Karl Etters

Democrat staff writer

Brian Winchester — the former best friend of missing Tallahassee property appraiser Mike Williams — will remain in jail on charges he kidnapped his estranged wife at gunpoint.

Leon Circuit Judge James Hankinson said Wednesday it would be “foolish” to grant bond to Winchester, who was arrested in August on charges of kidnapping, armedburglary and domestic assault after his wife, Denise Winchester, reported the incident to Leon County Sheriff’s Office detectives.

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Denise Winchester is the former wife of Williams, who disappeared 16 years ago while duck hunting alone on Lake Seminole. He is thought by law enforcement to be the victim of foul play.

Brian Winchester sold Williams a $1 million life insurance policy about six months before the 31-year-old went missing. The couple married in 2005, about five years after Williams was declared dead at his wife's behest.

No suspects or persons of interest have been named in the cold case.

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Winchester, 46, sat quietly in court in a jail jumpsuit while his attorneys Tim Jansen and Adam Komisar argued their client was no danger to the community and should be let out of jail under strict conditions. They proposed GPS monitoring and house arrest until trial.

“I think the terminology by the defense was that he was not an unreasonable danger to the community. I disagree,” Hankinson said. “I think these facts show that he is very much a danger to the community. I think it would be foolish on my part to grant him bond.”

Denise Winchester told LCSO detectives Brian Winchester concealed himself in her SUV as she drove to work before clambering over the seats and holding her at gunpoint for nearly an hour in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy.

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She told police she calmed down her suicidal husband who agreed to let her out of her SUV in exchange for her promise she wouldn’t say anything about the altercation.

As he left, court records said, Brian Winchester removed tarps, a spray bottle investigators contend was filled with bleach and a hammer-like tool.

On cross-examination by Jansen, LCSO’s lead investigator on the case, Paul Salvo, said Denise Winchester could not immediately identify what type of firearm was used and later changed her story about what her estranged husband was wearing at the time of the incident.

Investigators noted no injuries on Denise Winchester, Salvo said, and also could not say whether the bottle contained bleach. It was only tested for the presence of drugs.

Although there is video evidence of Denise Winchester’s Chevy SUV parking at the CVS at the corner of Miccosukee Road and Capital Circle, nothing definitively put his client in the car or in possession of a firearm, Komisar said.

Winchester’s attorneys also tried to squash testimony they say was a privileged conversation between Winchester and his friend Dr. Stephen Mnookin.

Winchester called Mnookin the day of the incident saying he’d hit rock bottom and that he wanted to meet for lunch. He described in detail the kidnapping, Mnookin testified in court, including using the gun and hiding in the back of his wife's vehicle.

Assistant State Attorney Andy Rogers argued Mnookin’s testimony supported Denise Winchester’s version of events and was another reason to keep him in jail. The two are embroiled in divorce proceedings.

Brian Winchester will remain in jail until his trial later this year.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.