Lemaster sentenced to life, but questions still remain

The family of Ricky and Pam Williams recently received some semblance of closure, as Jordan Kyle Lemaster was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lemaster, 36, stood accused of fatally stabbing the elderly couple inside of their home in Gordon in April 2022. The trial was held at the courthouse in Irwinton last week, with the testimony beginning on Monday afternoon and wrapping up on Wednesday afternoon. The jury needed less than 30 minutes to reach its verdict.

The trial concluded with Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley announcing his sentencing – two life sentences without the possibility of parole “plus 40 years.” Lemaster’s next stop is the Georgia Diagnostic Prison in Butts County, where he will be “sorted” and assigned to a long-term state prison facility.

There are still questions of “why,” however. Why did Lemaster brutally kill his aunt and uncle, who he was living with at the time? Ricky Williams sustained “four sharp entry wounds” in his back, according to the prosecution, while Pam Williams was stabbed more than 20 times and also sustained severe blunt force trauma to her head. Even after the trial, when interviewed by 13WMAZ, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit T. Wright Barksdale didn’t “exactly know why.”

Lemaster’s latest public defender, Jessica Clifton, did not offer an opening statement to the jury and never called any witnesses. Prosecutors, meanwhile, focused on the physical evidence and established a timeline, while never establishing a clear motive, presumably because they, themselves, still don’t know the exact motive.

Also, why did Lemaster make the decision to take his case to trial and not take a plea deal? Roughly three dozen family members and close friends of Ricky and Pam Williams were in the courtroom on Wednesday afternoon. 

On the other side of the aisle, meanwhile, Lemaster’s mother was the only person sitting in support of Lemaster. Lemaster’s mother, who also was living in the Williams’ home at the time, testified in the trial, and she was the person who discovered the bodies. She testified that she’d just returned home from vacationing in North Carolina and became worried when no one came to the door. 

Lemaster and his mother moved in with the Williams family in January 2022 after their home in Florida sustained storm damage. Following the incident, Lemaster returned to Florida in the couple’s Kia Sportage, where he was arrested by authorities and extradited back to Georgia. 

Between here and there, however, Lemaster stopped at a truck stop outside of Macon and placed much of the physical evidence into a trash can. Security footage from the store was presented to the jury, which showed Lemaster at the truck stop and driving the couple’s stolen vehicle.