Robert Lesarian Howard, a convicted sex offender who had known Williams since 1999, was arrested on 23 March 2002, eight days after her body was found. At his trial at Maidstone Crown Court in October 2003, Howard was found guilty of raping and murdering Williams, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. No recommended minimum term was reported to have been recommended by the trial judge and there have been no reports of a minimum term subsequently issued by the High Court. Howard died in prison in 2015.