Twenty years after Dee Dee Williamson and her four-year-old son Brandon “Xavier” Rucker were found murdered in their home, the Windsor Police Service is doubling the reward to identify the person responsible.
Dee Dee Williamson and son Brandon “Xavier” Rucker, (Provided by the Windsor Police)
On February 27, 2003, Williamson and Rucker were found in their house on Tilston Drive. Williamson had been beaten to death and was found in the basement. Rucker was found in a main floor bathroom. His cause of death has never been disclosed.
"Twenty years is a very long time of not knowing and of unanswered questions. I was very young when this happened but it's something that lives on my mind every day," said Neke Williamson, Dee Dee's niece. "I had to grow up at a young age, knowing that monsters aren't just something under the bed, it's people who walk among us. It hurts me to know that my aunt probably fought until her last moment for my cousin and that his last moments were in fear."
Police do not believe this was a random attack. Investigators believe Rucker was killed because he could have identified the murderer.
"Through the years there have been numerous persons of interest, some were easily ruled out, some have not been. Some are still persons of interest and some are strong persons of interest where there may be more than one thing that points to that person but at this point, we're not prepared to say it's this one individual," said Constable Steve Owen, lead investigator on the case.
Police are now offering a $40,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the murder.
"We're not going away, we're going to continue knocking on doors, we're going to continue making phone calls, we're going to continue with the advancements of DNA technology and eventually we will find who is responsible for this," said Owen.
Williamson was known to frequently travel to Detroit so investigators are hopeful this new reward will encourage people from both sides of the border to tell police what they know.
"Ten years ago, when the last big push was made on this case, since then there have been a lot of leads that have been followed up on, a lot of tips have come in and a lot of interviews have been taken or retaken since then," said Owen. "I feel like the case itself is not really cold, it's still an active investigation so we are very hopeful."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Crimes Unit at 519-255-6700, ext. 4830. They can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 519-258-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.catchcrooks.com.