Editing Benjamin and James Williams (section)

==The murders==
[[File:Matson_and_Mowder.jpg|thumb|left|Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder.]]On the morning of July 1, Oscar Matson called his son, Gary, and heard a newly recorded outgoing answering machine message saying that the couple were both ill and were leaving to visit with a "specialist friend" of theirs in San Francisco for a week. Police said the man on the recording sounded distressed and seemed to be feigning illness. Detectives said they believed that the man in the recording was trying to send a message that a close acquaintance had forced him to make the recording.<ref name=Redding>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060605070316/http://web.redding.com/specials/matson_mowder/stories/19990825.shtml Victim may have been forced to make message], ''Record Searchlight''</ref>

Another male voice was heard in the background telling the man in the recording to "just calm down." Believing that the male voice did not sound like Matson or Mowder, Roger Matson drove to his brother's home and discovered their bodies.<ref name=Redding/> The couple's nude bodies were found in their bed. Shell casings from a .22 caliber gun littered the floor, and the walls and ceiling were stained with blood. There was no sign of forced entry, and no apparent signs of robbery or anything being taken from the house. Matson's Toyota Tercel station wagon was gone, and police recovered it 50 miles south near Yuba City.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927205951/http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/071099/nat_0710990014.shtml Yuba city police arrest brothers in shooting deaths of gay couple], ''Lubbock Avalanche–Journal''</ref>

Investigators said that, after being forced to make the recording, the couple was forced into their platform bed, which stood seven feet off the floor. The killers then stood on chairs at the foot of the bed and fired at the couple. Matson received five shots to the head and one to the back. Mowder was shot seven times in the head and once in the neck.<ref name=Salon>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080517113040/http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/06/redding/index.html Poster boys for the summer of hate], ''Salon''</ref>  

===Arrest===
The brothers were arrested after police found Matson's vehicle abandoned at the side of the road near Oroville, California. The brothers were arrested at about 4:30 p.m. on July 7, 1999, as they left a Yuba City shopping mall. Both carried handguns. Matthew wore a bulletproof vest.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060605070257/http://web.redding.com/specials/matson_mowder/stories/19990709.shtml 2 arrested in killings - Palo Cedro brothers held in murders of Gary Matson, Winfield Mowder], ''Record Searchlight''</ref>

Police were alerted by a phone call made two hours after Matson and Mowder were killed, to a company in Scottsdale, Arizona. The caller ordered ammunition and other equipment worth $2,276.09, and asked that the order be sent to a Yuba City private mailbox firm, care of Gary Matson. The order was paid for with Matson's credit card. Detectives traced the address and arrived just as the Williams brothers showed up.<ref name=Salon/>

Searches of the brothers' residences yielded finds of literature from white supremacist organizations, including the World Church of the Creator (now known as the [[Creativity (religion)|Creativity Movement]]). The World Church of the Creator was a pantheistic white separatist, anti-Christian religion. Investigators examined whether the case was part of a conspiracy of [[hate crime]] violence by members of the World Church of the Creator. The Matson and Mowder murders took place just days before World Church of the Creator associate [[Benjamin Nathaniel Smith]] went on a shooting spree targeting racial and ethnic minorities in Illinois and Indiana. Unnamed federal resources were cited as having found a handwritten letter from Matthew Williams to National Alliance leader [[William Luther Pierce]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051219123528/http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?1999%2F07%2F30%2F3 CA Suspects Plead Not Guilty], ''PlanetOut''</ref>

In addition, investigators also found .22 caliber shells and 13 lbs. of black powder, as well as a "hit list" of prominent Jewish civic leaders in the Sacramento, California area. The list was apparently compiled after the June 18, 1999 [[arson]] attacks against three synagogues in Sacramento -- Congregation B'nai Israel, Congregation Beth Shalom, and Knesset Israel Torah Center. The fires caused over $1 million in damage.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7DE1F39F93BA3575AC0A9679C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fW%2fWilliams%2c%20James%20Tyler California: Hate-Crime Guilty Pleas], ''The New York Times''</ref>

On March 17, the brothers were charged with setting the three synagogue fires and the July 2 fire at Country Club Medical Center, which housed an abortion clinic. The charges carried of up to 235 years in prison. Matthew Williams later admitted to reporters that he was one of eight or nine men who set fire to the synagogues and the clinic.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070207084852/http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2000/03/18/indictments/index.html Indictments issued in Sacramento synagogue arsons], ''Salon''</ref>