Prolific Robber Accused Of 56 Heists -- Man, Dubbed `The Shootist' By FBI And A Suspect In Three States, Has Hearing

Although the FBI called the suspect the "The Shootist," the former data processor accused of robbing 56 banks over the past eight years bore no resemblance to John Wayne.

Slight, bespectacled and wearing a flowered Hawaiian shirt, Johnny Williams Jr., the 43-year-old man credited by the FBI with committing the longest string of bank robberies ever, had an initial hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle. One seat away sat his reputed accomplice and getaway driver: his 34-year-old wife, Carolyn, who stands less than 5 feet tall.

U.S. Magistrate John Weinberg read the first five charges to be levied against the couple: two counts for robbing two Bellevue banks in 1991 and 1992, one count for a 1993 Redmond bank robbery, one count for a July 1 Kirkland bank robbery and one count for using a pistol. All told, the penalties could bring 105 years in prison.

And that's just the beginning.

The gunman, nicknamed "The Shootist" by a California FBI agent because he allegedly fired pistol shots into the ceiling at every bank, is a suspect in scores of bank heists in Washington, California and Texas. Authorities say he netted $800,000 from 1986 to his last robbery earlier this month in Kirkland.

"To elude capture that long is more than luck," said Don Glasser, a special agent in the FBI's Seattle office. "He chose that as his way of living."

The Williamses were arrested Saturday at a Bothell hotel and have not yet entered a plea. They are scheduled for a bail hearing on Thursday; prosecutors are asking they be held without bail. A preliminary hearing, in which prosecutors must show probable cause for the couple to stand trial, has not been set.

According to the FBI, Williams planned and rehearsed each robbery and sported hats, sunglasses and sometimes a mustache as disguises. He'd enter a bank, vault over the tellers' counter, fire two or three shots into the ceiling and tell everyone to get down. Then he'd take cash from several tellers.

"He did it takeover style," said Jack Kelly, an FBI agent based in San Diego.

That is not the usual style in bank robberies.

"It's been our experience," said Seattle FBI spokesman Dick Thurston, "that bank robberies are committed by people with drug problems, and it's more of a crime of opportunity than one of prior planning."

Most bank robbers, Thurston said, take only what a single teller gives them, usually less than $1,000.

"The Shootist" routinely got $5,000 to $25,000 per robbery, and according to records entered in federal court, in 1987 snatched $43,500 from a single Dallas bank.

One bank teller was seriously wounded in another Texas holdup, authorities said.

A detailed ledger was kept, agents said, listing the date and location of all banks robbed, as well as the net cash and a running total of gains. Copies of the ledger were attached to court documents and showed most heists were at suburban banks on Fridays; all but the four King County robberies took place in California or Texas; and the robberies occurred regularly, usually twice a month.

"There are people that have robbed more banks," said Kelly. "But that's the longest duration" in which people kept on robbing banks without getting caught.

Williams spent 11 years in a Texas prison for armed robbery and was released in 1986, agents said. Born in Illinois, he worked as a data processor for a time and moved to Texas, where he met his wife. The two were married in 1980, agents said, while Williams was doing prison time.

A break came in the case in May when a San Diego fugitives' television show aired a videotape and a caller phoned in Williams' name, according to Bellevue police, who also were investigating. After that, the FBI and local police agencies traced the couple's car, a British-made 1987 Sterling, from California to the Bothell hotel where they were staying.

The couple apparently owned a house in California, but agents said they spent a good deal of time on the road. "When he'd come to town, he'd just go to places that were convenient," Kelly said. "He paid his bills. He was a customer like anyone else."

Glasser said Williams cooperated fully with investigators after he and his wife were collared. "That's the kind of guy he is," the agent said.

Authorities expect to charge the couple with numerous other bank robberies. San Diego also has served arrest warrants on the Williamses.

That's one reason Kelly, who was at yesterday's hearing, gave the suspect his nickname.

"We have a lot of bank robberies," Kelly said. "We just nickname people in order to keep track of them.

"It sure wasn't to imply he was John Wayne," he added, referring to the 1976 movie of the same name. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bank robbery suspect arrests Jonny Williams, Jr. was arrested at a Bothell Saturday night by the FBI and Bellevue police in the longest-running string of bank robberies (56) the FBI has ever investigated.

Washington - 4 robberies Total $63,411. California - 31 robberies Total $543,536. Texas - 21 robberies Total $272,420.