[IRCA] Body of ex-DJ found off Calif. island

[AM-DXer@xxxxxxxxx (Patrick Griffith, N0NNK / WPE9HVW)]

What a shock this is. When I first moved to Denver in 1980 I quickly
found The Bird and The Bee on KBPI and they became my favorites. They
were a great team. It's hard to believe they are both gone. I believe
that KBPI was the only Denver area FM not transmitting from a
mountaintop site in those days. They broadcast from a big
self-supporting tower directly behind the station on Morrison Road.
Still they had a huge signal. Their slogan was KBPI Rocks the Rockies. I
remember driving out to the station and being treated to a great tour.
As I was leaving I was presented with a beautiful KBPI satin jacket that
I wore for many years. I still have it hanging in my closet 26 years
later.

06/02/2006 01:00:00 AM MDT
By Manny Gonzales 
Denver Post Staff Writer

A former Denver disc jockey was found shot to death two weeks ago in the
Pacific Ocean, authorities said Thursday. 

The body of Steven B. Williams, 59, who was half of the "Steven B. and
The Hawk" morning show on KBPI radio in the early 1980s, was found May
22 floating off Catalina Island in Southern California by a passing
ship's captain. 
It wasn't until a week later that the Los Angeles County coroner's
office was able to identify the body. An autopsy found that Williams
died from a gunshot wound to the upper torso. 

"It is a homicide investigation," sheriff's spokeswoman Dana Camarillo
said. Williams had been living in California for the past five years. He
moved to Napa Valley in 2001 to take a job as an assistant winemaker.
 
Daryl Sattui, owner of the V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, Calif.,
employed Williams for two years before the former deejay moved to the
Los Angeles area to care for his ailing father. 
"He was a great guy; I mean, who can dislike Steven B.?" Sattui said.
"It's strange because I was actually going to call him today to try to
get him to move back up and work for me again." 

Williams worked for several Colorado radio stations but made his mark in
FM radio on KBPI. Williams and Donald Hawkins roused listeners with
impersonations and comedy. Hawkins died unexpectedly during surgery in
the mid-1990s. 

Williams' cousin Dan Webster of San Francisco said he was contacted
recently with news of the suspected homicide. "He moved down to L.A. for
his dad, and later his dad passed away, but other than living in
Southern California, I'm not really sure what he was doing," Webster
said. 

According to a police report, Williams' body was found about six 6 miles
off the isthmus of Avalon, a town on Catalina Island. 

Authorities have neither named any suspects nor revealed a motive for
the apparent homicide. Detectives are interviewing Williams' associates. 

On a website devoted to great radio talents, Williams was listed,
including a post from him informing people about his whereabouts. In it,
he seemed excited about moving to California. 
"If my newspapers have started piling up, call 911; it just may mean
that I've died and gone to Heaven," he wrote.

Patrick Griffith
Westminster, CO
http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/
http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/

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