Fla. couple who adopted 12 children found slain

[melisb]

IM, I asked you a question about where to read up on this tragedy on another post.  I followed you to here so you don't have to answer it.  This site about them is kinda hidden, difficult for us computer stupid to find! 

[Fanny Mae]

Good Morning Monkeys and Guests. 

I read quite a bit last night after logging off. I have a feeling this is not going to be such a cut and dry case.

I have not had time to read up on the Escambia County DA yet. Why does he seem to have his foot on the head of the Sheriff? At times Morgan seems to want to explode with some details, but he keeps saying the DA wants to stick to the one theory of home invasion for now. I know that the DA wants to protect the case and use one theory. As we have seen some other prominent names coming into the picture, I am hoping it is not to protect some of them. Stranger things have happened. Not really knowing the political atmosphere in Escambia and Santa Rosa right now, it is hard to say. jmo

[Fanny Mae]

ISLAND, I see the addy for Peterson is a residential addy, also the one for BBB Autos was a St Mary's address that look residential to me. I wonder why they would have residences as business address instead of the place of businesses?? I understand maybe mailing addys to their homes for certain documents, but it seems there would have been business addys on them. Is that making any sense to you?

[Fanny Mae]

Another question is the Hondaland Dealership still opened, and who runs it now??

[islandmonkey]

IM, I asked you a question about where to read up on this tragedy on another post.  I followed you to here so you don't have to answer it.  This site about them is kinda hidden, difficult for us computer stupid to find! 

  Oh crap~Sorry I missed it! You can read at northescambia.com, Pensacola News Journal and Ricks' blog..........that along with local news updates is where I get my info, although I heard about the hit last week from a local, IIRC I posted that Wednesday...don't worry, I am computer stupid myself!!

[islandmonkey]

Good Morning Monkeys and Guests. 

I read quite a bit last night after logging off. I have a feeling this is not going to be such a cut and dry case.

I have not had time to read up on the Escambia County DA yet. Why does he seem to have his foot on the head of the Sheriff? At times Morgan seems to want to explode with some details, but he keeps saying the DA wants to stick to the one theory of home invasion for now. I know that the DA wants to protect the case and use one theory. As we have seen some other prominent names coming into the picture, I am hoping it is not to protect some of them. Stranger things have happened. Not really knowing the political atmosphere in Escambia and Santa Rosa right now, it is hard to say. jmo

I've noticed that also.......I hope it's to protect the integrity of the case, but have no clue as to the political atmosphere around here being so new to the area.

I'll have to check on the Hondaland dealership and get back to you.........BRB

[islandmonkey]

Another question is the Hondaland Dealership still opened, and who runs it now??

I don't see it anymore

[Fanny Mae]

Another question is the Hondaland Dealership still opened, and who runs it now??

I don't see it anymore

What about the two addy's for Gary Smith Honda's that Magnolia post#386 gave on "W" St?

[islandmonkey]

Another question is the Hondaland Dealership still opened, and who runs it now??

I don't see it anymore

What about the two addy's for Gary Smith Honda's that Magnolia post#386 gave on "W" St?

I see this dealership on Miracle Strip Pkwy in Ft. Walton Beach......

[Fanny Mae]

I found this PDF agreeement between William Eddins and the State. It expired June,2009.  I assume he has renewed the contract, but I have not found it.

I am still looking into his background.

http://myfloridalegal.com/occ.nsf/wf/sdon772s53/$file/R0301.pdf

[islandmonkey]

I found this PDF agreeement between William Eddins and the State. It expired June,2009.  I assume he has renewed the contract, but I have not found it.

I am still looking into his background.

http://myfloridalegal.com/occ.nsf/wf/sdon772s53/$file/R0301.pdf

Hmmm-that is interesting, I'll dig a bit myself!

[Fanny Mae]

I found this PDF agreeement between William Eddins and the State. It expired June,2009.  I assume he has renewed the contract, but I have not found it.

I am still looking into his background.

http://myfloridalegal.com/occ.nsf/wf/sdon772s53/$file/R0301.pdf

Hmmm-that is interesting, I'll dig a bit myself!

All I have found so far is that he has been around since 1973 as a lawyer. Long timer can be a double edged sword.  JMO

[no rose colored glasses]

I want to thank you for all the updates, I'm reading, just don't have much to say on this case, everything is just so weird, and I think a big piece of the puzzle is missing. 

[Fanny Mae]

I want to thank you for all the updates, I'm reading, just don't have much to say on this case, everything is just so weird, and I think a big piece of the puzzle is missing. 

It is a lot to take in. It would help if there weren't so many people involved in this. So many people, so many motives, so much money.

[no rose colored glasses]

I want to thank you for all the updates, I'm reading, just don't have much to say on this case, everything is just so weird, and I think a big piece of the puzzle is missing. 

It is a lot to take in. It would help if there weren't so many people involved in this. So many people, so many motives, so much money.

Very difficult and it looks like more people are also involved.

[GRAPEAPE]

I think we will find out this was not a simple robbery.  All those people involved and a practice run, before the actual.  Something more were not seeing.

[Fanny Mae]

I think we will find out this was not a simple robbery.  All those people involved and a practice run, before the actual.  Something more were not seeing.

Since it seems they were intent on killing both of them, it sure makes you wonder. If it had something to do with Mr Billings' businesses, it would have been easier to kill him somewhere else, and not in his home.  The end of his secluded driveway would work, for instance.  JMO

[cece]

I hope this isn't a repeat:

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090722/NEWS01/90722014

Spencer: Billings donated to Gonzalez

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A slain Florida couple once 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 were 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.


“He made a donation in a nominal amount,” Spencer said at a news conference. “That would not have been out of his character.”

The court records were the first indication that Byrd, 66, and Melanie, 43, had financial ties with any of the suspects. The Billingses, who also had four children from previous marriages, were killed July 9 in their sprawling home by masked men — some dressed as ninjas.

(cont.)

[cece]

I think we will find out this was not a simple robbery.  All those people involved and a practice run, before the actual.  Something more were not seeing.

I agree GRAPEAPE.  You wouldn't think they would need that many people to carry out a home invasion robbery.

And Welcome GRAPEAPE!

[cece]

http://pnj.com/article/20090722/NEWS01/907220337/-1/special

'My child is a victim'
Teen suspect's father says his son not 'an evil person"

FORT WALTON BEACH — The father of a 16-year-old charged in the shooting deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings says his son would not have knowingly participated in a murder.

"I know, in my heart, my child does not have the type of mentality to do anything like that, knowingly," said Rakeem Chaney Florence's father, Randell Florence. "The hoopla about this child being a murderer and an evil person — he's not."

The younger Florence is one of seven accused of going to the Billings home in Beulah on July 9. They're all charged with open counts of murder.

He said it would be easy for the older suspects "to manipulate a child's mind."

"If he was there, he didn't know what was going on until it was too late," the father said.

He said his son planned to attend vocational school to study auto mechanics.

Now, he's being held in the Juvenile Detention Center in Pensacola. His father has not seen him since July 14, the night he was arrested.

"I regret anything that has happened to the Billingses, and my sympathy goes out to them," Florence said. "I feel like my child is a victim, too, as far as being subjected to this type of crime, if he was involved in it. He wouldn't have committed this type of crime. Someone had to have coerced him into doing whatever he was doing, if he was doing anything."

The teen's connection to three other suspects appears to be through the Fifth Dimension auto detailing shop on Duval Street in Fort Walton Beach.

Rakeem Florence was familiar with the shop because his girlfriend and 10-month-old baby live on Duval Street, the father said. The teen had been working at the shop, doing sanding work, for less than two weeks at the time of the murders, he said.

Among those also charged are:

• Gary Lamont Sumner, who ran the shop.

n Frederick Lee Thornton Jr., who lives across the street from the shop.

• Donnie Ray Stallworth, a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant who was based at Hurlburt Field and was seen by a nearby business owner at the shop.

Barry Whitman, who owns American Paints in the same complex as Fifth Dimension, said he has seen Rakeem Florence, Thornton and Stallworth at the shop.

(2 of 2)


Fifth Dimension opened on Duval Street in March 2005, according to Okaloosa County business tax records. The owners are listed as Billy Sumner and Gary Breedlove.



Whitman referred to Gary Sumner as the owner. It's not clear whether Gary and Billy are the same person.

"I was the one who found him that shop," said Whitman, who has run his paint shop in the complex for eight years. "He had a shop across town. He came over here to buy supplies and stuff."

Sumner is single and has a girlfriend, according to Whitman.

"Gary was very personable, outgoing, friendly. He had a lot of customers, a lot of friends. He was a customer of mine for about four years," he said.

"Gary was busy all the time. He had a good clientele. He always had a nice ride, a nice vehicle. The way the shop was run and the way he conducted himself, he sure didn't act like he was hurting for money."

Signs for the shop came down late last week, and most customer vehicles have been removed. But Whitman said he still sees work going on there after hours.

Two people answered the door at the Duval Street address listed on Thornton's arrest report, but both declined to comment. However, nearby neighbors and friends said Thornton grew up on Duval Street.

"He's like my brother," said Elijah Robinson, 20, who lives three doors down from Thornton. "Freddie was getting his life together. We were about to go to school. We had registered for classes and everything."

Robinson still plans to go to Okaloosa Applied Technology Center this fall and hopes Thornton will be able to join him soon.

"I'm doing it for him. That's something we both really wanted, to go to school and open our own plumbing business," Robinson said. "When he comes home, we're going to have this business together. Ain't nothing changed. I still love him."