Cold Case Files

Nikki Lange endures the pain of not knowing what happened to her son every minute of every day.

Her pleas for police to investigate the circumstances of his death have fallen on deaf ears.

She knows the pain others feel when they lose a loved one and are left with more questions than answers.

But unlike others, Nikki can’t google her son’s name to see whether there’s an update on the case.

She can’t reach out to a journalist to see if they have received any inside information.

Because there are no articles calling for answers, no pleas from police for witnesses to come forward.

And for that reason, Nikki feels as if her son has been forgotten.

Christopher Williams was found dead in his Sydney apartment sometime between September 6 and 18 in 2017.

This is another fact that haunts Nikki, who believes in her heart he was murdered on the 6th.

But his death was not listed as homicide.

Police, Nikki says, decided from the beginning he died from a drug overdose.

This is despite evidence she has to the contrary.

Nikki is frank about her son’s issues.

The 26-year-old had a history of mental health issues and drug abuse.

He was head-strong and often found himself in trouble by standing up for what he thought was right.

“He got involved in the whole Manly drug scene and had lots and lots of hospital admissions,” Nikki said.

She said he found himself surrounded by criminals and street kids while using drugs and self medicating for mental health problems.

He was arrested in company for an assault but was never convicted of any serious crimes.

However, Nikki was both stunned and delighted when he decided to seek help.

“He got sober for two-and-a-half years,” she said.

That lasted until late in 2017 – only eight weeks before his death.

In a move that both delighted and scared Nikki, Christopher secured his very own unit.

It appeared he was getting his life back on track.

That was until a ghost from the past emerged from the shadows.

“He ran into a girl he had known since he was 12,” Nikki said.

“I think she was probably the one who introduced him to meth.”

Christopher announced that the friend had asked him for help and she wanted to move in with him.

Nikki was against it, knowing she was bad news.

But the friend knew how to manipulate Christopher to get what she wanted.

“Within a couple of weeks he had a taste of methamphetamine with her,” she said.

“I think he had four or five slip ups over a couple of weeks.”

On one occasion, Christopher experienced a full-blown psychosis and was admitted to hospital. He was seen in A&E but was not admitted to hospital.

However, he was soon released – a move Nikki says she was dead against.

“He got in the car and I thought fucking hell he’s in a full-blown psychosis – why have they let him out?

“He was quacking like a duck, he was rhyming.”

When the mother and son arrived home Nikki rang the hospital seeking answers.

But her pleas for help for her son fell on deaf ears.

“If they kept him in hospital, I don’t believe he would have been murdered.”

In the ensuing weeks, Nikki knew that her son was in bad company and needed help.

He was pulled over for a DUI three days before his death with a man known to police.

These blood tests were destroyed by police.

In late September, Nikki and her husband tried to contact Christopher – without success.

“I made phone calls to his work and all sorts of stuff,” she said.

“I found out he hadn’t been seen since on CCTV footage since the 6th of September.”

On the day Nikki reported her concerns to police, they went to his home to do a health check.

Despite neighbours complaining of a foul smell emanating from his apartment, they didn’t enter.

“They went back to the police station and said they would enter the next day when they were let in by the manager.”

It was then they found Christopher face down on his pillow.

He was dead.

Police ruled his death as a drug overdose, but Nikki thinks otherwise for a number of reasons.

“There were two heaters going but the weather had been over 29 degrees,” she said.

She believes this had to do with an attempt to clean the unit to ensure there was no evidence left.

“There was no amphetamines found and there were no needles.”

Nikki said she had to sit at the police station, refusing to budge, before police accessed CCTV footage.

What they found was shocking.

A man accessed Christopher’s unit using his key fob a day after he had last been seen.

“He went in and stayed for seven minutes,” Nikki said.

“He had a bag and he went in and when he came back he had a really smug look on his face. He was in the lift looking at my son’s $600 watch on his own wrist.”

Nikki believes the man had knowledge the Christopher had been killed and took the opportunity to rob his apartment.

The fact he could leave her son’s lifeless body there haunts her.

“That bastard left a packet of cigarettes next to my son’s head when he was dead,” she said.

In the months that followed, Nikki was determined to do her own research to find out whether the police were right about Christopher’s death.

An expert questioned how a person could ingest such high levels of drugs and Nikki was contacted by one of Christopher’s friends who shared a shocking revelation.

“Christopher rang him and said he was being held down. He told him they said they would let him go if he had somewhere to go now.”

Sadly, the man’s partner did not want Christopher at their home.

“The last thing he heard was ‘it’s hammer time’.”

Nikki found out that is a reference to giving someone a hot shot – a lethal dose of drugs.

That’s how Nikki believes her son met his fate.

And she is concerned others have been killed in the same way.

But police won’t investigate.

Nikki said she had information from a number of people who said they knew what happened to Christopher and who was responsible.

But, she says, no one wants to listen.

“There are mothers out there who think their children have died from an overdose but they have been murdered,” she said.

“The police shut it down from the start. It’s a disgrace.”

Nikki said she believes Christopher watches over her.

He was an animal lover and there are two kookaburras that visit her home regularly.

“I get these little messages from time to time,” she said.

“It’s him telling me I’m on the right path.”

Nikki said she will continue to fight for justice for her son.

“Christopher was just getting his life on track.

“There are so many people who have information about what happened to my son but there will never be justice for him if they don’t speak up.”