Tobacco whistleblower Merrell Williams dies of heart attack in Ocean Springs

Tobacco whistleblower Merrell Williams dies of heart attack in Ocean Springs

Merrell Williams Jr., a one-time Kentucky paralegal who took on Big Tobacco as a whistleblower who leaked internal documents exposing health risks and the addictiveness of cigarettes, has died in Mississippi, decades after he joined the fight that forever changed perceptions of smoking.

Williams died last week of a heart attack in Ocean Springs, Miss., his daughter, Jennifer Smith, said Monday. He was 72.

He worked for a Kentucky law firm representing the then-Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and leaked thousands of pages of internal memos and studies concerning smoking and health that provided newfound ammunition to tobacco opponents.

AP
11/25