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Listen To Billings 911 Tapes
August 28, 2009
The State Attorney’s Office released two 911 tapes from the Billings murders this afternoon. The first tape below was the first 911 call. The second was made by Ashely Markham, the Billings’ daughter.
Portions of the tape were edited out by the State Attorney’s Office. A transcript of both calls is below.
Dispatcher: Whats going on?
Neighbor: The mom and dad, I live next door and the daughter
came over and said the mother and father been shot
and they’re dead……..
Dispatcher: She, She said they been shot?
Neighbor: Yeah.
Dispatcher: Hold on.
Neighbor: I gotta go get the kids, there’s kids in the house.
Dispatcher: Where’s she at?
Neighbor: They’re in the bedroom, ma’am, they’re dead…..Please come.
Dispatcher: Ma’am, I’m trying to get someone there, you said the mother and father both had been shot?
Neighbor: YES!
Dispatcher: O.K., I’m going to get someone there, I’m trying to get some information…..What is your name?
Neighbor: This is……
Dispatcher: I’m sorry? They’re supposed to be signal seven, both of them she is saying. Ma’am whats your last name?
Ma’am, Ma’am, I’ll get somebody on the way, o.k., they’re already on the way I’m just trying to get some
information. Whats your first name?
Neighbor: I gotta go find the kids, the kids are ……
Dispatcher: How old are the kids?……
Neighbor: Ages from four years……
Dispatcher: How many kids are supposed to be in the house?
Neighbor: Please help! Ma’am, I gotta go be with these children, but I don’t know…
Dispatcher: Ma’am, I don’t want you to be in any danger, o.k.?
Neighbor: Ma’am, Ma’am I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Please come.
Dispatcher: Ma’am, Ma’am, I need you to take a deep breathe for me, o.k. You there? Hello?
She hung up on me. She said she’s gonna go in and find the kids.
Neighbor: Ma’am?
Dispatcher: Ma’am, You there?
Neighbor: Yes.
Dispatcher: I thought you hung up. I didn’t know…… O.k. I’ve got several officers on the way to you.
Neighbor: Hurry.
Dispatcher: I need to know how many kids are supposed to be in the house?
Neighbor: It’s nine children.
Dispatcher: It’s how many children? Ma’am your phone’s cutting out. Ma’am?
911 Call #2
Dispatcher: Sherrif’s 911 this is Jeff.
Billings’ Daughter: Hi, I need someone to got out to my parents house, I was on the phone with my sister and trying to get in touch with them
and she said they were on the bathroom floor and there’s nobody there, um, she said they were dead and I don’t know
what she is talking about.
Dispatcher: What’s the address? And what’s your name ma’am? And your phone number? And whats her name?
Billings’ Daughter: Melanie and Bud Billings.
Dispatcher: And you said Billings?
Billings’ Daughter: Billings, B-i-l-l-i-n-g-s.
Dispatcher: O.k., and you said they’re down in the bathroom?
Billings’ Daughter: Yes, that’s what she said, I kept telling her to take her the phone, and she said I can’t, she’s on the floor and she’s dead.
I didn’t know what she’s talking about and we have a neighbor and I told her to over and get the neighbor….
Dispatcher: Can you hold on a second ma’am?
Billings’ Daughter: O.K.
Dispatcher: Three eighty. I’m on the phone with the other part. Ten-four. It’s gonna be a possible thirty two victim.
We have two callers on the phone. …The caller advised that her sister advised her that there were two subjects down
on the bathroom floor, possibly Melanie and Bud, not twenty six on whats going on but were on the phone with another
complaintant.
Billings’ Daughter: Did somebody else call?
Dispatcher: Can you be enroute to back? Ten-four, car seventy twenty six? Ten- four. O.K. Ma’am.
Billings’ Daughter: Uh, huh.
Dispatcher: O.K.
Billings’ Daughter: Did somebody else call?
Dispatcher: Yes Ma’am, were on the phone with somebody else, hold on one second. Ten-four, Car seventy twenty six.
Can somebody else talk to this 911.
Comments
11 Responses to “Listen To Billings 911 Tapes”
The poor neighbor I think she was scared for the children most people in beulah know it takes forever for the police to come. And as far as the dispatcher yes that was awful I thought they got training for this type of situation? Very very rude but That person must be on the “list” the one ya know where you can act any way you want.
The neighbor sounded more upset because she was there seeing the little girl freaking out. The daughter didn’t know what was going on. The child has disabilities and the daughter may have thought her little sister was delusional. We have no way of knowing.
People react to things in different ways. I know that I’m always perfectly calm in crises until they are over…….and then I freak out. Everybody else is always calmed down and THEN I’m losing it. We deal with things in a myriad of ways and just because someone doesn’t react the way you think they should, that doesn’t mean they care any less.
I cried and cried hearing these, It is my OPINION that these tapes should not of been released, The moment you find out your parents are dead, not knowing if your sisters and brothers are o.k., all on tape, all national news. I feel horriable for the family I feel horriable for listening to this, How can they allow this to be played, I don’t understand, the daughter should of had the right to choose if this was released. it was heartbreaking
this tape gave me chills. I felt the fear that was in the voices. may God have mercy on the souls of those responsible.
first of all let me say my heart and prayers go out to these children and family of this hanus crime…i have been in emergency communications for over twenty years..and let me start by saying i understand first hand how hard it is to deal with upset callers in tragic situations..but not all people are cut out for this job..i know nothing about this dispatcher that rescue transferred this call to..but there is no doubt this dispatcher needs to be retrained she lost control of this call from the start she even became argumentative and ended up instilling guilt in the caller and making her feel helpless..we never know when our next call could be released to the national media as this call was.. the sheriff and his officers done a great job in quickly solving this case.. and i hope also the sheriff will use this case to understand and correct the weak points of his communications department.
The neighbor seems to be more upset than the daughter.
My heart truly goes out to this family.
Such a tragedy! God bless the Billings/Markham families!
It seems like they had good neighbors calling 911 when the child told them somthing was wrong.
OMG……..Yes, chilling would be the word. Listening to the daughter brought tears to my eys.
Chilling…………..