The Murder of Radio Legend Steven B. Williams
An Odd Relationship
Morrow bought a 69-foot yacht and started making expensive renovations with a plan to sail around the world with Debbie. He approached Williams with the idea of joining him on the journey as a cook. Williams readily agreed and started taking cooking classes for his venture.
The boat upgrades were first-rate — teak flooring, two new masts, and state-of-the-art electronics including a GPS system and internet access.
"A boat like that is a big project, and he was on a budget," steel fabricator Gregory Labono would later say in court.
But along the way, something changed. Morrow suddenly had more money to spend — and in cash. The yacht was outfitted with a fireplace and plasma televisions. This coincided with Williams entrusting Morrow with his fortune, which was supposed to be squirreled away in an offshore account as a tax shelter.
"He told me that he was giving it to Harvey because Harvey was knowledgeable about investing it in offshore accounts," Williams' friend Sylvia Noland later said in court. "So he was giving him the money to invest for him. I expressed concerns."
About this time, Morrow called Deborah Read and asked if he could reduce his child support payments to $50 a month because he was having financial problems, Read said in a later interview with the Post.
Soon Morrow and Williams began making detailed plans for their trip. One version of events was that they would spend the summer in Alaska and move down to the Caribbean for the winter.
Leo Rossi recalled Williams saying he wanted to open a restaurant in the Caribbean.
"He told me it was his dream and something he loved to do was cook, and he thought it would be a great idea to open a restaurant and run it and sell good wine and make people happy," Rossi said, according to court records. "Their plan was just to leave America and sail."
Rossi owned a house in Los Angeles that was rented to Williams and Morrow. Eventually the pair decided to live on the boat.
But there was no mistaking who was in charge. Any time the disc jockey would meet one of Morrow's friends, he was introduced as the cook.
"He said that he was basically going to help out and cook and be a deck hand," Rossi recalled.