Hundreds Of Pages Released In Billings Case Reveal New Details

August 18, 2009

The State Attorney’s office released hundreds of pages of documents in the Byrd and Melanie Billing murder investigation on Monday.

Part of the discovery phase in the case where the state informs the defense attorneys what evidence they have against the suspects, the documents detail the investigation with transcripts from witness and suspect interviews, crime scene reports and medical examiner’s reports.

Some of the information provided by the documents includes:

  • Byrd Billings was shot a total of six times, including once in the back of each leg, twice in the back of the head and twice in the face. When his body was found in the master bedroom, he had a white zip tie on his left arm.
  • Melanie Billings was shot three times in the face and head and twice in the chest area — a total of five times. Her body was found in a small hallway that led from the master bedroom to a study.
  • Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. said he had been hired by car dealers in the Pensacola area in the past to “whack” people. He said a group of car dealers had tried to get him to “whack” Byrd Billings, but he would not take the job.
  • One of the children in the home, Jacob, described men with black masks covering their faces. He said “that his dad was in the room sleeping, heard a knock on the door and he said that two ‘bad men’ said ‘you’re gonna die, one, two, three’ and then ‘no way, no way’. He said ‘Dad grabbed one of the suspect’s necks and mom got shot in her shirt’.”
  • Another child, Matthew, described a knock and then seven “booms”
  • Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Bill Chavers knew suspect Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. from a karate class he took  in the 1980’s.
  • “I asked Patrick if he wanted to talk specifically to me or would he rather talk to the Investigator. Patrick told me that he did not trust the Investigator and asked to talk to me because he trusted me not to mislead him,” Chavers wrote.  “Patrick then asked if this was about his red van, because ‘if it is, you can ask me anything you want, I can prove I was not in that van and haven’t driven it lately’. Patrick followed up with ‘I’m not guilty of anything’.”
  • “The car dealers just did not like Billings over business dealings and money issues,” Gonzalez, Jr. told Chavers. “Cab Tice came to him and indicated that the group wanted Billings ‘whacked’, but he (Pat) refused the job.”
  • Chavers wrote that Gonzalez Jr said ‘I haven’t been driving the van recently and I can prove I’m not guilty of anything’. Patrick then leaned over and stated, ‘if this is about the killings, I didn’t do it; I can prove I didn’t do it, but I may know some people who may have done this, but it wasn’t me Mr. Chavers. This is real deep, I’ll take the heat, I’ll go to prison, I’ll even die if I have to because if this gets out, my family is in danger. They are in danger now because they know I’m in jail. I don’t want anything to happen to my family!’.”

Comments

12 Responses to “Hundreds Of Pages Released In Billings Case Reveal New Details”

  1. Naomi on August 20th, 2009 2:09 pm

    I feel that justice should be served to the fullest but I pray that God give peace to the family of the victims as well as the suspects families because even though most of so couldnt imagine doing such a thing at one point even the murderers were someone child! They are very lost people who even if they spent the rest of their lives in jail the need the love of Christ! I pray the peace only God can give to them all!

  2. C on August 19th, 2009 10:53 am

    I believe that they will have to do a change of venue but where? This story made world news. Office Chief Deputy Bill Chavers knew the suspect in question. Doesn’t this present a conflict of interest? So, how many people has Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. “whacked” in the past?

  3. judy c masek on August 19th, 2009 9:27 am

    i have no doubt that the defense attorneys are preparing for a “change of venue” request….as horrific as this entire event is, there is NO way that these defendants can get an unbiased, fair sampling of jurors from the north west florida area….possilbly down in some remote area of south florida …maybe near the everglades….however, im not sure if the “gonzales” name would unfairly influence potential jurors in the highly hispanic populated area of, lets say, the miami area…

  4. Kathryn Fields on August 18th, 2009 9:08 pm

    I want to know if they ever found out who was suppose to turn the cameras off?
    I think that is what really brought about these arrests.

  5. answer on August 18th, 2009 7:03 pm

    Parents that have special needs children put their children to bed early because they sometimes do not sleep all night. I have a child that is not special needs his bed time is 8. I hope no one think that this is wrong he is a early bird. Why did the animals have to shoot these people that many times .I hope that the shooter sees the faces and hears these children ever time that he closes his eyes. They will never forget what they saw.

  6. V on August 18th, 2009 4:21 pm

    The $164,000 question–where’s the THIRD safe?

  7. Outsider on August 18th, 2009 11:12 am

    What kind of prosecutor or sheriff would release any of this to the public before the trial? Its not smart. Why has it become such a popular thing to give details about crimes. All the public really needs to know is that two people were murdered and the authorities have made several arrests. I feel that the families should NOT have to deal with everyone knowing how many times their mother and father were shot in the face, legs and back. Can we please start having respect for humans again.

  8. AC on August 18th, 2009 10:30 am

    The releasing of all this “evidence” to the news media, as has been the norm in this case, gives the defense attorneys ammunition for a change of venue, or an argument that their clients cannot possibly receive a fair trial. This is a problem with cases of this magnitude. Do not expect this case to be tried in Escambia County, or if it is, appeals forthcoming based on the fact that the defendants did not receive a fair trial. Hopefully those appeals will not be successful.

  9. art on August 18th, 2009 10:00 am

    thank you citizen, i am so sick of people pointing out this one trivial point regarding the billing’s 7pm bedtime. hello, there were small children in the home. some people, believe it or not like a routine and getting up early in the morning keeps the family’s schedule on track. that many children and there had better be a pretty regimented schedule.

  10. sad on August 18th, 2009 9:32 am

    My heart breaks for this family. My prayers are with you.

  11. citizen on August 18th, 2009 8:15 am

    I hope they prosecute absolutely everyone involved in this. After having read the reports in the news today concerning the info released yesterday, I don’t believe that everyone involved is behind bars. This has proved to be such a shady crime.

    To answer your question, V: children whose parents know what they need to stay healthy would go to bed at 7pm. Children ages 4-9 need 10-12 hours of sleep each night. If these children had to get up at 6-7 am each day, they would need to go be in bed at 7pm. Go to WebMD & see for yourself.

  12. V on August 18th, 2009 7:04 am

    Who goes to bed at 7 p.m.?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News