Murders had long lasting impact

If Dora Azrak could ask condemned killer Luke Williams one question before he's executed tonight it would be "Why?"

"Why, Luke? She was a good wife to you. And Shaun. Why Shaun?" she said Thursday from her Florida home.

Linda Azrak Williams was her only daughter. Shaun, 12, was her oldest grandchild.

At 6 p.m. today Luke Williams is scheduled to die by lethal injection for their 1991 murders.

Linda was 39 and had been married to Luke for 17 years. The couple had adopted Shaun when he was 2 after he was orphaned during civil wars in El Salvador.

It's been 18 years since the killings. Linda had been beaten to death. Shaun was strangled. Their bodies were doused with gasoline and set afire in the family van, which was driven into a tree in the Sumter National Forest in Edgefield County. Police said it was a botched attempt to make their deaths look like an accident.

The motive was money. Shortly before the murders, Luke took out $584,000 in life insurance on his family.

Dora isn't coming to Columbia for the execution. Neither is her son. She isn't in good health and her doctor's advised against it.

Three years ago she lost her husband Fred who had pushed authorities to arrest Luke for his daughter and grandson's murders. "It killed him," she said.

"It's been almost 18 years and it hasn't gotten any better."

Fred and Dora's life were filled with tragedy. In 1967 Fred's brother George was killed while working as a border patrol inspector in California. George and another officer stopped a vehicle carrying more than 800 pounds of marijuana. The men were overpowered by four convicted felons and taken to a remote mountain cabin. The officers were handcuffed together and shot, according to the U.S Department of Homeland Security website. Today Border Patrol has a special award honoring the men -- the Newton-Azrak Award.

Dora's voice lightens when she talks about Linda and Shaun.

Linda was a teacher's aide for a kindergarten class. She was a good daughter who loved her son. Linda was the breadwinner in the family. Luke was on disability and at the time of the killings was taking classes.

Dora's 14-year-old granddaughter Lindsey is named for Linda. "She's the spitting image of Linda."

Shaun, she said, was a precious child. "He would take my face and hold it and say 'I love you Grandma."

He was smart and talked about being an architect when he grew up. "He told me 'I'm going to build you a house and you're going to live in it.' I said 'Why, to clean it?' He said 'No, to live in it with me.'"

Those are the good memories.

Her memories of Luke aren't so good. "He is a monster."

Fred didn't like Luke and begged Linda not to marry him. "But she was 22 and we couldn't tell her anything."

When the Williams lived near the Azrak's in Florida they had dinner together every week. And later when the couple ran into serious financial problems it was the Azrak's who gave them money.

When Luke and Linda lived in Alabama they needed money to get by while they sold their house. Fred and Dora took out an $18,000 loan on their home to give to the Williams, she said. Linda promised to pay the money back as soon as the house sold and even brought a check to her parents. Luke didn't want to pay them back and the couple fought over the money.

"He was the type that would take anything from anybody," she said.

She doesn't know what she'll do at 6 p.m. tonight. She asked for reports of what Luke's final words are and for what happens during the execution.

"I never dreamed it would be so hard."SClB