Dateline: Who Killed the Radio Star? aired on June 3, 2012. The episode revisited the case of Steven Williams, a radio star whose body was reportedly found in the Pacific Ocean in 2006. The investigation that first started as a missing person’s report soon turned out to be one of the horrific murders with a clear trail of money troubles and a clash.
The sixty-four-year-old, Steven Williams, worked at the Denver radio station KPKE. He hosted a morning show called Steven B. and the Hawk and was a Corona del Mar local.
Let’s have a look at the complete timeline of Dateline: Who Killed the Radio Star? Revisiting the Steven Williams murder case.
A complete case breakdown of Dateline: Who Killed the Radio Star?
May 18, 2006 – Steven Williams’ body is discovered
The episode, Who Killed the Radio Star?, follows the investigation that began as a missing person’s case.
Steven Williams’ body was discovered by a pleasure boater on May 18, 2006. It was reportedly floating in the Pacific Ocean, around seven miles east of Catalina Island. The body, known as John Doe #88, was severely decomposed at the time it was discovered.
While the authorities first took it as an accident, the autopsy revealed otherwise. As per the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, he was killed by a bullet, and he also had three fingers missing. He was reportedly in the water for about half a month, which investigators figured out later from the barnacles found on his shoes. However, the authorities were still not able to identify who he was.
May 24, 2006 – Authorities identify Steven Williams’ body
While the police were still looking for more clues to identify his body, almost a week after his body was discovered, a missing person report was filed by a person in San Pedro looking for a radio star, Steven Williams. It was revealed that he lost three fingers in a childhood accident, an important detail that helped authorities identify him.
While investigators were trying to find the motive behind the murder, it was revealed that Williams had inherited about $2 million after his father, Bailey Williams, died. During the investigation, his financial advisor, Harvey Morrow, also came up, who was controlling Williams’ assets.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Harvey advised that Williams put his money into an offshore account in the British Virgin Islands to reduce taxes, only for him to use it instead. Morrow and Williams met through a mutual friend, and later, Williams moved onto Morrow’s luxury sailboat, the Iolair Mara.
By the time Williams disappeared, most of his money had almost run out. During the investigation, the authorities found that they last talked on the phone on May 4. While they were first searching for the answer to who killed the radio star, considering the evidence and details they had, they secured an arrest warrant against Harvey Morrow.
September 2006 – Harvey Morrow gets arrested
While many suspected Morrow to be living near the seas, Morrow was actually working at a car dealership. While talking to Joe Parsetich, a former police officer and the manager at the company, who was helping Morrow get better at his job, Morrow revealed having a house in the Gulf area.
This raised suspicion about why he doesn’t prefer staying there, and Morrow said that the boating accident killed his wife, because of which he doesn’t prefer staying in that place. After some digging, the former police officer realized it was the same man wanted in California and contacted the authorities.
In September, the police received a tip from Montana officers that Morrow was working at a car dealership, and he was arrested on September 20.
February 2007 – Authorities discover direct evidence
Until this time, the authorities didn’t have any clear evidence against Morrow, only theories and indirect clues. But that changed in February 2007 when they found a GPS linked to Morrow’s boat. As they dug deeper, they found more clues linking the boat’s route to Catalina Island, exactly where gooseneck barnacles on Williams’ shoes indicated the body entered the water.
As per the authorities, both had a dispute over money and lies. Morrow shot Williams, a wound that was found on his head, and he left it in the water. They believed the ocean currents pushed it to the east side, where a pleasure boater found it.
November 2011 – Harvey Morrow is found guilty
So what happened to the person who killed the radio star? Harvey Morrow was found guilty of murder for financial gain and first-degree murder almost five years after Steven Williams’s death.
The Dateline: Who Killed the Radio Star? is available to stream on Peacock.
Also read: Dateline: Missing Ana – Complete timeline of the Ana Knezevich case
Edited by Vatsala Chauhan