NEWPORT, R.I. — Fresh court papers tied to a revived 1985 homicide now spotlight an earlier Newport sexual assault conviction against the same defendant.
William Morton, now 61, was charged Oct. 6 with murder in the death of Hillary Hellewell, a 22-year-old found May 19, 1985, along an Anthony Street sidewalk after strangulation and sexual assault evidence. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s Cold Case Unit worked the file with the Newport Police Department. Detectives said newer DNA methods and a water bottle discarded at a Woonsocket concert produced a match to material preserved from Hellewell’s clothing. Morton remains jailed without bail with a status date set for Oct. 20 in Newport County court.
After the arrest, older files drawn back into public view show a Newport jury in 1987 convicted Morton of first-degree sexual assault for a June 30, 1985, attack on a 15-year-old girl less than three miles from the Hellewell scene. He drew a seven-year prison term and left on parole in January 1992. The teen survived and reported the attack the same night.
Smithfield Police Department personnel assisted. Officials emphasized that the murder count is an allegation and that Morton is presumed innocent unless a jury finds otherwise.
The pairing of the new charge with the 1980s assault record has renewed attention on how investigators link cold cases when older offender DNA databases did not yet exist. Families waiting on answers from that era remain the focus of the Cold Case Unit’s stated mission in Newport and across Rhode Island.
Section: More Newport RI crime news