William Bardwell was the identical twin brother of Jeffrey Bardwell and the sole heir to a multibillion-dollar oil fortune from his uncle. He was also the District Attorney for Genoa City. In February 2006, John Abbott finally remembered what happened the night Tom Fisher was shot-- that he, not his daughter Ashley Abbott who pulled the trigger. Determined not to let his daughter take the rap for a crime he committed, John called in District Attorney Will Bardwell and told him everything. Will was suspicious at first, believing that John was merely trying to protect his daughter, but a lie detector test revealed that John was telling the truth. John was sentenced to seven years in prison.