Boyette Dead, Rice In Custody In Georgia

February 8, 2017

William “Billy” Boyette and Mary Rice were surrounded Tuesday afternoon in a motel room in West Point, GA.  Boyette took his own life; Rice is in custody.

The pair reportedly checked into the small motel Monday night. An observant Georgia citizen that had seen a local news report spotted their car in the parking lot about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The vehicle was positively identified as a Chevrolet Cobalt  which was stolen during an armed home invasion robbery in Beulah on Monday morning.

Troup County authorities surrounded the hotel and awaited for additional state and local law enforcement to arrive, including a SWAT team from the Georgia State Patrol and U.S. Marshals.

Rice reportedly exited the room on command, closed the door behind her and peacefully surrendered. A short time later, officers heard a gunshot from within the room. They made entry and found Boyette deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Rice was transported to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office for questioning. Members of the State Attorney’s Office travled from Pensacola to Georgia to begin the interview process. It was not immediately clear if Rice will be extradited back to Florida or Alabama first to face charges in connection with two murders in Milton, a murder in Beulah and a murder in Lillian, AL.

Tuesday was day seven of a massive manhunt continued  Tuesday for  the duo.

The search centered primarily around BeulahT he Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has doubled the number of uniformed deputies on the streets, and the reward in the case has increased to $21,000.

On Monday, Boyette allegedly shot Kayla Crocker during a home invasion robbery on Beulah Road. Her 2-year old in the house was unharmed. The couple stole her 2006 white Chevrolet Cobalt. Boyette and Rice then made a purchase at a local Shell station and then proceeded to get breakfast at Hardee’s before disappearing again. Crocker passed away Tuesday afternoon from her injuries.

Boyette was the suspect in the shooting death of 30-year old Alicia Greer and 39-year old Jacqueline Moore in Milton at the Emerald Sands Inn a week ago and  52-year old Peggy Broz last Friday morning in Lillian, AL.

Law enforcement officers in multiple counties spent Sunday following up on alleged sightings of Boyette, but all turned out not to be him.

He allegedly stole the victim’s car Friday in Lillian. That vehicle was found abandoned in Beulah Saturday morning on Nine Mile Road near the I-10 intersection, not far from Navy Federal. That led authorities to believe that he might  be in Escambia County where he has family ties. A K-9 search around the car turned up nothing.

Comments

52 Responses to “Boyette Dead, Rice In Custody In Georgia”

  1. Hugh on February 8th, 2017 5:30 pm

    @ john February 8th @ 743AM

    “As his bullet exited his skull, his soul awoke in hell in torment”

    Amen Brother !

  2. Funny on February 8th, 2017 3:41 pm

    Now you wanna cry?? You wasnt crying when you was doin these crimes!!!

    YOU DO THE CRIME!!! YOU DO THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

    CRY!!! CRY!!! CRY!!!!

  3. James in Molijo on February 8th, 2017 1:05 pm

    I’m glad this is finally over. Him being dead won’t bring back any of these women but at least a ton of money for taxpayers. Too bad he couldn’t have just shot himself before he harmed anybody else.

  4. William on February 8th, 2017 12:56 pm

    >>So the news said they checked in using Rice’s credit card. How were the police not tracking her credit card activity to begin with?

    No one has (properly) said she checked in with her own credit card. The sheriff in Georgia said she checked in using her own “identification”…..i.e. driver’s license or id card to prove her name. Maybe she paid with cash, prepaid card, gift card, etc.

  5. anne 1of2 on February 8th, 2017 12:19 pm

    Oh no, she gets 25yrs for each murder in solitaire with bread and water! We have to start discouraging these helper bees! He’s not worth another word.

  6. Elmerpsuggins on February 8th, 2017 10:38 am

    One less mouth that we working people would feed for 30 or 40 years we need an express lane to old SPARKY

  7. molino jim on February 8th, 2017 10:24 am

    @ Thankful. I’m with you 100%. Randy sounds like a lot of people who have watched to much TV and crime stories. What are the odds he would complain if he saw a LE car at a coffee shop and come up with something like “they just sit around and do nothing”. Thanks to the person who saw the car and called it in. Even more thanks to the LEO who tried to track these two down. If the person is on the run it’s not always easy to find them. Ref. the motel clerk had nothing to do with this. Rice checked in using her name.

  8. Melodies4us on February 8th, 2017 9:48 am

    I am glad we are all safe again. Kadoes to Sheriff Morgan and the entire law enforcement in the tricounty area for putting our safety first and beefing up the search.

  9. Dave on February 8th, 2017 9:31 am

    So the news said they checked in using Rice’s credit card. How were the police not tracking her credit card activity to begin with? They would have had them right then and there if they were. If it wouldn’t have been for a vigilant citizen spotting the vehicle they would still be on the lose!

  10. mike on February 8th, 2017 9:28 am

    Nobody’s defending this suicide, citing Samson or anything like that this round, I notice. I guess it’s only noble if someone sees you as a good person. Great that he did this, woulda sat on Death Row for years, like that Hurst creep. :(

    Just saying, but ICE & whatever branch of the law that deals in such things sets free immigrants that have been charged with murder all the time, letting them out into American society to kill again or whatever they feel like doing.

  11. William on February 8th, 2017 9:21 am

    >>>According to the other article here, the hotel clerk is not the one that spotted them. But a mere citizen passing by noticed their car.

    A direct quote from a Georgia TV station:

    “This afternoon we received a call at the office by a person who thought they saw the car in question that had been stolen at the West Point Motel,” said Sheriff James Woodruff with the Troup County Sheriff’s Office.

  12. THANKFUL on February 8th, 2017 9:07 am

    @ randy “Great job Georgia police .. florida didn’t have a clue”

    If it weren’t for our ESCO police force and their diligence in this manhunt- Georgia wouldn’t have known what car to spot!! We owe it all to them for staying on top of these killers and making all the details known so they could be caught! EXCELLENT JOB ESCO!!!!
    You should be ashamed- Randy!

  13. Wikeleaker on February 8th, 2017 8:57 am

    Pure evil has no explanation and none is necessary. The coward took the coward’s way out which may have been this monsters first and last positive contribution to society and certainly there’s a special place in monster hell for him. His monster partner hopefully will pay the ultimate price for her actions. The world is a much better place without them.

  14. Bella on February 8th, 2017 8:43 am

    Thank You Law Enforcement for being vigilant.
    Thank You Observant Georgia Citizen for doing the right thing.

  15. Honest John on February 8th, 2017 8:29 am

    So sad that Kayla Crocker was the 4th victim , but it was her stolen car being spotted in GA.that brought this tragedy to an end.

  16. Olin S Schultz on February 8th, 2017 7:46 am

    Very sad that this bottom feeder”s death will not bring back the ladies that he harmed. Proud of our law enforcement for their hours spent running down the countless leads. While Sheriff Morgan is a great public speaker and did a great job reporting to the public, lets not forget to give the credit to the ones who did the real work in this case. Maybe we can rest a little better at night.

  17. john on February 8th, 2017 7:43 am

    As his bullet exited his skull, his soul awoke in hell in torment. What a coward. Praying for all the victim’s families.

  18. jeeperman on February 8th, 2017 7:30 am

    According to the other article here, the hotel clerk is not the one that spotted them. But a mere citizen passing by noticed their car.
    Other news reports Rice also used her credit card or debit and I.D. to register Monday night.
    So is real-time CC/DC usage reporting/detection a Hollywood fallacy?
    If it can be done, this scum should have been dead by 3am Tuesday.

  19. Wilekyote on February 8th, 2017 6:51 am

    It’s hard to understand what we’ve seen in this human episode! Was it drugs & only drugs? Did poor childhood experiences ( for whatever reasons) play big role here ?
    Just really difficult to look @ this whole thing & get any understanding. You could
    say they were just “trash” but what gets some humans to that point ? Obviously
    some of us (humans ) are just defective…..can’t explain how,why with any accuracy
    other than “it is what it is “……I’m praying for the victims & their families and share
    with them the grief they’ll bear for a long,long time. I do want to thank our LEO’s for
    all and what they do.

  20. northend resident on February 8th, 2017 2:31 am

    So thankful we can all sleep a little better. Also, thankful for the citizen that took time to report seeing their car which led the police to them. Thank you to all the officers that go out each day to protect all of us. Praying for all the familes that lost love ones and the lady in the hospital.

  21. 429SCJ on February 7th, 2017 10:56 pm

    Burn in hell!

  22. nod on February 7th, 2017 10:52 pm

    Justice was done and it did not cost the taxpayer a penny.

  23. Nina on February 7th, 2017 10:15 pm

    Definitely a coward, should have been took his own life

  24. Tommy Hall on February 7th, 2017 10:04 pm

    Now Mary will start snitching on anybody and everybody trying to save herself from needle full of night night juice.

  25. chris in Molino on February 7th, 2017 9:45 pm

    @Beth Waters– I prefer someone not a drama queen best suited for his own tv show. Also, someone who’s gonna be 100% behind the deputies 100% of the time. I prefer someone giving deputies more leeway in doing things their way even if it means busting some heads to get results. But thats something else altogether.

    Thank the Lord ole Billy was a coward so we save money all across the board. Best of all the victims families wont have to go through a trial. Prayers to all of them.

  26. me on February 7th, 2017 9:44 pm

    I’m sure glad this piece of trash is gone. To his family I feel sorry for you. To the Pensacola Boyetts (No “E”) I hope this does not hurt your business much more. I have used your services a few times and have been quite satisfied. I will sure recommend you all.

  27. Jan on February 7th, 2017 9:32 pm

    Thank God

  28. Jodi on February 7th, 2017 9:20 pm

    I was taught to never say anything about someone unless it is nice. He’s gone and that’s nice. Sad his death can’t bring back the ladiES he took.

  29. judy on February 7th, 2017 9:08 pm

    She is also a peice of trash. Reguardless, the whole thing hurt so many. Prayers for all the family members involved. There are so many affected by this tragedy, his family, her family and the families of the victims. I pray for peace for all. I also pray that she gets death for her part in all this.

  30. Beth Waters on February 7th, 2017 8:33 pm

    We are very lucky to have Sheriff Morgan. It does not matter if you do not always agree with him, he is forward thinking and is not a good old boy. It is time for the local departments to exit the backward thinking that has plagued them for years, I am praying for the families of the victims and for the employees of the ECSO.

  31. Sam on February 7th, 2017 8:32 pm

    A good ending to a terrible incident. Had he been taken alive, judging on his past record and our justice systems failure to protect the public, he would have been back on the streets in short order.

  32. Gary on February 7th, 2017 8:19 pm

    Boyette was a loser and had no value. He was a coward and his death was necessary. Rice will be convicted of murder. She was not a hostage. Both drug addicts apparently. Great job all law enforcement agencies.

  33. Matt on February 7th, 2017 7:44 pm

    Good riddance, sorry bastard. Hope it hurt. Shoulda started with that shot over a week ago.

  34. JustSaying on February 7th, 2017 7:32 pm

    Good Riddance !!!

  35. Theo on February 7th, 2017 7:30 pm

    yup. the coward’s way out. with all that violence he did, you’d think he’d go out in a blaze of glory….guess I’m watching too much brainless Hollywood.

  36. Sam on February 7th, 2017 7:30 pm

    I’m glad he decided to save tax payers money and the electricity it would take to fry him. Prayers for the families of the victims.

  37. Patrolwoman on February 7th, 2017 7:22 pm

    Coward and bully. Never confront or attacked a male. Then suicide. True coward.

  38. Patrolwoman on February 7th, 2017 7:19 pm

    Ye ye. But I still say he was a bully and a coward.
    Has yet to confront a male. Only a coward attacks only women.

  39. randy on February 7th, 2017 7:09 pm

    Great job Georgia police .. florida didn’t have a clue

  40. tiff on February 7th, 2017 7:09 pm

    So glad this is over and we don’t have to worry about it anymore!!! But he’s Definitely a coward for shooting his self instead of facing the consequences… but since he is dead he can’t hurt nobody else ever again!!

  41. Julie james on February 7th, 2017 6:43 pm

    The picture of them in the woods..look in his left hand…any guesses at what that might be?

  42. Bob's Brother on February 7th, 2017 6:37 pm

    Killed 3 women… injured another, and he takes the easy way out. I don’t know if I’m glad he’s dead, or I’m glad there won’t be a trial and a 20 year wait on his execution.

  43. Clint on February 7th, 2017 6:36 pm

    Glad this is over.

  44. Clint on February 7th, 2017 6:35 pm

    Glad this ordeal is over. Now all communities can relax a little.

  45. Cislyn on February 7th, 2017 6:35 pm

    PRAYERS FOR ALL VICTIMS FAMILIES OF THIS EVIL CRIME. GOD PLEASE BE WITH THESE FAMILIES. MAY THEY FIND STRENGTH AND COMFORT IN YOU, to get through. In Jesus Name I Pray.

  46. Susan on February 7th, 2017 6:33 pm

    Thankfully, all officers are safe.

  47. Gary on February 7th, 2017 6:29 pm

    Good riddance of a roach. Boyette will go down as one of the dumbest criminals ever and was a coward. Rice better not say she was a hostage. The evidence indicates otherwise. She is a meth head in my opinion.

  48. Shay on February 7th, 2017 6:27 pm

    The only thing that would’ve made this better is if he’d shot her before he off’d himself. Now we have to clothe,feed and house her for 20yrs before she is killed by lethal injection.

  49. Jake on February 7th, 2017 6:18 pm

    #COWARD

  50. Sage2 on February 7th, 2017 6:13 pm

    He saved the taxpayers tons of money. As for Mary Rice, she’ll have a lifetime to think about what happened, why she did what she did and sadly…her children.

  51. Nod on February 7th, 2017 6:11 pm

    Justice has prevailed and it’s free!

  52. Nana on February 7th, 2017 6:11 pm

    About time!