Conviction, death sentence for ‘Mayport Monster’ upheld in 2019 prison murder

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction and death sentence of a man who murdered a fellow prison inmate in 2019.

Justices rejected a series of arguments raised by attorneys for William E. Wells III, who was convicted in the murder of inmate William Chapman at Florida State Prison.

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Wells and another inmate, Leo Boatman, planned the murder and then attacked Chapman in a dayroom. Chapman was choked, beaten and stabbed, according to the Supreme Court opinion.

Wells entered a guilty plea in the murder, but the Supreme Court case involved issues such as whether he “knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily” made the plea.

“In this case, the trial court conducted an extensive plea colloquy,” Justice Jamie Grosshans wrote in Thursday’s opinion. “During that colloquy, the court apprised Wells of the constitutional rights he would forfeit based on the guilty plea. The court also accurately informed Wells of the two potential sentencing outcomes resulting from such a plea — life in prison or the death penalty. The court also assured itself that Wells was in satisfactory physical and mental health to make this decision. And for his part, Wells confirmed that he was making the plea freely, knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily — with a full understanding of the significance of the guilty plea and the rights he was giving up.”

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Chief Judge Carlos Muniz and Justices Charles Canady and John Couriel fully joined the opinion. Justice Jorge Labarga concurred in the result, while Justice Renatha Francis did not participate.

Wells, now 47, was serving seven life sentences at the time of the Chapman murder. A footnote in Thursday’s opinion said Wells in 2003 murdered his wife, her father, her brother and two other people in Mayport. This earned him the nickname “Mayport Monster” or the “Monster of Mayport.”

In 2011, he murdered another inmate, the footnote said.

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