's arraignment on murder charges.

"When was this?" the family member said. "What? Oh, lordy Jesus."

FOX 2: "You didn’t hear about this at all?"

"No," she said.

How Williamson knew the victims is unclear but sources say he had been a welcomed guest.

Neighbors say Williamson would visit the house as many as four times a week while Jim Matthews, who was an overnight news anchor for 950 WWJ, was sleeping.

"We’re doing our best to establish the timeline, he arrived sometime in the middle of the night. The exact time still trying to establish, we believe Jim Matthews arrived sometime around 6:30 in the morning," said Brian Bassett, Chesterfield director of public safety.

MORE: 'A family man' WWJ anchor killed, his girlfriend & 2 kids injured in Chesterfield attack

Jim Matthews whose legal last name was Nicolai, anchored overnights on WWJ Radio for nearly seven years.

Investigators say the method of death was blunt force trauma to the head. Police say Williamson allegedly used a hammer to attack some of the other victims. Matthews' 35-year-old girlfriend, was stabbed multiple times.

His girlfriend, Nichole Guertin, is in stable condition and is being held for observation, while the 10-year-old boy is listed in critical but stable condition, and the 5-year-old has been released at the time."

Cops say Guertin was able to escape with her little girl and flagged down a passing driver to call 911. Police say they found the 10-year-old boy bound in the closet, beaten in the head.

Detectives are still working on some of the big questions including the motivation for the attack.

"This is somebody who has been there in the past — to your question, we’re still trying to develop that," Bassett said.