Sonya Williamson claimed she was electrocuted while attempting to turn off the light in her hotel room at the Haynes Best Western Hotel, where she was living with her family. This incident, according to Sonya, caused her to be a quadriplegic.
The court didn't believe it. For one thing, Sonya had no burns on her body and no entrance or exit wound. Several witnesses saw Sonya strolling around after the alleged incident and driving various vehicles. A housekeeper said that Sonya was sitting in the lobby watching television the day after the alleged accident. Sonya's sister talked to her after the "electrocution" and did not detect anything abnormal. Sonya did not mention the electrocution accident.
The Williamsons had a history of 48 suspicious claims. In one of these incidents, Sonya and the family maid (who was also, from time to time, alleged to be a “roustabout” for the family business) were allegedly shocked in an unwitnessed accident when a CB antenna contacted an overhead power line. Sonya developed quadriplegic symptoms similar to those observed after the incident that was the subject of this litigation.
It seems that when the family was low on cash, one of them would fall down the stairs, fall off a horse, be run down by a horse, run the car off the road, fall in to a hole, or get electrocuted. Insurance claims followed these incidents. Williamson's mother had a similar electrocution earlier. The accidents were apparently staged, with different family members playing different roles as victim, driver, etc. To keep these complicated electrical facts straight, the Court dubbed the incidents "Electrocution I," "Electrocution II," and "Electrocution III."
The jury found that the incident was fraudulent or staged and rendered a verdict for the hotel.
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