Article from PNJ - Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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Suspects: Gonalez the Only Shooter
Leonard Gonzalez Jr. pulled the trigger of the 9 mm pistol that killed Byrd and Melanie Billings, search warrant affidavits claim.
Wayne Coldiron and Frederick Thornton Jr., both charged with open counts of murder and a count of home invasion, told investigators that they saw Gonzalez Jr. kill the couple, according to search warrants filed in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
One of the Billingses was shot to death after their hands were bound by plastic zip ties, but the court documents didn't specify which.
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Read more here . . .
http://www.pnj.com/article/20090722/...907220336/1051
(snipped)ESCAMBIA COUNTY - During a news conference by the Billings family attorney Wednesday... Many questions came up about Byrd Billings' background.
Byrd and his wife Melanie were gunned down inside their home two weeks ago.
One of the family's businesses, Worldco Financial, was the subject of two state investigations years ago.
Channel Three's Grace White joins us with the details.
Both the cases are closed and Billings family attorney Crystal Spencer says all the issues were resolved.
But the state did order the Billings to refund thousands of dollars to their customers.
Spencer: Billings children 'doing fine'
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A slain Florida couple made a small donation to a martial arts program run by one of the men accused of killing them, a family attorney said Wednesday.
Byrd and Melanie Billings were shot to death earlier this month during a break-in at their home west of Pensacola. The couple was known for adopting 13 children with special needs.
One of the suspects in the slaying, Leonard Gonzalez Jr., told investigators he had opened a martial arts studio with financial help from the victims, according to court records released this week.
But family attorney Crystal Spencer told reporters Wednesday that the aid was just a small donation by Byrd, probably less than $1,000, to a self-defense program Gonzalez ran.
(snipped)Stallworth, Sumner had local ties
Written by Christine O'Connor
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
For weeks now, the media has swarmed Pensacola and the town of Beulah, trying to wrap its head around the slayings of Byrd and Melanie Billings.
The couple, most known for adopting special needs children, was brutally gunned down in a home invasion July 9 around 7 p.m.
Conflicting reports of possible ties between Byrd and Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35, are emerging. According to one published report, the murders may have been a contract hit worth nearly $30,000. The hit was the result of a loan issued by Byrd to Gonzalez Jr., to open a self defense school.
However, Crystal Spencer, attorney for the Billings’ children, has stressed that no relationship prior to the murders existed between the two..
(snipped)Two more arrested in double murder case
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com
Donald Stallworth, 28, is sitting in an Escambia County, Alabama jail fighting extradition back to Florida. He will be there for at least the next 24 days, charged with two open counts of murder in the home invasion and double murder July 9 at 7:30 p.m. of Byrd and Melanie Billings of Beulah. A hearing was held in circuit court in Alabama Monday, and probable cause was shown to have him charged as the eighth suspect involved in the case.
Stallworth is a staff sergeant in the Air Force, stationed at Hurlburt Field as part of the Special Operations Maintenance Squadron.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office reported Monday that they expect a ninth and possibly a 10th arrest to be made in the case later this week. Investigators said Monday they are still trying to figure out who may have been tasked with turning off the home security system that did not get turned off when the home invasion was underway. According to official law enforcement reports, the robbery suspects thought the security system had been disabled. That security system and surveillance cameras led police to the suspects.
By press time, the Escambia Sheriff Office is still saying robbery was the "main motive" in the home invasion.
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(snipped)Double Homicide Rocks Community
by Rick Outzen
Behind the scenes of the Billings murder case
On the early evening of Thursday, July 9, seven men invaded the Beulah home of Byrd and Melanie Billings. Three men entered from the front door, two from a utility room door on the north side of the home. Within four minutes, the husband and wife were dead from multiple gunshot wounds. The intruders took a medium-sized safe and left quickly. They had been on the property less than 10 minutes, according to police reports.
In the Billings home were nine children, many with special needs. Three of the children actually saw the intruders, who were all dressed in ninja grab. After the men left, one ran to a neighbor's house and the Escambia County's Sheriff's Office was called to the scene.
(snipped)The 'Face' Of A Suspected Killer
by Sean Boone
It wasn't long ago that people relied on high school reunions or awkward run-ins at the supermarket to catch up with forgotten friends.
But that was "so 1995."
Today, online social networking allows people to connect on a whole new level, a level on which one can find out what Jane Doe has been doing with her life for the past decade and also what she's buying at the store-long before you run into her on aisle eight.
When Facebook was introduced in 2004, it was known as the place for college kids to interact with one another while away at different schools.
It was the alternative to the other networking giant, Myspace, and held a somewhat "elitist" reputation because it required an approved school e-mail account to join.
That reputation was short-lived.
With the information age advancing in leaps and bounds with Blackberries, iPhones and other high-speed mobile devices, Facebook succumbed to the pressure of status updates and the trendiness of Twitter-eventually opening its doors to anyone with an e-mail account and creating the fastest growing interactive site on the planet.
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PENSACOLA - More details have been revealed about Byrd Billings' business background.
In a news conference Wednesday... the Billings family attorney spoke about two state investigations into a family business... and the alleged "copywriting" scheme.
Between 2001 and 2004... Billings owned World-co Financial was investigated by the state twice.