Friendship With a Serial Killer: My Life in Prison With William Zamastil

Let me start out by telling you all this story about my very close friend Mr. William Zamastil, aka the unknown Serial Killer.  My name is Justin Welch and I’m doing life in prison along with Mr. Zamastil. I first came to Waupun Correctional Institution in 2013 and ran into Bill in the Segregation unit. We were at rec [recreation outside in the yard] and all I saw is a bigger white man with a tattoo on top of his head. So we start talking and I come to find out that William Zamastil is a pretty cool old man. Now at this point I have no idea he is a serial killer, I think he’s just another guy in prison. Over the months we did in Seg together we became friends and I did learn a lot about Bill or as I call him Wild Bill :) He didn’t hold anything back and if you didn’t like it — too bad. I respected that about him. He told me why he was in prison and I told him why I was in there also. I know all what he did, and no I don’t like it, but he is no longer that person, he is just a old man.

So over the years of doing time with Bill, we have become real friends and I don’t give two fucks what people think of that or of him. He is just an old man now and that’s how I know him. Bill is now 71 years old and he knows his time is coming sooner than later. We talk about death and what he wants me to do with his stuff when he goes. He tells me to keep it all or sell it. I have no idea yet what I will do. No telling if I will be able to get his stuff when he dies or not anyway. Nonetheless, I’m not worried about that kind of thing. I just want to help an old timer out if I can. Because one day I will be in the same situation as he is.

One thing we have talked about a lot over the many years is our mutual wish to do our time in the Federal Penitentiary, versus a state institution. We can’t stand Wisconsin DOC [Department of Corrections] only because this system is a joke. I have always had a hard time understanding how Bill has dealt with doing over 45 years in Wisconsin DOC. He just tells me with a look. Bill looks at it like its a fight. I don’t understand that myself. It’s a losing fight, I would say, but I’m not Bill. But he has been a stand up person in prison and knows he is going to die soon.

And he is one friend I will miss and never forget, not because he is some killer or he did over 45 years in prison, but because he was a kind and respectful person. When I had nothing, Bill would order me canteen items I needed without even asking me and he would do this all the time. How can one forget something like that when most people in Wisconsin DOC are only out for themselves? People are selfish in this prison system, I have learned over my many years.

I did some years in California prisons and I see shit different than most do in Wisconsin DOC. The California prison system is nothing like Wisconsin DOC. It’s night and day. And I see a lot of west coast prison-style in Bill. He holds his self to a higher standard than most in here. Only people who have done time in other states would understand what I mean.

So Bill is not so liked by many out there in the world for his crimes and it’s understandable. We get it but what can we do about it? All we can do is get old and die in prison like we are doing. I know Bill very well now and I even know about many of the murders he did but was never convicted of. And that’s why I call him Wild Bill. He has killed so many people and nobody has any fucking idea because its been so long. You would never know he was this animal of a man and I guess people say the same about me, but I don’t have shit on what Bill did.

We talk about the cold cases and even murders he has never been convicted of. Over the many years Bill has been in prison, many other states and the Feds have tried to nail him with other murders all over the country. But only a few have had any luck. Bill has a life sentence in other states and was looking at the death penalty in other cases.
And that’s only a few they think he has committed. They have no idea just how this man was out there on some real killing shit. Bill has killed so many people he can’t even remember ½ the shit he did. That’s fucking crazy if you ask me. I killed one person and I will never forget any of it as long as I’m alive.

But Bill has told me how he killed people and why he killed people and in what states he killed people. All I can say is OMG. He was a bad man in his younger days. But you would never get that from him now. He walks with a cane and is just an old man.

But one thing still has not changed with Bill over the years and that is he still wishes to get transferred to the California prison system or to the Federal prison system. I fully understand why.  And I came up with an idea on how maybe I can make this happen.

So this is what I came up with. We all know Bill is going to die in prison like me, so I thought maybe if I could get him to come forward on many of his other murders, then the Federal government would make a deal with him which would mean taking myself and Bill to the Federal prison system to spend out are days.

Bill doesn’t have many days left but I know Bill and he is not one that likes to talk with anybody that is a cop or anything like that. So I had to really think before I came to Bill with my idea because he could get pissed off at me for even asking him because he can’t stand when detectives or the feds would show up at his prison to question him about the past over cold cases they’re working on that they think he could have been part of.

Bill even landed in Seg one time over his actions on one of them questioning by the detectives from some other state. So many other states want to convict Bill but they just can’t pull it off. So about 4 months ago, I just told Bill how sick of Wisconsin DOC I am. This was a shot in the dark because it could go good or bad for me even asking him. He agreed and I seen it was the right time to talk to him about using the cold cases and unsolved murders to get us both transferred to the Federal prison system. I told Bill I would talk to the detectives and tell them everything they need to know if we could have it in writing that Bill and I would get transferred to the federal prison system for the rest of lives.

Bill asked me how I could make this happen and I told him about Prison Writers. I told Bill about my publisher and how she would help if she could. I gave Bill my word I would never talk to anybody without coming to him first. And he knows I’m a man of my word.

Bill asked me to come back to him about this all the next day. I respected his wishes and gave him a night to sleep on it. Then on the following day, I went back to Bill’s door in our cell hall to check in on him as normal. And the first thing Bill said was “get it in writing or they can kiss my ass.” I told Bill I would and I then contacted my publisher at Prison Writers.

Now after talking with my publisher, Loen Kelley, she wanted to talk with Bill herself so I gave Bill her number and they talked on the phone a number of times. She contacted the cold case investigators working in three different jurisdictions where we thought Bill had committed other murders (San Bernadino and San Francisco in California, and Arizona to get the ball rolling) and they contacted the federal government.

But it’s been months now and nobody has come to talk with Bill or myself. So if somebody is reading this story and wants closure for many families, then contact the FBI and tell them to come talk to me, Justin Welch at Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin DOC.

You can also forward this story to the Feds. But who knows, maybe the government don’t care any more about all them cold cases. The government might not care but I’m sure the families would. I mean it’s pure luck my friend is willing to give it all up after 45 + years just to get me and him transferred to the federal prison system. Bill will not talk until it’s in writing we’ll get the transfer, just so you all know. I’m also working on getting Bill to write out his whole story and I will type it up for him. He has a hard time typing nowadays but he can still write it out then I will type it and send it to Prison Writers.

And for all the media people out there reading this, good luck if you think Bill will talk to you. His story is locked in with PrisonWriters.com.

Now you know who the unknown Serial Killer is: Mr. William Zamastil, aka Wild Bill. And I’m sorry to all the victims’ friends and families of Bill’s actions. He is no longer that person but who am I — just a guy in prison also in for murder.

His story is very sad for many people and I can’t understand a lot of what he did. But he is my friend and you take the good with the bad but being in prison for over 45 years has changed Bill and he is one of my true friends.