The man accused of killing former WWJ radio overnight anchor Jim Matthews by bludgeoning him with a hammer and slitting his throat will go to prison for murder and assault.

Arthur Williamson, 55, a friend of Matthews’ girlfriend, pleaded no contest in Macomb County Circuit Court to first-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and three counts of unlawful imprisonment.

Williamson is accused of hitting Matthews in the head more than two dozen times with a hammer and slitting his throat in a brutal attack on Matthews and his family inside their Chesterfield Township home in September, according to authorities and prior testimony in district court.

Matthews’ girlfriend, Nichole Guertin, and the couple’s 5-year-old daughter escaped hours after the ordeal began.

Williamson also was accused of binding the couple’s 10-year-son and hitting him in the head with a hammer. The boy, found in a closet by responding police officers, survived.

The children are living with their aunt in Port Huron.

'When Jim gets home, I’m gonna kill him'

Guertin provided gut-wrenching testimony in district court about the ordeal and Matthews’ horrific last moments during a preliminary exam in February.

She testified that Williamson said he was going to kill Matthews when Matthews returned home from work. Matthews, 57, whose legal last name was Nicolai, died Sept. 23.

Guertin testified that she was bound with zip ties, duct tape and USB cords and was assaulted; that her son was assaulted; and how her daughter, who also had been harmed, got scissors to help free her mother. The two then fled outside to seek help.

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Guertin said she considered Williamson “my best friend at the time” before the attack and testified that he called her in the middle of the night asking to come over. She said they smoked a little crack cocaine and she had a little heroin before Williamson cut her neck with a knife and told her, “When Jim gets home, I’m gonna kill him.”

Guertin recounted how she could hear her son, Hunter, crying and whimpering and how Williamson, who she knew as Smokey, hit him in the head with the same hammer that was used on Matthews. She also testified that Williamson earlier asked her whether she had a hammer because his hubcap was coming off.

Williamson is represented by Assistant Public Defender Joan Morgan. He will be sentenced May 31.

Authorities previously said Williamson, who had a nearly 30-year criminal record that included convictions for assault with intent to commit murder and kidnapping, was found in the basement of the home with self-inflicted wounds and apparently overdosing in what they believed was an attempted suicide.

Guertin testified that she had known Williamson about two years, that they did drugs together and had an intimate relationship in the past of which Matthews was aware. She said she met Williamson through a friend, who was later killed in an apparent drug deal gone bad on New Year's Day 2022 in Port Huron.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Man charged in killing of WWJ anchor Jim Matthews heads to prison